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How the Sleeper Eect Persuades You Months After the Message (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/persuasion-thesleeper-eect)
Jeremy Dean
Filed to: MIND HACKS (/TAG/MIND-HACKS) 42,696 12/08/10 1:00pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/persuasion-the-sleeper-effect)

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Persuasion isn't just about convincing someone in the moment. Psychology researcher Jeremy Dean explains how a persuasive message can change attitudes months after it's delievered. Photo by Thomas Lieser (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26405526@N00/4607725399/). In the 1940s during WWII, the US Department of War wanted to know if their propaganda films were really working. So they carried out a series of experimental studies into how they affected soldier's attitudes.

The complacent assumption was that the films should easily influence the average GI. Producers and psychologists alike expected to see a huge shift in attitudes towards the war after they were viewed. What they found was nothing of the sort, and the results came as a bitter blow to propagandists everywhere.

While the films were informative and did strengthen some existing attitudes, experiments showed they were extremely unlikely to make soldiers more optimistic about the war in general (Hovland et al, 1949).

In retrospect this should have come as little surprise, since the soldiers knew these were propaganda films designed to change their attitudes, so their defenses were up. What they did discover, though, was that some of the films did have an effect on soldiers after months had passed. While attitudes didn't change immediately, subtle shifts were picked up nine weeks later. US soldiers who watched one film about The Battle of Britain showed little extra sympathy towards the British five days later, but, after nine weeks, they had softened. Y ale University's Carl Hovland and colleagues called this the 'sleeper effect'.

Big impact
Since then the sleeper effect has had a rockier history than the average soap opera character. It has gone up and down in the esteem of psychologists over the years as some experiments have confirmed the effect and others have found nothing. Quite naturally many people wondered whether the sleeper effect really exists, especially as it goes against common sense. Persuasion should really be strongest just after a message is delivered. Over time the persuasive effect should weaken as people's attitudes return to how they were before-and this is what many other studies have shown. Nevertheless when researchers have weighed up all these studies, it seems likely the effect does exist (Kumkale & Albarracin, 2004 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.1.143)). It's just it only appears under two circumstances: 1. Big initial impact: the sleeper effect only emerges if the persuasive message has a major initial impact. If it isn't powerful enough, it won't hunker down in our minds, biding its time before it boomerangs back. 2. Message discounting: it should be obvious that the source of the message can't be trusted so that we discredit it; like when the soldiers were watching the propaganda film.

What seems to be going on is this: people are convinced by the arguments until they see that the source of the message can't be trusted. But people don't tend to process the discounting cue very thoroughly. So, over time, people forget they discounted the information and the content of the persuasive message, which was processed thoroughly, does its devilish work.

Know the source before the message

The sleeper effect isn't the great news for advertisers (and advertising agencies) you might imagine. The effect is strongest when the message is discounted afterwards. When we watch adverts, we usually know beforehand that they can't be trusted, so our minds are already on alert for the distinctive smell of halftruths. There are all kinds of everyday situations where the sleeper effect occurs. Like when the travel supplement recommends a great resort, then we read at the bottom the trip's cost was covered by the resort. Or there's an article telling us about the health benefits of milk and then we read at the bottom that the author is the head of the Milk Marketing Board. Any time we receive a persuasive message before we find out who the source is, the sleeper effect can come into play. Naturally, then, canny information consumers will want to know the source of a message before they read it.

Persuasion: The Sleeper Effect (http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/11/persuasion-the-sleepereffect.php) [Jeremy Dean] Jeremy Dean is a psychology researcher at University College London and the author of PsyBlog (http://www.spring.org.uk/). Find out more about the psychology of persuasion (http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/10/persuasion-10-unusual-influencers.php) and join PsyBlog's 34,000 readers (http://www.spring.org.uk/get-the-latest-from-psyblog).
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12/08/10 8:06pm
njefferson (http://njefferson.kinja.com)
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njeerson started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/08/10 8:06pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=33

A good reason to not trust political ads that bash someone then have a little blurb at the end, "paid for by the people who really hate that guy" ...but, according to this article, that ads going to get you anyway, eventually
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JesterEE (http://savedsoul.kinja.com)
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njefferson

12/08/10 10:00pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=3

@njefferson: But since they air them a week before the election and not months before, it really doesn't matter anyway. They only succeed in pissing you off after you've seen it a gazillion times in a single hour of TV.
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njefferson (http://njefferson.kinja.com)
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JesterEE

12/08/10 10:01pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=3

@JesterEE: Very good point. I hope they don't read this article
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12/08/10 6:56pm
Sadsaque (http://sadsaque.kinja.com)
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Sadsaque started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/08/10 6:56pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=33

There is almost nothing in this article that makes sense. The author should take a course in logic, and maybe English.
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hoverking (http://hoverking-old.kinja.com)
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Sadsaque

12/08/10 7:16pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment

@Sadsaque: Y ou'll feel differently about 9 weeks from now.

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JesterEE (http://savedsoul.kinja.com)
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Sadsaque

12/08/10 10:02pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=3

@Sadsaque: Flame Flame! I understood it perfectly. FY I, the Golden Rule still applies on the internet.
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12/08/10 12:17pm
Simonovski (http://simonovski-old.kinja.com)
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Simonovski started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/08/10 12:17pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comme

Arthur: Okay, this is me, planting an idea in your mind. I say: don't think about elephants. What are you thinking about?

Saito: Elephants? Arthur: Right, but it's not your idea. The dreamer can always remember the genesis of the idea. True inspiration is impossible to fake. Cobb: No, it's not.
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Simonovski (http://simonovski-old.kinja.com)
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Simonovski

12/08/10 12:18pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comme

@Simonovski: I know savouree was quicker off the mark than me, but it had to be said.
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12/08/10 3:53pm
OMGWTFBBL (http://omgwtfbbl-old.kinja.com)
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OMGWTFBBL started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/08/10 3:53pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?commen

Everyone knows system administrators need to be paid more money. (this sleeper effect seed created in order to start a process that will infect/affect the whole geek community)
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kondrik (http://kondrik.kinja.com)
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OMGWTFBBL

12/09/10 11:41am (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=3379

@OMGWTFBBL: As do web designers & developers.. Especially the ones dealing with server-side code (such as PHP). (Hopefully it'll work for both of us)
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12/09/10 4:36am
MRyant (http://limality.kinja.com)
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MRyant started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/09/10 4:36am (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=3376

I'll leave this here.

EXPAND

(http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/comment /17/2010/12/90d54779f19a921258dbb91ccd473ad8 /original.png)

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Ulmaxes (http://ulmaxes-old.kinja.com)
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MRyant

12/09/10 4:59pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=

@Limality: I'll admit. I lol'd.

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12/08/10 2:45pm
Dan Chin (http://danchin.kinja.com)
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Dan Chin started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/08/10 2:45pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=3374

I find it funny that the source link to the article is at the end of the LH article. I don't want to say common sense, but it seems as if common wisdom appreciates this already: you want to know where data is coming from "up front"
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12/08/10 4:30pm
minibeardeath (http://minibeardeath.kinja.com)
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minibeardeath started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/08/10 4:30pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comme

This seems like it could be used to great effect by lobbying groups. If they out out their studies, and arguments, then at the end of the article mention where their funding compes from (or the bottom of a web page), then the sleeper effect would be in full effect on the people whose minds they are trying to change.
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12/09/10 6:21am
iHamAndCheese (http://djkginhd.kinja.com)
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iHamAndCheese started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/09/10 6:21am (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=337

(http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/comment/17/2010/12/70644c084bad7cdf812c9fa9e71f3cea/ original.jpg)

Obviously, they didn't go deep enough...

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12/11/10 1:34pm
Imfromthenet (http://imfromthenet.kinja.com)
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Imfromthenet started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/11/10 1:34pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?comment=

"The complacent assumption was that the films should easily influence the average GI. " em... what GI stands for? i've checked here: [www.acronymfinder.com] (http://www.acronymfinder.com/GI.html) and could not find/(missed) a good answer.
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12/08/10 12:07pm
savouree (http://savouree-old.kinja.com)
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savouree started this thread

Jeremy Dean

12/08/10 12:07pm (http://lifehacker.com/5707484/how-the-sleeper-effect-persuades-you-months-after-the-message?commen

There's something you have to understand about me. About inception. Y ou see, an idea is like a virus...
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