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Modern Persuasion
Over time, persuasion has been able to
evolve and change from its original
beginnings. Persuasion has been around
for many years; in fact it has been
around since the time of ancient
Greece. This does not mean that the art
and process of persuasion is exactly the
same as it was way back then. In fact,
there have been quite a few changes
made to the art of persuasion and how
it is used in modern times. Some of the
key elements of modern day persuasion
will be discussed in this section.
Richard M. Perloff has spent quite a bit
of time studying modern persuasion,
how it is used, and how it can affect
society as a whole. He wrote a book
called
The Dynamics of Persuasion:
Communication and Attitudes in the
21
st
Century,
which outlines the five
ways that the use of modern persuasion
is different from how it was used in the
past. These five ways include:
The number of messages
that are considered
persuasive has grown by
leaps and bounds: In the
times of ancient Greece,
persuasion was used just in
writing and in debates
among the elites. The
occurrence of persuasion
was not a big thing and you
would not see it very often.
In modern times, it is
difficult to get anywhere
without some message of
persuasion following you
around. Think of the
different types and sources
of advertisements that are
out there; the average adult
in the United States will
come across up to 3000 of
these each day. In addition
to that, there are always
people knocking on your
door trying to get you to buy
something, believe their
ideas, or try something new
out. Persuasion is much
more a part of modern life
than it has been at any other
time in history.
Persuasion travels really
quickly: back in the times of
ancient Greece, it could take
weeks or longer for a
persuasive message to get
from one point to another.
This limited the impact of
persuasion because most
people would not be able to
get the message. Most acts
of persuasion had to be done
in the context of face to face
communication. In modern
times, persuasive messages
can cover a large distance in
hardly any time at all thanks
to the use of the internet,
radio, and television.
Political candidates can
reach constituents all at
once in just seconds and any
message can be spread
easily. Persuasion takes on a
much larger role when it can
be spread so quickly.
Persuasion can mean a lot of
money: now that companies
have discovered the power
of persuasion, they are doing
everything they can to make
it work for them. The more
effective they are at
persuading consumers to
purchase their products the
more money they will make.
Some companies are in
business solely because of
the persuasive process, such
as public relations
companies, marketing firms,
and advertising agencies.
Other companies will be
able to use the persuasive
techniques offered by these
companies in order to reach
and surpass the sales goals
that they set.
Persuasion has become more
subtle than in the past: in the
beginnings of persuasion,
the agent would announce
their views out loud for the
whole group to hear in the
hopes of getting them all to
change their minds. Those
days are over and the
process of persuasion has
become much more discrete.
While it is possible to find
acts of persuasion that are
still very loud and in your
face, such as in some forms
of advertising, many others
are following a more subtle
route.
An example of this is when
businesses craft a certain image
of themselves, such as being
family friendly, in order to get
consumers to purchase their
products. You might also notice
that instead of getting into a
debate with your friend over
going to a party, they will use
peer pressure or just list a few
facts to try and get you to come
with them. Despite being more
subtle, persuasion is still as
effective today as it has ever
been.
The process of persuasion
has become more complex:
along with persuasion being
more subtle and sometimes
harder to point out, it is also
going along the road of
becoming more complex.
The subject being targeted is
more diverse than in the past
and they have a lot more
choices to make. For
example, where once a
person just went to the one
store in town to purchase
everything they need, now
they are able to pick from
different stores for their
needs from the hardware
store to the grocery store
and the clothing store. On
top of that, there is often
more than one option
available for each of these
shopping categories in the
area. All these choices make
it more difficult for the
agent to find a good
persuasive message for the
consumer or any other
subject.
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