Persuasion is, in psychology, the process of presenting arguments that can motivate or change the audience’s views. More than a millennium ago, Aristotle defined rhetoric as a way of discovering “available means of persuasion.” Aristotle taught that rhetoric, or the art of public speaking, presupposes the ability to observe available means of persuasion in each particular case. The persuasion process is often defined as human communication designed to influence others by changing their worldviews, values, or attitudes. Some scientists argue that communicating means convincing — that all communication in one form or another is a conviction. Indeed, persuasion is central to some of the most important functions of humanity, which form the basis of politics, religion, and health, and is simultaneously present in everyday life, for example, in marketing and parenting.
In the broadest sense, persuasion is a communicative process by which a message prompts a change in the beliefs, attitudes, or behavior of a person or group. Each person has inside and acts within a complex set of beliefs that define him and the world in which he lives. Beliefs are how the flow of information coming through the five main senses is processed every day. In the Middle Ages, persuasion (rhetoric) was one of the main liberal arts in European universities, which any educated person had to master. In Ancient Time preachers elevated the rhetoric to the level of fine art, who used the spoken word to inspire any number of actions, such as virtuous behavior or religious pilgrimages (Boerman et al., 2018). In the modern era, persuasion is most noticeable in the form of advertising. Political scientists psychologists studying the process of persuasion in the field of communication studies trace the history of this discipline back to the ancient Greeks.
The heated debates between Plato and the sophists regarding the dignity and place of persuasion in society are very much alive today. Plato hated what many consider a dark and dubious part of faith – greatly exaggerated statements. On the other hand, Sophists accepted this side of the faith, arguing for its practical basis and ubiquitous presence in everyday life. Persuasion is also defined in psychology as a skill that requires a lot of practice to master. Understanding the psychology of people helps to deliver information more effectively and have a greater impact on personal and professional life (Chen et al., 2019). The study of this concept is necessary to understand human communication, and modern research continues to bring new ideas and concepts. Some theorists emphasize the similarities between education and persuasion. They believe that persuasion is similar to learning new information through informative communication. A person’s reaction to persuasive communication depends partly on the message and largely on how the person perceives or interprets it. The words in a newspaper advertisement may be more convincing if printed in red rather than black.
Persuasion is more effective when a group is convinced rather than an individual. It is based on logical methods of proof, with the help of which the truth of thought is justified through the medium of others. Persuasive influence is presented in the form of analytical materials. Advertising is not only design – it is a whole set of visual hierarchy, psychology, copywriting, marketing. In a word, advertising is an art. To produce catchy and effective advertising, experts resort to various tricks, focusing on an infinite number of aspects, ranging from the slogan to the emotional context of their brainchild. Mental influences, or social influences, are widespread and manifest in the relationships of all people. Advertising activity, therefore, can also be considered from the point of view of psychological influences or social influence.
The problem of psychological influences in advertising is closely related to the problem of choice. Business people and advertisers choose ways to organize advertising campaigns, for example, with or without special impact technologies. Thus, consumers face this problem when they are exposed to such influences or, conversely, discover the need to make their own decisions. A suggestion is the main psychological method of influence; the suggestion should be understood as one person’s direct and undocumented influence on another or a group. During suggestion, the influence process is carried out based on the uncritical perception of information. It is believed that children are more susceptible to suggestion than adults; tired people are more susceptible to suggestion.
The suggestion involves repeating the same suggestive attitudes in the form of words, texts, or the repeated presentation of the same optical images. To achieve the effect of suggestion, it is not enough to provide information only once. One should strive to ensure that the suggested message is repeated several times, and each time something new is introduced into it, the ways and forms of presenting the content are changed. At the heart of any advertising, technology is the manipulation of consumer behavior. Manipulation is always carried out implicitly, secretly, because, in his right mind, the consumer will not agree to be forced to commit any actions unusual for him against his own will.
In addition, there are many methods of manipulating mass consciousness. For example, methods such as fragmentation and localization: the most interesting material of the magazine is divided into several parts that are scattered throughout the issue. Thus, the reader is forced to view the entire magazine, including advertising tabs. In the TV movie, advertising tabs constantly interrupt the plot at the most interesting place, but he is forced to watch the advertisement since the viewer wants to see the outcome. All methods of manipulating consciousness aim to neutralize the action of critical analysis of the target audience’s information. Advertising often uses manipulation through the influence of scientists and doctors. For example, in this advertisement for Colgate toothpaste, a photo of a man in white and a bathrobe is used, with the inscription ” #1 according to dentists” at the bottom. Of course, the audience does not know which specific dentists were asked about Colgate toothpaste. By the way, the audience trusts the image of the doctor.
The theory of social judgment can be attributed to this advertisement since the audience sees a person in a medical form and trusts the product. Moreover, the probability theory of elaboration can be attributed to this advertisement. Such statements as “new convenient packaging” or, as in the example with the toothbrush, “new soft tongue cleaner” effectively act on people’s subconscious. The theory of persuasion of cognitive dissonance can be attributed to this advertisement because most likely, people understand that small changes in the design of a toothbrush will not affect its direct purpose in any way.
In conclusion, advertising psychology is a separate branch of psychology that deals with the substantiation of theoretical and practical ways to increase the effectiveness and effectiveness of advertising materials by influencing mental processes and phenomena. The method of persuasion is used very widely in modern advertising. Persuasion is often based on an increase in the amount of information about the advertised product, on exaggerations, on comparing the merits of the advertised object.
References
Boerman, S. C., van Reijmersdal, E. A., Rozendaal, E., & Dima, A. L. (2018). Development of the persuasion knowledge scales of sponsored content (PKS-SC).International Journal of Advertising, 37(5), 671-697. Web.
Chen, Z. F., & Cheng, Y. (2019). Consumer response to fake news about brands on social media: the effects of self-efficacy, media trust, and persuasion knowledge on brand trust.Journal of Product & Brand Management. Web.