Brain mechanisms of persuasion: how ‘expert power’ modulates memory and attitudes

“One powerful source variable is high expertise (Rhine and Severance, 1970; Eagly and Chaiken, 1993; Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004): persuasiveness generally increases with communicator expertise.”

“…brain area has been associated with subjective intensity of emotions and interaction of emotional evaluation with attention (Elliott et al., 1998; Gusnard et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Anders et al., 2004; Dolcos et al., 2004; Northoff et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004; Grimm et al.,…”

“Alternatively, observed persuasive memory effects could be based on semantic priming mechanisms: the facilitated processing of an object following prior experience with a semantically related stimulus (a celebrity) (Meyer and Schvaneveldt, 1971).”

“Taking into account that both the caudate nucleus and the dorsomedial PFC are generally involved in processing emotional stimuli, monitoring of action-outcome contingency (Yin and Knowlton, 2006), we can assume Table 4 Significant activation clusters for persuasive effects”

“, 2005) and in mentalizing about thoughts, intentions or beliefs of others referred to in the ‘theory of mind’ (Gallagher and Frith, 2003; Singer, 2006).”

“, 1989) models of persuasion, and depending on the level of elaboration, source credibility has been found to operate as peripheral cue or an heuristic (as in ‘experts are usually correct’; Petty et al., 1981), to bias thoughts (Chaiken and Maheswaran, 1994), Received 18 August 2007; Accepted 11 June 2008 Advance Acce…”

“A large body of literature shows that recent exposure to a target makes the target more readily accessible in memory; as a result, this increased accessibility enhances the fluency of target recognition, which is referred to as ‘processing fluency’ (Jacoby and Dallas, 1981).”

“Even punishment or violation of trust increased caudate activity (de Quervain et al., 2004).”

“memory encoding (Brewer et al., 1998; Wagner et al., 1998; Fernandez et al., 1999), confirmed the sensitivity of the SME paradigm applied here [for additional discussion, see SME in Supplementary Materials].”

“We show how neuroscientific tools developed to investigate neural contextual effects (Erk et al., 2003, 2005; Bar, 2004) can be applied to the study of persuasion.”

“…not only with learning (Elliott et al., 1998; Poldrack et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Delgado et al., 2003; Shohamy et al.; 2004; Zink et al., 2004), but also with social cooperation (Rilling et al., 2002) and trust to social partners (Delgado et al., 2003; King-Casas et al., 2005).”

“The vast diversity and popularity of advertising makes it an excellent vehicle by which persuasive communication can be studied (McClure et al., 2004).”

“Alternatively, the level of ambiguity in choices has been shown to be negatively correlated with activity in the caudate nucleus (Hsu et al., 2005).”

“There is a considerable evidence that processing and conceptual fluency are affectively positive (Reber et al., 1998; Lee and Labroo, 2004).”

“, 2002) and trust to social partners (Delgado et al., 2003; King-Casas et al., 2005).”

“Additional studies are needed to further explore the relationship between these processes (Lieberman et al., 2004; Tse et al., 2007).”

“A recent study (Knutson et al., 2007) demonstrated that product preference and subsequent purchasing was correlated with deactivation of the insula.”

“Feedback processing and learning have been previously associated with neuronal activity in the caudate nucleus (Elliott et al., 1998; Poldrack et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Delgado et al., 2003; Shohamy et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004).”

“memory encoding (Brewer et al., 1998; Wagner et al., 1998; Fernandez et al., 1999), confirmed the sensitivity of the SME paradigm applied here [for additional discussion, see SME in Supplementary Materials].”

“, 2005) and in mentalizing about thoughts, intentions or beliefs of others referred to in the ‘theory of mind’ (Gallagher and Frith, 2003; Singer, 2006).”

“Furthermore, for print ads, analysis of eye movement data has shown that subjects will first focus on the face and eyes of the person in the ad and subsequently on the brand name or product (Pieters and Wedel, 2004).”

“Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/scan/article-abstract/3/4/353/1625801 by guest on 28 July 2018 Moreover, activity in the posterior superior temporal sulcus and adjacent regions was previously observed when subjects made trustworthiness judgments of faces (Winston et al., 2002).”

“One recent study (Adcock et al., 2006) showed that MTL activity preceding the stimulus to be memorized is modulated by the emotional context (high or low level of motivation) and reliably predicts memory encoding.”

“There is a considerable evidence that processing and conceptual fluency are affectively positive (Reber et al., 1998; Lee and Labroo, 2004).”

“, 2002), retrieval of episodic and autobiographical memories (Maguire, 2001; Moscovitch et al., 2005) and in mentalizing about thoughts, intentions or beliefs of others referred to in the ‘theory of mind’ (Gallagher and Frith, 2003; Singer, 2006).”

“The SME consistently demonstrates (Paller and Wagner, 2002) that during memory encoding, activity in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and diverse prefrontal cortical areas is greater in response to later successfully remembered items (hits) as compared to forgotten items (misses: old items misclassified as new).”

“However, our results contradict with the repetition suppression usually observed in semantic priming experiments repeated stimuli (similar or semantically related) are typically associated with decreased brain responses (Henson, 2003).”

“Moreover, the perceived trustworthiness of the playing partner modulated caudate activity to the outcome (feedback) of the game (Delgado et al., 2005).”

“Earlier studies (Page et al., 1987; Jordan, 1993) showed that a single expert’s publication in The New York Times newspaper, or broadcasting the expert’s opinion on national TV, can change public opinion on policy issues by up to 4%.”

“Previous studies have associated each of these areas with processing of negative, aversive information and negative attitudes (LeDoux, 2000; Cunningham et al., 2003; O’Doherty et al., 2003; Cunningham et al., 2004a, b; Coricelli et al., 2005).”

“Substantial evidence implicates the caudate in reward-related tasks, including responses linked to positive affect, expectations or receipt of reward (Apicella et al., 1991; Kawagoe et al., 1998; Lauwereyns et al., 2002).”

“Previous studies have associated each of these areas with processing of negative, aversive information and negative attitudes (LeDoux, 2000; Cunningham et al., 2003; O’Doherty et al., 2003; Cunningham et al., 2004a, b; Coricelli et al., 2005).”

“We used the SME approach as a conventional method to delineate the neural correlates of declarative memory formation (Paller et al., 1987; Wagner et al., 1998; Fernandez et al., 1999) in which later memory performance is used to back-sort neural encoding signals into events later remembered hits and those later forgot…”

“to act as a relevant piece of information for an issue (Kruglanski and Thompson, 1999) or affecting the amount of processing that occurs (Heesacker et al.”

“…anterior cingulate and superior temporal sulcus] (Leveroni et al., 2000; Kraut et al., 2002), retrieval of episodic and autobiographical memories (Maguire, 2001; Moscovitch et al., 2005) and in mentalizing about thoughts, intentions or beliefs of others referred to in the ‘theory of mind’…”

“We found that objects following celebrities with high expertise elicited stronger activation than objects presented by non-experts in brain regions (Figure 2C and Table 3) associated with semantic processing [left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior cingulate and superior temporal sulcus] (Leveroni et al., 2…”

“…area has been associated with subjective intensity of emotions and interaction of emotional evaluation with attention (Elliott et al., 1998; Gusnard et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Anders et al., 2004; Dolcos et al., 2004; Northoff et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004; Grimm et al., 2006).”

“Feedback processing and learning have been previously associated with neuronal activity in the caudate nucleus (Elliott et al., 1998; Poldrack et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Delgado et al., 2003; Shohamy et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004).”

“, 2002) and trust to social partners (Delgado et al., 2003; King-Casas et al., 2005).”

“Feedback processing and learning have been previously associated with neuronal activity in the caudate nucleus (Elliott et al., 1998; Poldrack et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Delgado et al., 2003; Shohamy et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004).”

“Substantial evidence implicates the caudate in reward-related tasks, including responses linked to positive affect, expectations or receipt of reward (Apicella et al., 1991; Kawagoe et al., 1998; Lauwereyns et al., 2002).”

“Previous studies have associated each of these areas with processing of negative, aversive information and negative attitudes (LeDoux, 2000; Cunningham et al., 2003; O’Doherty et al., 2003; Cunningham et al., 2004a, b; Coricelli et al., 2005).”

“Expertise is a major component of a persuader’s credibility (Priester and Petty, 2003), next to trustworthiness (the source’s reputation to tell the truth and be honest).”

“Feedback processing and learning have been previously associated with neuronal activity in the caudate nucleus (Elliott et al., 1998; Poldrack et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Delgado et al., 2003; Shohamy et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004).”

“…area has been associated with subjective intensity of emotions and interaction of emotional evaluation with attention (Elliott et al., 1998; Gusnard et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Anders et al., 2004; Dolcos et al., 2004; Northoff et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004; Grimm et al., 2006).”

“memory encoding (Brewer et al., 1998; Wagner et al., 1998; Fernandez et al., 1999), confirmed the sensitivity of the SME paradigm applied here [for additional discussion, see SME in Supplementary Materials].”

“…studies suggest that attitudes and declarative memory can be selectively impaired and probably are represented separately in the brain (Johnson et al., 1985; Lieberman et al., 2001), and thus we investigated separately effects of perceived celebrity expertise on attitude and memory encoding.”

“…neutral words overlaid on emotionally positive, negative or neutral pictures (Erk et al., 2003); neutral words included in affective sentences (Maratos et al., 2001); emotionally Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/scan/article-abstract/3/4/353/1625801 by guest on 28 July 2018 neutral…”

“The relationship of attitudes and declarative memory has been the subject of intense research (Eagly et al., 2001) and recent studies suggest that memory is relatively independent of attitudes (Cacioppo and Petty, 1989; Eagly et al., 2001).”

“to act as a relevant piece of information for an issue (Kruglanski and Thompson, 1999) or affecting the amount of processing that occurs (Heesacker et al., 1983).”

“High credibility sources have typically been found to be more persuasive than low credibility sources (Petty and Wegener, 1998), although in certain circumstances high credibility can backfire (Tormala et al., 2006).”

“Thus, the processing might pave the way for more favourable attitudes (activating ventral striatum) and stronger integration into semantic schemata (PFC and MTL).”

“Additional studies are needed to further explore the relationship between these processes (Lieberman et al., 2004; Tse et al., 2007).”

“Thus, the processing might pave the way for more favourable attitudes (activating ventral striatum) and stronger integration into semantic schemata (PFC and MTL).”

“This pattern of results clearly shows that perceived (not predefined) expertise is driving the persuasive behavioural effects.”

“…for SME and SAE, the MTL and caudate nucleus were additionally investigated within a spherical region of interest, thresholded at P< 0.05 [small volume corrected, radius, 10 mm; centred at (x/y/z)¼ 30/ 15/ 10 and 14/8/14] similar to previous studies (Voermans et al., 2004; Piekema et al., 2006).”

“Previous studies have associated each of these areas with processing of negative, aversive information and negative attitudes (LeDoux, 2000; Cunningham et al., 2003; O’Doherty et al., 2003; Cunningham et al., 2004a, b; Coricelli et al., 2005).”

“…area has been associated with subjective intensity of emotions and interaction of emotional evaluation with attention (Elliott et al., 1998; Gusnard et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Anders et al., 2004; Dolcos et al., 2004; Northoff et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004; Grimm et al., 2006).”

“One powerful source variable is high expertise (Rhine and Severance, 1970; Eagly and Chaiken, 1993; Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004): persuasiveness generally increases with communicator expertise.”

“…area has been associated with subjective intensity of emotions and interaction of emotional evaluation with attention (Elliott et al., 1998; Gusnard et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Anders et al., 2004; Dolcos et al., 2004; Northoff et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004; Grimm et al., 2006).”

“Feedback processing and learning have been previously associated with neuronal activity in the caudate nucleus (Elliott et al., 1998; Poldrack et al., 2001; Cromwell and Schultz, 2003; Delgado et al., 2003; Shohamy et al., 2004; Zink et al., 2004).”

“Importantly, the fMRI method is correlational in nature, which creates a causal ambiguity (Cacioppo et al., 2003).”

“Such interaction would indicate the mechanism of memory modulation by expert power that is similar to previously reported effects of context on memory encoding (Maratos et al., 2001; Erk et al., 2003, 2005).”

“We found that objects following celebrities with high expertise elicited stronger activation than objects presented by non-experts in brain regions (Figure 2C and Table 3) associated with semantic processing [left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior cingulate and superior temporal sulcus] (Leveroni et al., 2…”

“Earlier studies (Page et al., 1987; Jordan, 1993) showed that a single expert’s publication in The New York Times newspaper, or broadcasting the expert’s opinion on national TV, can change public opinion on policy issues by up to 4%.”

“Our results support the recent hypothesis that the amygdala and bilateral parahippocampal regions are implicated in the emotional evaluation of attitude (Wood et al., 2005).”

“Of the few studies of social influence in the human brain [13–16], none have unambiguously shown the level of the value system at which social influence affects the value of an object when the object is received.”