Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

Emotions in Audience Decision Making 333

most often occurs below the level of conscious awareness and is based on automatic cognitive

processes and physiological responses.^243 Audiences experience emotional contagion when speak-

ers use their facial expressions,^244 gestures, and bodily postures to communicate their emotions.^245

Most displays of emotions, including most facial expressions of emotions,^246 elicit either the

same or complementary emotions from the viewer.^247 For example, photographs of angry faces

tend to evoke the complementary emotion of fear, even when viewers do not consciously perceive

the faces.^248 Facial expressions of distress and shame evoke the complementary emotions of com-

passion and sympathy.^249 Beginning as early as age eight months, displays of distress, including facial

expressions indicating distress, evoke the child’s readiness to help.^250 Facial expressions of sympathy

produce increased liking and, when relevant, more forgiveness.^251 Facial expressions of embar-

rassment often evoke amusement.^252 A study that collected both fMRI and pupillometry data on

viewers fi nds evidence for “pupillary contagion.” When viewers are presented with photos of sad

faces with different pupil sizes, their own pupil size mirrors those shown in the photos.^253

Leaders have a special ability to elicit emotions from their audiences.^254 Even brief, televised

clips of politicians’ nonverbal displays of emotions are capable of eliciting noticeable emotional

reactions from voters^255 and can infl uence their attitudes toward the leader independent of the

leader’s verbal message.^256 Moreover, the different emotions political candidates elicit have different

effects on voters’ attitudes toward the candidates and the issues on the national agenda.^257

Not surprisingly, some emotional displays by leaders elicit stronger emotional responses than

others. In one study, voters watched video recordings of national leaders who displayed either

happiness and reassurance, anger and threat, or fear and evasion at different levels of consistency

and intensity. Leaders who displayed emotions in a consistent and intense manner elicited much

stronger emotional responses than those whose emotional displays were inconsistent or weak.

Uncommitted voters were especially susceptible to infl uence by emotional appeals and the leaders’

nonverbal displays of emotion.^258

Professionals can also elicit emotions in their audiences through their tone of voice. In a study

that measured the effect of a speaker’s tone of voice on her audience, audience members listened to

a speech that was delivered in either a slightly happy or a slightly sad voice and then rated their own

mood. Not only was the audience’s mood affected by the speaker’s tone of voice, but when asked

to repeat the message they heard, audience members spontaneously and unconsciously mimicked

the speaker’s tone.^259

Emotional contagion can infl uence the decisions audience members make. In a study of emo-

tional contagion in pairs of consumers, one consumer in several of the pairs was primed to be

especially happy just before they inspected a new product with their partner. Partners who inspected

the product with a consumer primed to be happy (and who was not allowed to speak) liked the

product more than partners inspecting the product with a consumer in a neutral mood. When

a translucent screen was used to block the partner’s exposure to the happy consumer’s nonverbal

behaviors, no attitude change occurred.^260 In another study of the effects of emotional contagion

on decision making, solicitors displayed either sadness, anger, or no emotion as they requested

donations for charities from prospective donors. When the solicitors displayed sadness, donors gave

more than when the solicitors displayed anger or no emotion.^261

Groups as well as individuals are susceptible to emotional contagion. A study of teams of nurses

and accountants fi nds that team members’ moods are shared even after controlling for shared work

problems.^262 A study of professional cricket teams fi nds similar results even after controlling for

each team’s status in the league.^263 Emotional contagion has also been found to occur in a variety

of automotive, information technology, and creative advertising work groups.^264

Emotional contagion in groups can have a signifi cant infl uence on group processes and out-

comes.^265 A study of senior management teams fi nds that a group’s emotions affect both individual