Online Persuasion as Psychological Transition, and The Multifaced Agents of Persuasion: A Personal Construct Theory Perspective

Extant literature has largely backgrounded the psychological processes of those being persuaded in online persuasion situations. If we do not examine these processes, we may not be able to fully understand or measure the impact of persuasive artefacts outside of their observable outcomes. In response to this issue, this paper conceptualizes the persuasion process as a state of psychological transition with respect to the individual being persuaded (cf. Kelly 1955; Stojnov 2003). We do this by drawing on the work of George Kelly and personal construct theory, and illustrate how this theory may be useful in better understanding both the process of persuasion and its outcomes. Finally, we discuss how online persuasion is further challenged by the multitude of ways in which the digital artefact can materialize