Chapter 9: Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Thomas J. Gardner

Public Information Campaigns

The Dynamics of Persuasion

Perloff

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Chapter 9: Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Admitting cognitive dissonance in fishermen who know the perils of AIS but refuse to adopt a behavior change may involve ego issues. Their inconsistent behavior increases the risk that AIS could spread to sterile lakes. There are so many variables surrounding AIS, that fishermen might distance themselves from the importance of the issue.

Qualitative research has shown that fishermen are motivated to change behavior to produce desirable results. But the difficulty in cleaning equipment, confusion about how and what to prevent, and the conflict between personal and social behavior makes it hard to change your attitude. This makes it easy to rationalize negative characteristics.

Perloff is right with his list of suggestions to reduce dissonance. But I think I sit through a bad movie because I paid for it. Fishermen take their bait to another lake because they paid for it. However, I like the hypothesis about the physical activity that you have to endure while cleaning your boat is a prerequisite to reminiscing about boating on the lake. There is always some aspect of fun that has a negative unpleasantness, according to Aronson and Mills.

Fishing has too many positive elements for fishermen to be discouraged about cleaning procedures.  But by acknowledging that they should have been cleaning their boats to stop the spread of AIS, would mean admitting infallibility. Fishermen have to be convinced about the enjoyment from cleaning a personal treasure; a dissonant act. They have to be persuaded that this great satisfaction and conformity is a pleasant activity that is socially expected. And that being inconsistent from social norms can have unpleasant consequences.

According to their demographics, personal responsibility is the cliché of these anglers when chastising other cultures. The consequences of not cleaning your bait well, not flushing out your engine, and not removing vegetation from your boat trailer can lead to no native fish to harvest. Yet, participants were willing to wash their boats by hand, but only if they could be assured that there actions were not redundant. The many fishing organizations, lake associations, watercraft rental businesses, and tournament sponsors should reflect upon each other’s hypocritical self-image.

Their self-concept, through social marketing, of being stewards of lake lifestyle is inconsistent with their negative behavior.  According to Perloff, anglers must be persuaded that their minor chores or, counterattitudinal advocacy, will increase their self-perceived macho image and motivate others to change behavior. An aggregate account of recreational fish vs. water milfoil and zebra mussels quantities can help justify behavior change.

The genuine importance of waylaying AIS must be a free choice that benefits the anglers self-concept of his sport. The grey area of why change and what’s in it for me can only be appreciated by each individual. At a dam in Seattle, there is a glass window where statistics and visual proof shows uniform changes in sustainability increased the number of salmon swimming upstream. This visual cognitive shortcut proved that the public commitment was competent.