Techniques of persuasion

While experts argue about new methods, they still rely mainly on basic appeals that have proved successful over the years. These appeals offer the hope of more money and better jobs, security against the hazards of old age and illness, popularity and personal prestige, praise from others, more comfort, increased enjoyment, social advancement, improved appearance, and better health. The modern advertiser stresses not the product but the benefits that may be enjoyed by purchasers. Thus, the advertiser purveys not cosmetics but the expectation of new beauty, allure, and hope. To attract the prospective buyer of automobiles, the manufacturer may stress' not only the mechanical attributes of the car but also the excitement, comfort, and prestige it may bring the buyer. The many techniques of persuasion are circumscribed only by the ingenuity of the creative mind, by the limits of the various channels of communications, by certain legal restrictions, and by standards self-imposed by the advertising industry. One fundamental technique, apparent in the earliest applications of advertising and still basic in the most modern procedures, is repetition. A typical national advertiser captures the attention of prospective customers by repeated appeals to buy. It is not unusual for a person to hear sales talks on radio and television, see advertisements for the same product in a local newspaper, receive additional reminders in various national magazines, and be confronted with a poster, counter card, or display on entering a store. Another basic persuader is the trademark. Manufacturers have spent millions to establish their trademarks as symbols of reliability and value. A trademark is useless unless the manufacturer sets and maintains high standards of quality, but once consumers are in confidence in it, the owner can use it as a persuader, that is, as a device to reassure customers that all products bearing this symbol are reliable. The trademark is especially useful when the manufacturer introduces a new item to an existing line of goods.

Price appeal probably motivates more decisions to buy than any other appeal, and the magic words sale and bargain are directed at consumers with great frequency. Closely allied to these plain and simple discount offers are the " something for nothing" lures, such as " buy one package and get a second one free, " send for free sample, " and " trial offer at half price" and the big-money contest, for example, " finish this sentence and win $10, 000 in cash, an automobile, or a trip to Bermuda for two. “No money down" is also a successful inducement. Modern advertising employs an astonishing variety of persuaders. Among these are humorous and entertaining television and radio commercials, appeals to the sense of smell by the use of perfumed ink on paper, endorsements of products by celebrities, appeals to parents to give their children a better life and future, appeals to children to " ask mommy to buy certain breakfast cereals, and the controversial use of " scare copy." Because fear is a principal human frailty, this last-mentioned motivation is applied to the advertising of thousands of commodities, sometimes boldly, sometimes subtly. Fear of poverty, sickness, and loss of social standing, and the specter of possible disasters, great and small, sometimes move previously unexcitable consumers to buy anything from insurance and fire extinguishers to cosmetics and vitamin capsules.