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Persuasive Techniques in Human Communication
Shannon Alvarez
COM 323 Persuasion and
Argumentation
Prof. Teresa Plummer
December 1, 2014
These devices can be used for various purposes including good and evil. In many cases, the person sending the communication or message has an honest and ethical intent (Magee, 2014). Their motives are sincere and they do not mean to cause any harm to the person they are trying to persuade. On other occasions, the persuader is acting with malice or some form of unethical objective (Magee, 2014).
This essay will look at the differences between the terms persuasion, manipulation, and seduction. It will then assess modern-day examples of varying types of persuasive devices and the how different audiences respond to each technique.
Persuasion
One might assume that there is no difference between the terms persuasion, manipulation, and seduction since the goal is to get one person to act in a certain way based on the message being sent by another. However, there are ethical differences that must be addressed.
When someone is using persuasion in the truest sense of the word, they must be open and honest about their intent as they communicate the message (Magee, 2014). Then, the person receiving the message must have “free will” to act as they feel appropriate based on the message (Magee, 2014). As long as both parties are aware of the persuader’s true intentions, then an ethical act of persuasion has been attempted.
For example, when a company advertises a product there is usually a clear intention to influence the audience to buy the product. The audience has the free will to decide if they want to purchase the product or not. Generally, there is no coercion or deceptive practices in play.
Another example is when one friend tells another friend about a workout program they are enjoying. They seek to persuade the friend to join them for a workout and possibly convince the friend to buy the product. As long as the persuader is being honest about their intentions, they are persuading their friend.
If, on the other hand, the persuader will stand to profit off the sale of the item and is not being honest about this intent, then the persuader is using the technique of manipulation.
Manipulation
Sutiu (2014) explains, “Persuasion uses either logical or emotional means or a combination of both of them instead of force to accomplish desired ends.” When someone uses manipulation, they intentionally “mask realities for dishonest purposes” with the intention to influence their audience for a goal other than the one they declared (Sutiu, 2014).
Codoban (2006) describes manipulation as a cause-effect reaction where “the manipulating subject passes over beyond the field of consciousness of the manipulated, thus treating him like an object.” In other words, the person being manipulated does not know they are being manipulated.
As stated in the previous example, one friend has asked another friend to join them in a workout using a particular exercise program. The first person has not fully disclosed that they have a financial stake in the company that produces the program. They stand to make money off of every sale that comes through.
The other friend may feel happy that the first person has taken an interest in their health and wants to share a workout with them. They are not aware of the ulterior motive of the first person.
The friend still has the choice as to whether or not they will buy the product, but they are still being manipulated because they are not fully aware of the first person’s true intentions. This is an unethical technique of communication and persuasion.
Seduction
Lastly, seduction can be described as another form of persuasion because the intent is still to influence a person to act in a certain way.
In one way, seduction is different from persuasion and manipulation because the person doing the seducing becomes the object of desire (Codoban, 2006). According to Codoban (2006), “the subject offers himself/herself as an object, but as an object - secret, miraculous, strange - that is missing to the other in order for him/her to be ‘entire/whole’” (p. 154).
The person being seduced is coerced through the promise of happiness or pleasure by the seducer. In the eighteenth-century, seduction was mainly identified with coquetry and sexual adventurism (Erickson and Thomson, 2004).
In modern terms, seduction can take place through the explicit violation of a commitment or even politics. Minogue (2006) describes examples of political seduction through events such as Hitlerism to the modern day jihadist. The people being seduced may not have agreed with the views of Hitler or the jihadists, but were seduced by the promises they made for their futures.
Persuasive Devices and Audience Response
There are numerous modern-day devices used to persuade people today. People can be persuaded through television and radio commercials, email, direct mail, and pop-up ads on the Internet.
Other persuasive devices include social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The news media can be a persuasive device along with movies and television shows.
The audience’s reaction to the persuasive message depends on the processing strategy they use (Meyers-Levy and Malaviya, 1999). These strategies include the systematic processing strategy, the heuristic processing strategy and the experiential processing strategy.
Systematic Processing Strategy
A person will use the systematic processing strategy when they are able to dedicate a considerable amount of resources to processing the message and feel strongly about attaining an accurate assessment (Meyers-Levy and Malaviya, 1999).
Someone using the systematic processing strategy may be shopping for a new car or some other expensive item. They would take their time assessing and comparing the persuasive elements before making up their mind which car to buy.
Heuristic Processing Strategy
When someone uses the heuristic processing strategy, their feelings about the subject are not as strong and they are willing to make a judgment based on convenience rather than accuracy (Meyers-Levy and Malaviya, 1999).
A simple example of heuristic processing may include buying a camera based on the fact it was made in Japan and Japanese products are known to be reliable.
Experiential Processing Strategy
Finally, a person may use the experiential processing strategy when the message is regarded as “too trivial to warrant even a modicum of resources” (Meyers-Levy and Malaviya, 1999).
Experiential processing is used most often with devices such as advertisements on the Internet and radio. Humans are prone to use the experiential processing strategy most often.
Ethical and Honest Communication
However, history has shown numerous examples where people even in the highest powers of office will use their powers to manipulate or seduce their audience. People will continue to try to influence others through these forms of communication using all the devices available.
Those that choose to manipulate or seduce in order to influence must know that the person they are persuading should have the right to free will in order to act as they feel most appropriate no matter who is doing the persuading.
References
Codoban, A. (2006). From persuasion to manipulation and seduction. (A very short history of global communication). Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 5(14), 151-158.
Erickson, K. V., & Thomson, S. (2004). Seduction theory and the recovery of feminine aesthetics: Implications for rhetorical criticism. Communication Quarterly, 52(3), 300-319. Retrieved from ProQuest.
Magee, R. (2014). Persuasion: A social science approach. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Meyers-Levy, J., & Malaviya, P. (1999). Consumers' processing of persuasive advertisements: An integrative framework of persuasion theories. Journal of Marketing, 63, 45-60. Retrieved from ProQuest.
Minogue, K. (2006). Seduction and politics. The New Criterion. Retrieved from http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Seduction---politics-2523
Şutiu, C. L. (2014). Human nature: Between persuasion and manipulation. Journal Of Academic Emergency Medicine Case Reports. Akademik Acil Tip Olgu Sunumlari Dergisi (Acil Tip Uzmanlari Dernegi), 5(10), 99-111. Retrieved from EbscoHost.
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