Rank's Analytical Tool for Advertising

The use of effective persuasion techniques will not only the marketing and sales personnel to make more sales and meet the targets but also enable them to have an edge over the competitive environment. So of the techniques used in the commercial video from state farm insurance company on one hand show an effective means of communicating to convince the audience while on the other hand, the video is too complex to comprehend for an a normal and uneducated citizen. Here are some of the effective persuasion techniques that have been used in the commercial to reach out and convince their target audience to use and stick to the company’s insurance services. Moreover, these techniques are aimed at making the incumbent customers to become more loyal to State Farm insurance. According to Petty, Richard and Cacioppo (1984), there are two routes effective persuasion no matter the kind of media used to deliver the message to the audience. First, one can persuade effectively by building a central argument(s) in the message. Secondly, the persuader can effectively deliver the message to his or her target audience by trying to appeal to the audience by associating the message with what they can accept favorably. Usually, the favorable peripheral cues in the message lures the

Today, one can see the tactic of persuasion being used as a standard avenue to influence a person’s attitude or beliefs by presenting them with different messages that encourage things like using certain brand name products, vote a certain way, or where to take a vacation just to name a few. There are four types of people that include gullible people, skeptical people, firm believers, and people who are leaders who trust others as well as make others follow their ideas. Persuasion is a widespread topic of social psychology and may be done in different ways. There are two types of cognitive processes by which to persuade someone, which are the central route or the peripheral route. For this assignment I used mostly the central route approach as well as using a little of the peripheral route approach. To reinforce the peripheral route approach the use of pathos was also used during the video to play on the emotions of the watcher. This PowerPoint is effective at using the central route of persuasion, peripheral

Apart from referring to reputable theories and sources, other persuasion tools used in the book include emotional appeal and humor. These tools can build a

Modes of persuasion are rhetorical appeals used in writing to persuade an audience (Worthington 58). The rhetoric appeals are divided into three categories; ethos, pathos and logos. Writers and speakers alike must have the ability to use the three appeals within a text to persuade a particular audience. Ethos refers to the author’s or writer’s credibility. The writer or the author has to establish his or her credibility for the audience to consider his or her views. Pathos is appealing through the audience’s emotions. As an author or speaker, it is important to create a certain sense of curiosity and imagination in the audience’s minds in order to have them identify with the speech’s or text sentiments. Logos is the most important of the three

All around our society we witness persuasion. Whether it is a certified dentist selling a toothpaste brand in between our favorite shows on TV, or a church group coming to the door and asking for donations. We see little children begging their parents for a toy, promising they will behave, and the parents give in because they just want peace, quiet, and some time to relax. We have heard of college graduates expressing their qualification for the job, and stating facts about the type of service they are applying for. We look right past it, but in our everyday lives we experience, or even use, the three modes of persuasion. These methods to persuade people were made by a greek philosopher, Aristotle. The first mode is known

I must admit, I am enchanted by Aristotle's proofs ethos, pathos, and logos. While I do agree with the assigned text in that a balnce of the modes of persuasion creates the strongest argument, I am subsceptable to a well structured argument rooted an any of three proofs. Dispite my susceptability to Aristotle's proofs, I find Burke's theory on identification less compelling. Burke's rhetoric reminds me of the Psychologist's fallacy, a logical fallacy in which the speaker "mirrors", presents themselves as equals, or claim to be "just like you" in order to gain the audience's trust (Parish, 2011). Personally, I feel I have a tendancy to see through this approach, which ultimately leads to distrust of the speaker.

Persuading an audience can be done in several different fashions, one of which is Hugh Rank’s Model of Persuasion. Rank’s model states that two major strategies are used to achieve the particular goal of persuasion. These strategies are nicely set into two main schemas; the first method is to exaggerate an aspect of something, known as “intensify.” While the second is to discredit it, which is referred to as “downplay.” Al Franken, Jeffrey Snyder, Harlan Ellison, and George Will, have all written persuasive articles about gun control.

Kenneth Burke, a twentieth century scholar, devoted his work to “the definition of man”. His definition includes the notion that man is a symbol using animal, and that our symbol systems mediate reality. Simply, our perception and use of language shapes our reality. In conjunction with this definition, Burke also believed that rhetoric is a symbolic means of inducing cooperation. Rhetoric was not a means of persuasion for Burke, but more man’s way of achieving identification. Identification refers to the way people try to relate to each other and build relationships through language.

The first essential of persuasion involves the structure of the argument being posed by one who is trying to provoke others to action. In order to convince someone of a new argument, idea or moral, one must use the proper methods: logos, ethos and pathos. According to Hauser, “The method

If it has been identified that the central route of persuasion on an audience is necessary due to high relevance to the persuasive message, this gives the persuader a framework to begin crafting a strong argument. Since relevance is what captures the audience’s attention, the persuader must exploit this. For example, if the persuader is attempting to sell a car to an individual the the use of the central route, and the potential buyer has been categorized as one that clearly understands the relevance of the purchase, the persuader should do his or her best to make their product seem the most relevant to the customer. The seller may do this by asking the customer to visualize how happy they will be in their new car. This can also be done by highlighting the features of the car that are most applicable to the customer’s concerns (safety, high gas mileage, etc). These methods will invite the receiver to become more involved with the target of persuasion. All of these ways utilize the customer’s judgment of high relevance to the situation to construct a strong argument.

In the Hunter/Gatherer section of Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan talks about what it takes to accomplish the task of developing a meal on his own; consequently, the people of today’s society are so used to the abundance of food that they have no idea what all is involved in establishing a full meal. Americans take this great abundance of food for granted, which causes an increased craving for more. This is where the world of advertisement has been the strongest. One of the easiest ways to reach people is through their food; therefore, major food industries try to lure people in at all costs just to buy their products. The Fast food industry is the

The 25 minute Magic Bullet infomercial is full of persuasion in many aspects. Throughout my paper I will highlight how the commercial uses Ranks Model of Persuasion, starting with the intensify and downplay strategies that I observed from watching the Magic Bullet Commercial. The strategies and tactics that the persuaders used worked well, by the end of the commercial I wanted the product they advertised. Throughout my paper I will go more in depth to Rank’s Model of persuasion by analyzing, explaining, and providing examples from the Magic Bullet infomercial. There are two main strategies of Rank’s model, intensify and downplay.

Petty and Cacioppo (1981) have developed the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion which explains the peripheral route to persuasion and the central route. In the peripheral route, persuasive influences are more tangential to the issues at hand. For egg- in a PSA targeted against smoking in youth, the peripheral route will show the teenagers having a better sex life after quitting smoking. (William G. Shadel, January 2009) Central processing occurs when the person at hand is aware about the main message of the PSA and is motivated to consider its content. We will analyze the use of celebrities for both these routes of persuasion and try to find out the effectiveness in each case.

Smoking tobacco has been a part of American culture since its very conception. Throughout our history, tobacco has been advertised as a simple pleasure for those who seek it out. Whether you are sitting on the porch with a couple of friends or in a dimly lit jazz club, tobacco ads give off a false sense of comfort, power, and success. Until around the mid-1900’s, smoking cigarettes was not considered unhealthy. It was only later that the public realize the detrimental health consequences that came with smoking tobacco. To spread this information, specific advertisements were aired to help inform the public of the dangers of smoking. While these ads have changed over time, the same message and warning still remains evident.

Social psychologists have not only studied the effects of persuasion, but also the elements that contribute to attitude change. Carl Hovland (1953) developed the Hovland-Yale model of persuasion, in which he used a research team from Yale University. They found that there are a considerable number of factors that can influence how likely attitude changes are to occur, however they also noticed that some are more important than others [McGuire et al 1996]. One of the key factors they found that determines whether persuasion occurs is the communicator. Social psychologists have found that persuasion can be influenced depending about who is presenting the argument, which can impact on how an audience receives it. The credibility of the communicator plays a large role in influencing persuasion, in which