Assignment 40 technique Advertisement

SOFTSKILL

AULIA FARADILLA,  1SA01 (11614813)

1. Association 
      
This persuasion technique tries to link a product, service, or idea with something

already liked or desired by the target audience, such as fun, pleasure, beauty, security, intimacy,

success, wealth, etc. 

 2. Bandwagon
    
Many ads show lots of people using the product, implying that "everyone is doing
it" (or at least, "all the cool people are doing it").

3. Beautiful People

 Beautiful people uses good-looking models (who may also be celebrities) to

attract our attention.
 








































4. Bribery
This technique tries to persuade us to buy a product by promising to give us something

else, like a discount, a rebate, a coupon, or a "free gift.” Sales, special offers, contests, and

sweepstakes are all forms of bribery.

 

 5. Celebrities

(A type of Testimonial – the opposite of Plain folks.) We tend to pay attention to

famous people.





























6. Experts

(A type of Testimonial.) We rely on experts to advise us about things that we don’t

know ourselves. Scientists, doctors, professors and other professionals often appear in ads and

advocacy messages, lending their credibility to the product, service, or idea being sold. 

7. Explicit claims. Something is "explicit" if it is directly, fully, and/or clearly expressed or

demonstrated. For example, some ads state the price of a product, the main ingredients, where it

was made, or the number of items in the package – these are explicit claims. So are specific,

measurable promises about quality, effectiveness, or reliability, like “Works in only five minutes!”

Explicit claims can be proven true or false through close examination or testing, and if they’re false,

the advertiser can get in trouble. It can be surprising to learn how few ads make explicit claims. Most

of them try to persuade us in ways that cannot be proved or disproved.

8. Fear. This is the opposite of the Association technique. It uses something disliked or feared by

the intended audience (like bad breath, failure, high taxes or terrorism) to promote a "solution.” Ads

use fear to sell us products that claim to prevent or fix the problem. Politicians and advocacy groups

stoke our fears to get elected or to gain support.

9. Humor. Many ads use humor because it grabs our attention and it’s a powerful persuasion

technique. When we laugh, we feel good. Advertisers make us laugh and then show us their product

or logo because they’re trying to connect that good feeling to their product. They hope that when we

see their product in a store, we’ll subtly re-experience that good feeling and select their product.

Advocacy messages (and news) rarely use humor because it can undermine their credibility; an

exception is political satire.

 

10. Intensity. The language of ads is full of intensifiers, including superlatives (greatest, best, most,

fastest, lowest prices), comparatives (more, better than, improved, increased, fewer calories),

hyperbole (amazing, incredible, forever), exaggeration, and many other ways to hype the product

11. Maybe. Unproven, exaggerated or outrageous claims are commonly preceded by "weasel

words" such as may, might, can, could, some, many, often, virtually, as many as, or up to. Watch for

these words if an offer seems too good to be true. Commonly, the Intensity and Maybe techniques

are used together, making the whole thing meaningless.

 

12. Plain folks. (A type of Testimonial – the opposite of Celebrities.) This technique works

because we may believe a "regular person" more than an intellectual or a highly-paid celebrity. It’s

often used to sell everyday products like laundry detergent because we can more easily see

ourselves using the product, too. The Plain folks technique strengthens the down-home, "authentic"

image of products like pickup trucks and politicians. Unfortunately, most of the "plain folks" in ads are

actually paid actors carefully selected because they look like "regular people.”

13. Repetition. Advertisers use repetition in two ways: Within an ad or advocacy message, words,

sounds or images may be repeated to reinforce the main point. And the message itself (a TV

commercial, a billboard, a website banner ad) may be displayed many times. Even unpleasant ads

and political slogans work if they are repeated enough to pound their message into our minds.

 

14. Testimonials. Media messages often show people testifying about the value or quality of a

product, or endorsing an idea. They can be experts, celebrities, or plain folks. We tend to believe

them because they appear to be a neutral third party (a pop star, for example, not the lipstick maker,

or a community member instead of the politician running for office.) This technique works best when

it seems like the person “testifying” is doing so because they genuinely like the product or agree with

the idea. Some testimonials may be less effective when we recognize that the person is getting paid

to endorse the product.

  

 

15. Warm & fuzzy. This technique uses sentimental images (especially of families, kids and

animals) to stimulate feelings of pleasure, comfort, and delight. It may also include the use of

soothing music, pleasant voices, and evocative words like "cozy" or "cuddly.” The Warm & fuzzy

technique is another form of Association. It works well with some audiences, but not with others, who

may find it too corny.

16. The Big Lie. According to Adolf Hitler, one of the 20th century’s most dangerous

propagandists, people are more suspicious of a small lie than a big one. The Big Lie is more than

exaggeration or hype; it’s telling a complete falsehood with such confidence and charisma that people

believe it. Recognizing The Big Lie requires "thinking outside the box" of conventional wisdom and

asking the questions other people don’t ask.

17. Charisma. Sometimes, persuaders can be effective simply by appearing firm, bold, strong, and

confident. This is particularly true in political and advocacy messages. People often follow charismatic

leaders even when they disagree with their positions on issues that affect them.

 

18. Euphemism. While the Glittering generalities and Name-calling techniques arouse audiences

with vivid, emotionally suggestive words, Euphemism tries to pacify audiences in order to make an

unpleasant reality more palatable. Bland or abstract terms are used instead of clearer, more graphic

words. Thus, we hear about corporate "downsizing" instead of "layoffs," or "enhanced interrogation

techniques" instead of "torture.”

19. Extrapolation. Persuaders sometimes draw huge conclusions on the basis of a few small

facts. Extrapolation works by ignoring complexity. It’s most persuasive when it predicts something we

hope can or will be true.

20. Flattery. Persuaders love to flatter us. Politicians and advertisers sometimes speak directly to

us: "You know a good deal when you see one." "You expect quality." "You work hard for a living."

"You deserve it." Sometimes ads flatter us by showing people doing stupid things, so that we’ll feel

smarter or superior. Flattery works because we like to be praised and we tend to believe people we

like. (We’re sure that someone as brilliant as you will easily understand this technique!)

21. Glittering generalities. This is the use of so-called "virtue words" such as civilization,

democracy, freedom, patriotism, motherhood, fatherhood, science, health, beauty, and love.

Persuaders use these words in the hope that we will approve and accept their statements without

examining the evidence. They hope that few people will ask whether it’s appropriate to invoke these

concepts, while even fewer will ask what these concepts really mean.

 

22. Name-calling. This technique links a person or idea to a negative symbol (liar, creep, gossip,

etc.). It’s the opposite of Glittering generalities. Persuaders use Name-calling to make us reject the

person or the idea on the basis of the negative symbol, instead of looking at the available evidence. A

subtler version of this technique is to use adjectives with negative connotations (extreme, passive,

lazy, pushy, etc.) Ask yourself: Leaving out the name-calling, what are the merits of the idea itself?

23. New. We love new things and new ideas, because we tend to believe they’re better than old

things and old ideas. That’s because the dominant culture in the United States (and many other

countries) places great faith in technology and progress. But sometimes, new products and new ideas

lead to new and more difficult problems.

24. Nostalgia. This is the opposite of the New technique. Many advertisers invoke a time when life

was simpler and quality was supposedly better ("like Mom used to make"). Politicians promise to

bring back the "good old days" and restore "tradition." But whose traditions are being restored? Who

did they benefit, and who did they harm? This technique works because people tend to forget the bad

parts of the past, and remember the good.

25. Rhetorical questions. These are questions designed to get us to agree with the speaker.

They are set up so that the “correct” answer is obvious. ("Do you want to get out of debt?" "Do you

want quick relief from headache pain?" and "Should we leave our nation vulnerable to terrorist

attacks?" are all rhetorical questions.) Rhetorical questions are used to build trust and alignment

before the sales pitch.

26. Scientific evidence. This is a particular application of the Expert technique. It uses the

paraphernalia of science (charts, graphs, statistics, lab coats, etc.) to "prove" something. It often

works because many people trust science and scientists. It’s important to look closely at the

"evidence," however, because it can be misleading.

27. Simple solution. Life is complicated. People are complex. Problems often have many

causes, and they’re not easy to solve. These realities create anxiety for many of us. Persuaders offer

relief by ignoring complexity and proposing a Simple solution. Politicians claim one policy change

(lower taxes, a new law, a government program) will solve big social problems. Advertisers take this

strategy even further, suggesting that a deodorant, a car, or a brand of beer will make you beautiful,

popular and successful.

28. Slippery slope. This technique combines Extrapolation and Fear. Instead of predicting a

positive future, it warns against a negative outcome. It argues against an idea by claiming it’s just the

first step down a “slippery slope” toward something the target audience opposes. ("If we let them ban

smoking in restaurants because it’s unhealthy, eventually they’ll ban fast food, too." This argument

ignores the merits of banning smoking in restaurants.) The Slippery slope technique is commonly

used in political debate, because it’s easy to claim that a small step will lead to a result most people

won’t like, even though small steps can lead in many directions.

29. Symbols. Symbols are words or images that bring to mind some larger concept, usually one

with strong emotional content, such as home, family, nation, religion, gender, or lifestyle. Persuaders

use the power and intensity of symbols to make their case. But symbols can have different meanings

for different people. Hummer SUVs are status symbols for some people, while to others they are

symbols of environmental irresponsibility.

30. Ad hominem. Latin for "against the man," the ad hominem technique responds to an

argument by attacking the opponent instead of addressing the argument itself. It’s also called

"attacking the messenger.” It works on the belief that if there’s something wrong or objectionable

about the messenger, the message must also be wrong.

31. Analogy. An analogy compares one situation with another. A good analogy, where the

situations are reasonably similar, can aid decision-making. A weak analogy may not be persuasive,

unless it uses emotionally-charged images that obscure the illogical or unfair comparison.

32. Card stacking. No one can tell the whole story; we all tell part of the story. Card stacking,

however, deliberately provides a false context to give a misleading impression. It "stacks the deck,"

selecting only favorable evidence to lead the audience to the desired conclusion.

33. Cause vs. Correlation. While understanding true causes and true effects is important,

persuaders can fool us by intentionally confusing correlation with cause. For example: Babies drink

milk. Babies cry. Therefore, drinking milk makes babies cry.

34. Denial. This technique is used to escape responsibility for something that is unpopular or

controversial. It can be either direct or indirect. A politician who says, "I won’t bring up my opponent’s

marital problems," has just brought up the issue without sounding mean.

35. Diversion. This technique diverts our attention from a problem or issue by raising a separate

issue, usually one where the persuader has a better chance of convincing us. Diversion is often used

to hide the part of the story not being told. It is also known as a “red herring.”

36. Group dynamics. We are greatly influenced by what other people think and do. We can get

carried away by the potent atmosphere of live audiences, rallies, or other gatherings. Group dynamics

is a more intense version of the Majority belief and Bandwagon techniques.

37. Majority belief. This technique is similar to the Bandwagon technique. It works on the

assumption that if most people believe something, it must be true. That’s why polls and survey results

are so often used to back up an argument, even though pollsters will admit that responses vary

widely depending on how one asks the question.

38. Scapegoating. Extremely powerful and very common in political speech, Scapegoating

blames a problem on one person, group, race, religion, etc. Some people, for example, claim that

undocumented (“illegal”) immigrants are the main cause of unemployment in the United States, even

though unemployment is a complex problem with many causes. Scapegoating is a particularly

dangerous form of the Simple solution technique.

39. Straw man. This technique builds up an illogical or deliberately damaged idea and presents it

as something that one’s opponent supports or represents. Knocking down the "straw man" is easier

than confronting the opponent directly.

40. Timing. Sometimes a media message is persuasive not because of what it says, but because

of when it’s delivered. This can be as simple as placing ads for flowers and candy just before

Valentine’s Day, or delivering a political speech right after a major news event. Sophisticated ad

campaigns commonly roll out carefully-timed phases to grab our attention, stimulate desire, and

generate a respons