Introduction to Persuasive Techniques By: Mrs. Lange

Emotional Techniques

Purr Words  Choosing words that positively influence the audience of an item or issue.  Voice and tone are positive  Example: Is an oil spill an accident or an incident? Is a government program an investment or a waste?  What other examples can you think of?

Repetition  Ideas repeated over and over and over and over and over and over again!  Can come in form of musical tune (jingle), logo or statement  Getting the idea stuck in your head!  Examples: McDonald’s “I’m lovin it!” TV show promos  Can you think of other examples?

Celebrity Endorsement  The use of a celebrity to sell a product.  The viewer wants to be like the celebrity and thinks that by buying the product, they will be more like him or her.  Examples: Milk Ads, Air Jordans, Toby Keith and Ford trucks  Can you think of any others?

Humor  The use of funny situations, comments or jokes to convince the buyer to purchase the product  Makes it memorable  Raisin Bran Crunch with Johnson, phone commercials, Burger King ads  Can you think of any other examples?

Testimonials  Expert testimonial – because someone is an expert, you are willing to believe what they say  Examples: Golden Globe winners (movies), doctors recommending certain medications  Where are you persuaded to buy products because of expert testimonial?

Anecdote  Individual Testimonial – plain people say it is good, so it must be good  Examples: Diet commercials, Subway commericials with Jerrod.  What others do you know?

Emotional Appeal  An appeal to fear or anger to sway the audience. May also add climax or excitement (negative emotions)  Uses images and dramatic situation  Examples: Starving children in Africa commercials, Happy Feet, Volvo commericials – Safety Happens  What else can you come up with it?

Bandwagon  PEER PRESSURE – everybody wants to do it, so you should too!  Peer Pressure can be POSITIVE!!  Examples: anti-drug commercials, clothing lines/brands, new show hype  Where do you see bandwagon used in advertising?

Snob Appeal  Plays on the idea of individuality, being better than everyone else  Examples: Lexus ads, Gucci, Rolex  What other ideas can you come up with?

Propaganda  “Half-truths”  Persuading the audience to believe in something or buy it because the evidence shows they should  Example: political ads show only one side of the issue; candidates show “best side”  Negative example: drug/medicine commericals

Word of Mouth  “grapevine” talk; gossip  Advertising something through talking with friends, etc.  Example: gossip magazines, movies, clothing, food  What is the latest word on Orlando Bloom?

Rational Techniques

Factual  The use of facts to sell a product or idea  Facts cannot be disputed but may not tell the whole story  Audience is overwhelmed with information  Example: car commercials, anti-drug commercials, medicines

Statistics  Statistics—deals with collection, analysis and presentation of masses of numerical data  Use of statistics to persuade audience to buy product or idea  Sometimes one-sided  Example: drug ads, toothpaste ads  Where else do you see statistics used to sell products?

Group Activity  In groups of three: use magazines, newspapers to find examples of both EMOTIONAL and RATIONAL techniques  Cut out: 3 examples of emotional technique 2 examples of rational technique --- and paste onto construction paper