Homework: Persuasion Technique

1. Association:


2. Bandwagon:


3. Beautiful People:


4. Bribery:


5. Celebrities:


6. Plain Folks:


7. Experts:



8. Explicit Claims:



9. Fear:



10. Humor:


11. Intensity:



12. Maybe:



13. Repetition:

Words

Advocacy: The act of pleading for, suporting, or recommending

Superlatives: Of the ighest kind,quality, or order;suprasing all else or others;supreme:;extreme

Comparitives: Of or pertaining to comparison

Exageration: The act of exaggeraing or overstating

Preceded: To go before as in place, order, rank, importance, or times

Persuasion Techniques

The goal of most media messages is to persuade the audience to believe or do something. Hollywood movies use expensive special effects to make us believe that what we want to see is real. News stories use several techniques-such as direct quotation of identified sources-to make us believe that the story is accurate.

The media messages most concerned with persuading us are found in advertising,advocacy, and relations. Commercial advertising tries to persuade us to buy a product or service. Politicians and advocacy groups( groups that support a particular belief,point of view,policy, or action)try to persuade us to vote for or support, using ads, speeches, newsletters, websites, and other means. Public relations(PR) "sells" us a positive image of a corporation, government or organization.

Learning the language of persuasion is an important media literacy skill. Once you know how media messages try to persuade you to believe or do something, you'll be better able to make your own decisions 

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,success,wealth, etc.

2. Bandwagon:Many ads show lots of people using the product, implying that "everyone is doing it"(or at least,"all of the cool people are doing it"). No one likes to be left behind ,and these ads urge us to "jump on the bandwagon."

3. Beautiful People: Advertisers use good- looking models(who may also be celebrities) to attract our attention. This technique is extremely common in ads, which may imply(but never promise!) that we'll look like the models if we use this product.

4. Bribery: This technique tries to persuade us  to purchase 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. Unfortunately, we don't realy get something for free--part of the sales price covers the cost of the bribe.

5. Celebrities: (A type of Testomonial-the opposite of Plain Folks.) We tend to pay attention to famous people. That's why they're famous! Ads often use celebrities to grab our attention. By appearing in an ad, celebrity implicity endorse a product; sometimes the endorsement is explicit. Many people know that companies pay celebrities a lot of money to appear in their ads but this type of testimonial still seems to be affective.

6. 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. Its 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 pick up trucks and politicians. Unfortunately, most of the "plain folks" in ads are actually paid actors carefully selected because they look like "regular people."

7. 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 professional often appear in ads and advocacy messages, lending their credibility to the product,service, or idea being sold. Sometimes,"plain folks" can also be experts. For example when a mother endorses a brand of baby powder of a construction worker endorses a treatment for some muscles they are considered experts because they use the product.

8. 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 of false through close examination or testing, and if  they're false, their 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 way that cannot be proved or disproved. 

9. Fear:This is the opposite of the association technique. It uses something disliked or feared by the intended audience(like bad breath,high taxes, or terrorism) to promote a "solution." Ads use fear to sell us products that claim to prevent or fix the problem. Polititians and advocacy groups stroke fears to get elected or gain support. 

10. Humor: Many ads use humor because it grabs our attention and it's a powerful persuation technique. When we feel good. Advertisers make us lagh 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 massages (and news) rarely because it can be undermine their credibility.

11. Intensity: the lanuage of ads is full of intensifiers, including superlatives(great, 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.

12. Maybe: Unproven, exagerated 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 meanigless.

13. Repetition: Advertise use repetition in two ways: Within an ad or advocacy message,words,sounds, or images may be reapeated to reinforce the main point. The message itself (a TV commercial, a billboard, a website banner ad)may be displayed many times. Even unpleasent ads and political slogans work if they are repeated enough to pound their message into minds.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

   

Attributes of Commercials Aimed at Children

Boy Commercials-

 Adventurous music

 Loud Booming voices

 Colors: red, yellows, blacks

 Powerful images

Girl Commercials-

 Light, airy music

 female voices

 colors: pastels

 soft, peaceful images

Media Literacy

1.What percentage of American 8-18 year-olds have television sets in their bedrooms? 

d. 68% 

2.The average American seventh grader:

a. watches three hours of TV per day

3.Excessive TV viewing has been linked to:

b. obesity 

4.What percentage of young people say they either talk on the phone, instant message, watch TV, listen to music or surf the Web for fun "most of the time" while they're doing homework?

a. 30% 

5.What percentage of children willingly share personal information about themselves over the Internet in exchange for goods and services?

d. 75% 

6.Researchers estimate that children view an average of how many TV ads per year?

c. 40,000 

7.Among the top 20 most watched shows by teens, what percentage include sexual content?

c. 70% 

8.The TV rating code "TVY7, FV" indicates that:

a. program is appropriate for kids over age 7, although it contains animated and/or live action violence. 

9.An online journal or Web log is commonly referred to as a:

c. blog 

10.Approximately how much money was spent on presidential election advertising during the 2004 election?

d. $530 million 

11.According to a 2006 survey, what percentage of teens own at least one video game platform?

b. 81% 

12.Minimum wage and allowance adds up! How much money did teens, ages 12-19, spend in 2005?

d. $159 billion 

13.According to a 2005 survey, 9% of people in their 60's list the Internet as a main source of news. What do you think the percentage is for people under the age of 30?

b. 36% 

14.63% of American families "usually:"

b. keep the TV on while eating dinner 

15.What percentage of Americans under the age of 30 read a newspaper on a typical day?

b. 23%

Poll Results

6-2-

 3:Lie to me

 15: Dont Lie to me

7-1-

 10:Lie to me

 11:Dont Lie to me

 4: changed their mind to "dont lie to me" 

6-1-

 11:Lie to me

 5:Dont Lie to me

 5:Change their mind to Dont Lie to me"

7-2-

 6:Lie to me

 17:Dont Lie to me

 4:Changed their mind to dont Lie to me

Toy Analysis Worksheet Homework

Name of Toy: 

Bratz dolls

Target age and Gender:

3-10

Fine Print:

each sold separately

Memorable slogans:

Passion for Fashion

Visuals:

pink backrounds.dolls walking.lots of clothes.

Sounds:

runway music

No Fine Print

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