Persuasive techniques are forms of communication aimed at influencing attitudes and choices. Companies spend billions on advertising using techniques like bandwagon appeals, testimonials, emotional appeals, and loaded language. Politicians, the military, governments, and individuals also use persuasion. Common persuasive methods noted include bandwagon appeals that encourage conforming, celebrity testimonials or endorsements, appealing to emotions like fear or sympathy, and using positively or negatively loaded language to associate feelings with products, people, or ideas.

1. Persuasive Techniques
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Whose voice guides your
choice?

2. Persuasive techniques
are a…
… form of communication
… aimed at swaying or
influencing your attitude
… toward or away from some
cause or position.

3. Influence of Persuasion
♦ If you watch 30 hours of TV per week, you
will…
– View roughly 37,822 commercials per year
•That’s about 100 TV ads per day
♦ You will see another 100 to 300 ads per day
through other mass media
If companies did not think you could
be influenced, they would not spend
billions of $ on it!

4. So …
if everyone is
trying to
influence you
how do you ….

5. How do you decide who is the
best candidate…
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6. or which is the
best toothpaste ?
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7. Who uses persuasion techniques?
• Military
• Politicians
• Governments
• You and I

8. What are persuasive techniques?
• Designed to persuade and to
influence your
Opinions
Emotions
Attitudes
Behavior
• Persuasive techniques seek
to “guide your choice.”

9. What are some of the methods or
techniques used to persuade us?
•Bandwagon
•Testimonial
•Appeal to emotions
•Load language

10. Bandwagon
oEverybody is doing this. Join the crowd!
You must JOIN in to FIT in!
oIf you want to fit in, you need to “jump on
the bandwagon” and do it too.
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11. Bandwagon
example:
Everyone in Auburn is
supporting Bob Riley.
Shouldn’t you be part of
the winning team?

12. Testimonial & Endorsements
•A famous person endorses an idea, a
product, a candidate and implies the
person uses it and so should we!

13. Testimonial example:
An important person or famous figure
endorses a product.

14. Testimonial
example:
If we drink milk we
will all be as famous
and as strong as
superman.
http://www.spreadingjam.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/superman-got-milk-ad-commercial1.jpg

15. Appeal to Emotions
•Tells us something to make us feel a
certain way – like sympathy, fear,
excitement, jealousy

16. Appeal to Fear
example:
If you use Safety Ware, it
will keep people from
stealing your identity –
Created the idea that you
should worry about
identity theft and that
Safety ware will prevent
it.
Guard against Identity
theft
Use Safety Ware
www.safetyware.com
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17. Appeal to Sympathy
example:
The picture makes
you feel sorry for the
cat and convinces you
to give to the Humane
Society.

18. Loaded Language
•Words that leave us with positive or
negative feelings are used to describe a
product, person, or idea.
•We associate those words and,
therefore, those positive or negative
feelings with the product.

19. Loaded language (positive) example:
luxury, beautiful, paradise, economical
Used to evoke positive feelings
Happiness
Low
price
Fun
Flag (patriotism)

20. Loaded language (negative) example:
cramped, disgusting, dirty, faulty
Used to evoke negative feelings
Overcrowded
Faulty