Propaganda Techniques Power of Persuasion: Propaganda Techniques

Define the following terms: Consumer - a person who uses goods or services Propaganda - a message designed to persuade its intended audience to think and behave in a certain manner Target Audience - a specified audience or demographic group for which an advertising message is designed.

Persuasion/Propaganda Techniques Advertisers use appeals by association, emotional appeals, and loaded language to persuade you. Two of the Appeals by Association that we’ve already talked about are * Bandwagon * Testimonials

Other types of Propaganda used: Stereotype—presents a narrow, fixed idea about all the members of a certain group Name-calling—uses loaded words to create negative feelings about a person, group, or thing

Snob appeal—sends the message that something is valuable because only “special” people appreciate it

One type of testimonial is called an endorsement, which is a recommendation by someone who is well-known, but not necessarily an authority on the subject.

Other techniques that are used to persuade consumers in advertising are humor, music and appealing to your emotions in various ways.

Faulty Reasoning seen in advertising… • Hasty generalization— a conclusion drawn from too little evidence • Overgeneralization— a broad conclusion using all-or-nothing words like every, always, and never • Circular reasoning— reasons that say the same thing over and over again using different words • False cause— the assumption that one event caused another because it occurred earlier in time

Hasty Generalization a conclusion drawn from too little evidence Example: Robin: I guess you can never trust a woman. Batman: You've made a hasty generalization, Robin. It's a bad habit to get into. (Batman television series, 1966)

Overgeneralization a broad conclusion using all-or-nothing words like every, always, and never Example: “In times of crisis, every American supports his President.” This statement is an overgeneralization because it assumes too much to be proven possible.  Until most Americans can be contacted and surveyed, this statement cannot be proven valid.    Public support could change day by day and topic by topic.

Circular Reasoning reasons that say the same thing over and over again using different words Examples: - Nothing succeeds like success. - Things are as they are because they were as they were. - The meaning of life is to live a life of meaning

False Cause the assumption that one event caused another because it occurred earlier in time Example: