Many television and radio broadcasts present commercial advertising that bombard us with marketing messages. These commercials employ various persuasive techniques designed to get us to buy, vote, or otherwise do what the marketer wants us to do. The following article describes some of the more common techniques used by advertisers so that you can recognize and perhaps resist them.
Steps
- Notice how an ad portrays the product or service it sells. There are several popular techniques:
- Flag Waving: connecting a person, product, or course of action with patriotism
- Repetition: an idea is repeated over and over to plant it in our minds
- Card Stacking: telling only one side of the story, as if there were no opposing view or other consideration
- Notice how an ad talks about rival products, goods or services. They may use:
- Innuendo: inviting us to become wary or suspicious of competitors by hinting at secret, negative information about them
- Name Calling: negative or derogatory words intended to create a distasteful association in our minds
- Notice how an ad talks about consumers.
- Plain Folks: depicting a person representing the "typical" target of the ad to communicate the message that we are all alike: Joe Q. Public uses or buys or believes this, so you should, too
- Transfer: using names or pictures of famous people without directly quoting them
- Bandwagon: using social pressure to persuade people to purchase a product because "everyone is doing it"
- Testimonial: using the words of an expert or famous person to persuade
- Notice the tone of urgency.
- Exigency: creating the impression that action is required immediately or the opportunity will be lost forever
- Free or Bargain: the suggestion that you can get something for nothing or almost nothing
- Notice how the ad appeals to your logic or your feelings.
- Glittering Generalities: in glowing terms without much evidence, the advertiser supports a candidate or a solution to a social problem
- Common Sense: trying to persuade using an everyday sense of good and bad
- Emotional Words: terms used to make you feel strongly about an idea
- Reasoning: suggesting reasons you may like a product, service or cause
- "Wit and Humor": customers are attracted to advertising that prompts laughter or features the clever use of visuals or language
Related Articles
