THE ART OF PERSUASION: Persuasion has been used as an effective propaganda tool from ancient times
Dr. Tanvir Orakzai
May 21, 2006
The prophets in the ancient history often appealed to the people to sway the opinion through persuasion. In the early days of Christianity Saint Paul and Saint Augustine also adopted Cicero and Aristotle rhetorical style preaching persuading pagans toward their teachings. In ancient Greece and Rome, every thing depended on people’s opinion; wealth and fame could be given and taken away by persuading the populace. Cicero was an influential orator who enjoyed enormous influence in changing opinion at the royal court.
Politics is one chief example of persuading public to create favorable public opinion. For example during cold war President Regan created the image of evil empire (Soviet Union) and convinced majority of world including Pope John Paul to his views. Russians have always been portrayed as devilish, fiendish and lazy people in US media that is far from truth; in reality Russians reached space earlier than Americans and were able to compete the whole world for 70 years.
In a study, how prejudice affects the White American by forming stereotypes about minorities. The participants were asked to review a minority scholarship and asked to rate it for liking. Every application had trait description, which described stereotype-ness. The participants with high level of prejudice formed more negative ranking compared to those who were less biased. When the participants were provided with more traits, the image was more negative. The study showed that prejudice and discrimination are inescapable and we categorize other people according to our social judgments rather than facts. It also depicts that a person whom we do not like is considered more different than he actually is.
It is generally well known that older people have more bias than the younger people. The reason for such attitude is the time in which they were brought up, when bias was more common and accepted attitude in society. In an experiment, it was examined that older people are more biased due to their stereotyping of African American, while younger people were found to be less prejudiced. Ironically older people were even told not be biased; yet they proved more biased. Older people made judgment on their pre-conceived perception of African Americans, no matter how much they are taught to change their attitude.
Persuasion has been used as an effective propaganda tool from ancient times. During the English Civil War launching a war was always a “Just War” so does Roman did and slaughtered and enslaved millions. During the colonial times, the English colonized continents on the pretext of civilizing the world “white man’s burden”. During the WWI, both sides used extensive propaganda. WWI was a long and bloody; public opinion can no longer be ignored, it was essential for Allied governments to form public opinion through media to keep the morale up. As a result, in 1917 UK government established a new propaganda department, which through strict and controlled censorship disseminated propaganda material in the shape of press reports, leaflets, brochure and films that were officially approved by British government to form public opinion.
Hitler’s book Mien Kamf is a classic example of persuading Germans that they are superior and born to rule the world. From 1933 onwards, the German propaganda machine started to disseminate Nazi messages proclaiming to tell the facts in the shape of propaganda. The Nazi propaganda method was concise, solid and concrete stressing love (among the Germans) and hatred towards non-German.
In modern politics, persuasion has been used as an effective tool to form public opinion and further the political agenda. The lies are told in convincing ways with a pretext of telling the facts to the public. During the Iraq invasion British public was reminded of “Falkland spirit” with a promise of reduction in inflation offering a carrot for support. On the Iraqi side, Saddam Hussein was portrayed as a crusader and defender of Islam with Saddam pictures in uniform and prayer.
The TV channels all over the world follow a specific agenda, for example in the recent Iraq invasion majority of the Americans favored the war, but as soon as Al-Jazeera appeared and showed destruction in Iraq, things started to change. Both American and AL-Jazeera have their own specific policies to follow, which are portrayed as presenting facts, however aim of both channels is to sway the public opinion. During Kosovo War both side fought war over media. NATO justified itself by mentioning “Just cause”, while Milosevic took the CNN and BBC to NATO missed targets showing the injured people to gather sympathy. The basic aim on both sides was to persuade the world of their righteousness.
All cults revolve around one single person, who is distinct from others who claim to owe special knowledge or link with a powerful deity. One particular emphasis in such situation is that leader knows “what is best for you” and members have to nod yes and act on his commands. Cult leaders are absolute manipulative and controlling, demanding ultimate submission portraying themselves sometimes as prophets and sometimes they are aggressive leaders who resort to any form of violence, in a case of disobedience. The normal method of persuasion is fear, displeasing God or leader, intimidation, rejecting the member, making him/her social outcast, losing salvation, hell, reward in heaven, all of these forms of persuasion techniques are practiced to maintain loyalty and devotion in cults.
In day-to-day life, we are often judgmental. For example, good traits such as intelligence, honesty are associated only with attractive individuals, that’s why young and good looking politicians gets more votes, Clinton is one such example, even though he was cheating till the last minute, yet public was in his favour due to his good looks. Even teachers discriminate on the basis of looks; attractive children are not always good performers nor are they really intelligent, but good looks are automatically associated with intelligence and smartness. A lot of show business stars are average performers, but their looks add up to their charms.
The brand names also carry association to persuade consumers to desire and buy products. Even the brand names are chosen carefully to create the desired effect. Famous celebrities are shown using specific brands to makes the brand a class symbol.
Normally drug companies name their products according to the chemical composition and do not bother about difficult names. If the intention is converting a drug into a consumer product, strategies are changed. For example Viagra suggests vigor and strength also rhyming with Niagara, synonymous with free flow or powerful surge. The message has clearly reached doctors and equally understood by the general public. Viagra proved to be a success beyond the wild imagination. On the contrary its competitor, Eli Lilly opted for a soft name “Calais” which stand for spontaneity and intimacy.
One basic reason for the success of Titanic (movie) was its title song played for months before the launch of movie. Any one watching the video was curious to watch the movie. One recent trend among the marketers is to use movies for their product promotion. They place their products in actor’s hands directly, which is called “paid product” message, aimed to influence the movie watchers.
From Greece to the imperial Rome and modern times; preachers, teachers, and scholars used persuasion to gather power and support from the people. In the modern times more than ever persuasive techniques are used to influence the public opinion. From TV to Internet and satellite channels, today persuasion is used more vehemently to change populace mind and will continue to rule our world as long as we live.
Politics is one chief example of persuading public to create favorable public opinion. For example during cold war President Regan created the image of evil empire (Soviet Union) and convinced majority of world including Pope John Paul to his views. Russians have always been portrayed as devilish, fiendish and lazy people in US media that is far from truth; in reality Russians reached space earlier than Americans and were able to compete the whole world for 70 years.
In a study, how prejudice affects the White American by forming stereotypes about minorities. The participants were asked to review a minority scholarship and asked to rate it for liking. Every application had trait description, which described stereotype-ness. The participants with high level of prejudice formed more negative ranking compared to those who were less biased. When the participants were provided with more traits, the image was more negative. The study showed that prejudice and discrimination are inescapable and we categorize other people according to our social judgments rather than facts. It also depicts that a person whom we do not like is considered more different than he actually is.
It is generally well known that older people have more bias than the younger people. The reason for such attitude is the time in which they were brought up, when bias was more common and accepted attitude in society. In an experiment, it was examined that older people are more biased due to their stereotyping of African American, while younger people were found to be less prejudiced. Ironically older people were even told not be biased; yet they proved more biased. Older people made judgment on their pre-conceived perception of African Americans, no matter how much they are taught to change their attitude.
Persuasion has been used as an effective propaganda tool from ancient times. During the English Civil War launching a war was always a “Just War” so does Roman did and slaughtered and enslaved millions. During the colonial times, the English colonized continents on the pretext of civilizing the world “white man’s burden”. During the WWI, both sides used extensive propaganda. WWI was a long and bloody; public opinion can no longer be ignored, it was essential for Allied governments to form public opinion through media to keep the morale up. As a result, in 1917 UK government established a new propaganda department, which through strict and controlled censorship disseminated propaganda material in the shape of press reports, leaflets, brochure and films that were officially approved by British government to form public opinion.
Hitler’s book Mien Kamf is a classic example of persuading Germans that they are superior and born to rule the world. From 1933 onwards, the German propaganda machine started to disseminate Nazi messages proclaiming to tell the facts in the shape of propaganda. The Nazi propaganda method was concise, solid and concrete stressing love (among the Germans) and hatred towards non-German.
In modern politics, persuasion has been used as an effective tool to form public opinion and further the political agenda. The lies are told in convincing ways with a pretext of telling the facts to the public. During the Iraq invasion British public was reminded of “Falkland spirit” with a promise of reduction in inflation offering a carrot for support. On the Iraqi side, Saddam Hussein was portrayed as a crusader and defender of Islam with Saddam pictures in uniform and prayer.
The TV channels all over the world follow a specific agenda, for example in the recent Iraq invasion majority of the Americans favored the war, but as soon as Al-Jazeera appeared and showed destruction in Iraq, things started to change. Both American and AL-Jazeera have their own specific policies to follow, which are portrayed as presenting facts, however aim of both channels is to sway the public opinion. During Kosovo War both side fought war over media. NATO justified itself by mentioning “Just cause”, while Milosevic took the CNN and BBC to NATO missed targets showing the injured people to gather sympathy. The basic aim on both sides was to persuade the world of their righteousness.
All cults revolve around one single person, who is distinct from others who claim to owe special knowledge or link with a powerful deity. One particular emphasis in such situation is that leader knows “what is best for you” and members have to nod yes and act on his commands. Cult leaders are absolute manipulative and controlling, demanding ultimate submission portraying themselves sometimes as prophets and sometimes they are aggressive leaders who resort to any form of violence, in a case of disobedience. The normal method of persuasion is fear, displeasing God or leader, intimidation, rejecting the member, making him/her social outcast, losing salvation, hell, reward in heaven, all of these forms of persuasion techniques are practiced to maintain loyalty and devotion in cults.
In day-to-day life, we are often judgmental. For example, good traits such as intelligence, honesty are associated only with attractive individuals, that’s why young and good looking politicians gets more votes, Clinton is one such example, even though he was cheating till the last minute, yet public was in his favour due to his good looks. Even teachers discriminate on the basis of looks; attractive children are not always good performers nor are they really intelligent, but good looks are automatically associated with intelligence and smartness. A lot of show business stars are average performers, but their looks add up to their charms.
The brand names also carry association to persuade consumers to desire and buy products. Even the brand names are chosen carefully to create the desired effect. Famous celebrities are shown using specific brands to makes the brand a class symbol.
Normally drug companies name their products according to the chemical composition and do not bother about difficult names. If the intention is converting a drug into a consumer product, strategies are changed. For example Viagra suggests vigor and strength also rhyming with Niagara, synonymous with free flow or powerful surge. The message has clearly reached doctors and equally understood by the general public. Viagra proved to be a success beyond the wild imagination. On the contrary its competitor, Eli Lilly opted for a soft name “Calais” which stand for spontaneity and intimacy.
One basic reason for the success of Titanic (movie) was its title song played for months before the launch of movie. Any one watching the video was curious to watch the movie. One recent trend among the marketers is to use movies for their product promotion. They place their products in actor’s hands directly, which is called “paid product” message, aimed to influence the movie watchers.
From Greece to the imperial Rome and modern times; preachers, teachers, and scholars used persuasion to gather power and support from the people. In the modern times more than ever persuasive techniques are used to influence the public opinion. From TV to Internet and satellite channels, today persuasion is used more vehemently to change populace mind and will continue to rule our world as long as we live.
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