Persuasion

Robert H. Gass (Ph.D. University of Kansas) is Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at California State University, Fullerton. His areas of expertise include argumentation, persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining. Dr. Gass has published two texts and one edited text (with co-author John S. Seiter) and over 70 scholarly articles, book chapters, published conference proceedings, and professional papers. His text with John S. Seiter, Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining, is the best-selling persuasion text in the field of communication studies. Among the awards he has received are Distinguished Faculty Member, Faculty Recognition Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity, multiple Annual Author awards, and Outstanding Scholarship and Creativity Award. He has also done consulting work for the California Dairy Council, the California Dietetic Association, and Caltrans.

John S. Seiter (Ph.D. University of Southern California) is Distinguished Professor of Communication Studies in the Department of Communication Studies and Philosophy at Utah State University. His research focuses broadly on persuasion and specifically on topics such as political aggression, effective approaches to compliance gaining, deception, nonverbal influence, and persuasion in hospitality contexts. His work has been recognized by over ten Top Paper awards at both regional and national conferences. He has coauthored and coedited several books, including Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining (now in its seventh edition) and Nonverbal Communication in Political Debates. Previously, Dr. Seiter was recipient of his university's Lifetime Achievement and Professor of the Year awards.