Yvonne Najera COMM 518 Public Relations Theory Application Paper 7 Red Cross Pleads for Release On Oct

13, 2013, six members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), were kidnapped while working in Syria providing humanitarian aid across the country to displaced civilians affected by the growing conflict in the country between Syrian Rebels and Syrian President Bashar al-Assads military forces. An immediate statement was released by the head of the ICRC in print and video in response to the abductions of the workers. Magne Barthe, head of ICRC, calls for respect of independence delivering an Ethos appeal in using a Public Relations Theory of Elaborated Likelihood Model (ELM), in the formed message.

Elaborated Likelihood Model One of the main goals of public relations is to persuade an organization's target nations to adopt a certain attitude, opinion, or behavior. Whether a company is trying to increase its customer base, recruit employees, or enhance its image, the use of persuasion is key. People are presented with reasons why they should adopt an attitude, opinion, or behavior. It remains up to them whether they choose to accept these reasons and reevaluate their thinking. Elaborated Likelihood Model (ELM), under the Persuasion context, is a model of how attitude changes are achieved, and the difficulty in producing a major or long-term attitude change. There are two routes to persuasion, the central route and the peripheral route. The central route uses message elaboration, and can produce a major positive attitude change. Messages sent via the central route of persuasion must be straightforward and complete. The central route consists of thoughtful consideration of the arguments (ideas, content) in the message (Benoit, Stephenson, and Tschida, 2001). The receiver carefully scrutinizes the message and evaluates the subject matter of the idea. Messages sent through this route

must possess a high level of receiver involvement, that is, the receiver must actually care about and be related to the subject. Because it is of importance to them, the message will be evaluated thoroughly. Central route messages must be strong. The message is going to be dissected and analyzed from every angle, so it had better have some substance to it (Lane, Miller & Brown, 2013). Peripheral persuasion is somewhat simpler to develop because it has no grounds in a strong factual message. Instead, peripheral cues such as scarcity (For a Limited Time Only!!) or perceived credibility (Buy MCI, I do) are the factors that receivers base their decisions on. However, peripheral persuasion is not as strong nor as long lasting as central persuasion. Although it can produce a positive change in behavior, for it to become a more lasting change the message should be repeated over a period of time (Moore, 2001). This theory provides the most effective way to persuade an audience or produce an attitude change. These guidelines fit with the scientific perspective of one truth or one best way to approach a situation (Baxter, 1988, p. 257). Then what subsequently happens is the person decides whether the arguments presented are convincing enough to lead him or her to shift attitudes on the issue in question (Petty & Cacioppo, 1984).

International Committee of the Red Cross Since its foundation in 1859, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has played a humanitarian role in most of the conflicts that have taken place around the world. It has continuously worked to persuade States to expand the legal protection of war victims, to limit suffering. These bodies became known as Red Cross Societies, referring to the universal emblem adopted to identify and protect medical units. (The Red Crescent emblem was introduced in the 1880s.) The ICRC, the national societies and their International Federation form the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. In situations of armed conflict the ICRC coordinates the response by its movement partners. The ICRC has a permanent international mandate for its work. This derives from the 1949 Geneva Conventions agreed to by every State in the world and from the Statutes of the

Movement (in the present Statutes, the expression Geneva Conventions also covers their Additional Protocols for the States party to those Protocols). However, the ICRC remains a private organization governed by Swiss law and strictly independent in its governance and operational decisions. The Committee itself consists of up to 25 co-opted members, all Swiss. The ICRC's work respects the Movement's fundamental principles, notably those of neutrality, impartiality and independence (ICRC, 2010). Since its founding the ICRC has taken a deliberate stance to make their mission clear that their role in humanitarian efforts is in response to emergencies and times of conflict within nations to abide by protocols written within the Geneva Convention.

News Release Dated 13-10-2013 Geneva/Damascus (ICRC) - Six ICRC staff members and one Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteer were abducted this morning by unidentified armed men near Sareqeb in Idlib Governorate, in northwestern Syria. "We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the seven colleagues abducted this morning," says Magne Barth, head of the ICRCs delegation in Syria. "Both the ICRC and the SARC work tirelessly to provide impartial humanitarian assistance for those most in need across Syria on both sides of the front lines, and incidents such as these potentially undermine our capacity to assist those who need us most." The team had travelled to Idlib on 10 October to assess the medical situation in several Idlib Governorate health structures and to deliver medical supplies to Sarmin and Idlib city. The convoy, which was on its way back to Damascus, was clearly marked with the ICRC emblem, which is not a religious symbol. The ICRC is committed to assisting the Syrian people and will continue conducting its humanitarian activities both in the country and in neighboring countries for refugees there, added Mr. Barth (ICRC, 2010).

Conclusion For the ICRC situation in Syria, they will continue delivering the message that their organization is impartial, neutral and independent of government and religious affiliations all while continuing to deliver aid to those in need throughout the fighting. By using the various media outlets (i.e., print, broadcast or social media), the ICRC message will be continually re-stated to protect its workers while accomplishing their mission. The consistency in which the messages are given, subjects are exposed to a greater number of arguments, and should produce more favorable cognitive responses than subjects exposed to fewer arguments. Calder, Insko, and Yandell (1974) found that number of arguments influences cognitive responses. Furthermore, it was reported that numerous messages with more arguments create more attitude change than those with fewer arguments (Calder, Insko, & Yandell, 1974, p. 62; Chaiken, 1980; Petty & Cacioppo, 1984). Argument quantity, unlike argument quality or strength, is believed to be a peripheral cue. When receivers notice that a message has a large number of arguments, they have some tendency to accept the message being given. Concluding Events Twitter Feed: Despite the current situation, we are committed to serving the #Syrian people. 7:27 AM - 14 Oct 2013

Twitter Feed: Good news! We confirm that the Syrian Red Crescent volunteer and 3 out of 6 @ICRC colleagues have been released safe & sound. #Syria. 5:30 AM - 14 Oct 2013

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