Soft Skill Assigment : 40 Basic Persuasion Techniques Advertisement

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, intimacy,success, wealth, etc. The media message doesn’t make explicit claims that you’ll get these things;the association is implied. Association can be a very powerful technique. A good ad can create astrong emotional response and then associate that feeling with a brand (family = Coke, victory = Nike). This process is known as emotional transfer. Several of the persuasion techniques below, like Beautiful people, Warm & fuzzy, Symbols and Nostalgia, are specific types of association.

2.Bandwagon

Many ads show lots of people using the product, implying that "everyone is doing it" (or at least, "all the cool people are doing it"). No one likes to be left out or left behind, and these ads urge us to "jump on the bandwagon.” Politicians use the same technique when they say, "The American people want..." How do they know? 

3.Beautiful People

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

4.Bribery

This technique tries to persuade us to buy 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 really get something for free -- part of the sales price covers the cost of the bribe.

5.Celebrities

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, celebrities implicitly endorse a product; sometimes the endorsement is explicit Many people know that companies pay celebrities a lot of money to appear in their ads (Nike’s huge contracts with leading athletes, for example, are well known) but this type of testimonial still seems to be effective.

6.Expert

 We rely on experts to advise us about things that we don’t know ourselves. Scientists, doctors, professors and other professionals 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, as when a mother endorses a brand of baby powder or a construction worker endorses a treatment for sore muscles.

7.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 or false through close examination or testing, and if they’re false, the 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 ways that cannot be proved or disproved. 

8.Fear

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

9.Humor

Many ads use humor because it grabs our attention and it’s a powerful persuasion

technique. When we laugh, we feel good. Advertisers make us laugh 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 messages (and news) rarely use humor because it can undermine their credibility; an
exception is political satire.

10.Intensity

The language of ads is full of intensifiers, including superlatives (greatest, 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.

11.Maybe

Unproven, exaggerated 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 meaningless

12.Plain Folks

his technique works because we may believe a "regular person" more than an intellectual or a highly-paid celebrity. It’s 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 pickup trucks and politicians. Unfortunately, most of the "plain folks" in ads are actually paid actors carefully selected because they look like "regular people.

13.Repitition

Advertisers use repetition in two ways: Within an ad or advocacy message, words,

sounds or images may be repeated to reinforce the main point. And the message itself (a TV
commercial, a billboard, a website banner ad) may be displayed many times. Even unpleasant ads
and political slogans work if they are repeated enough to pound their message into our minds.

14.Testimonials

 Media messages often show people testifying about the value or quality of a product, or endorsing an idea. They can be experts, celebrities, or plain folks. We tend to believe
them because they appear to be a neutral third party (a pop star, for example, not the lipstick maker,
or a community member instead of the politician running for office.) This technique works best when
it seems like the person “testifying” is doing so because they genuinely like the product or agree with
the idea. Some testimonials may be less effective when we recognize that the person is getting paid
to endorse the product.

15.Warm & Fuzzy

This technique uses sentimental images (especially of families, kids and animals) to stimulate feelings of pleasure, comfort, and delight. It may also include the use of soothing music, pleasant voices, and evocative words like "cozy" or "cuddly.”

16.The Big Lie

According to Adolf Hitler, one of the 20th century’s most dangerous propagandists, people are more suspicious of a small lie than a big one. The Big Lie is more than exaggeration or hype; it’s telling a complete falsehood with such confidence and charisma that people believe it. Recognizing The Big Lie requires "thinking outside the box" of conventional wisdom and asking the questions other people don’t ask.

17.Charisma

Sometimes, persuaders can be effective simply by appearing firm, bold, strong, andconfident. This is particularly  true in political and advocacy messages. People often follow charismatic leaders even when they disagree with their positions on issues that affect them.

18.Euphism

While the Glittering generalities and Name-calling techniques arouse audiences with vivid, emotionally suggestive words, Euphemism tries to pacify audiences in order to make an unpleasant reality more palatable. Bland or abstract terms are used instead of clearer, more graphic words. Thus, we hear about corporate "downsizing" instead of "layoffs," or "enhanced interrogation techniques" instead of "torture.”

19.Extrapolation

Persuaders sometimes draw huge conclusions on the basis of a few small

facts. Extrapolation works by ignoring complexity. It’s most persuasive when it predicts something we hope can or will be true.

20.Flattery

Persuaders love to flatter us. Politicians and advertisers sometimes speak directly to
us: "You know a good deal when you see one." "You expect quality." "You work hard for a living."
"You deserve it." Sometimes ads flatter us by showing people doing stupid things, so that we’ll feel
smarter or superior. Flattery works because we like to be praised and we tend to believe people we
like. (We’re sure that someone as brilliant as you will easily understand this technique!)

21.Glittering Generalaties

This is the use of so-called "virtue words" such as civilization,

democracy, freedom, patriotism, motherhood, fatherhood, science, health, beauty, and love.
Persuaders use these words in the hope that we will approve and accept their statements without
examining the evidence. They hope that few people will ask whether it’s appropriate to invoke these 
concepts, while even fewer will ask what these concepts really mean.

22.Name-Calling

 This technique links a person or idea to a negative symbol (liar, creep, gossip,

etc.). It’s the opposite of Glittering generalities. Persuaders use Name-calling to make us reject the
person or the idea on the basis of the negative symbol, instead of looking at the available evidence. A
subtler version of this technique is to use adjectives with negative connotations (extreme, passive,
lazy, pushy, etc.) Ask yourself: Leaving out the name-calling, what are the merits of the idea itself?

23.New

We love new things and new ideas, because we tend to believe they’re better than old

things and old ideas. That’s because the dominant culture in the United States (and many other
countries) places great faith in technology and progress. But sometimes, new products and new ideas
lead to new and more difficult problems.

24.Nostalgia

This is the opposite of the New technique. Many advertisers invoke a time when life

was simpler and quality was supposedly better ("like Mom used to make"). Politicians promise to
bring back the "good old days" and restore "tradition." But whose traditions are being restored? Who
did they benefit, and who did they harm? This technique works because people tend to forget the bad
parts of the past, and remember the good.

25.Rhetorical Questions

These are questions designed to get us to agree with the speaker.

They are set up so that the “correct” answer is obvious. ("Do you want to get out of debt?" "Do you
want quick relief from headache pain?" and "Should we leave our nation vulnerable to terrorist
attacks?" are all rhetorical questions.) Rhetorical questions are used to build trust and alignment before the sales pitch.

26.Scientific Evidence

This is a particular application of the Expert technique. It uses the

paraphernalia of science (charts, graphs, statistics, lab coats, etc.) to "prove" something. It often
works because many people trust science and scientists. It’s important to look closely at the
"evidence," however, because it can be misleading.

27.Simple Solution

 Life is complicated. People are complex. Problems often have many causes, and they’re not easy to solve. These realities create anxiety for many of us. Persuaders offer relief by ignoring complexity and proposing a Simple solution. Politicians claim one policy change (lower taxes, a new law, a government program) will solve big social problems. Advertisers take this strategy even further, suggesting that a deodorant, a car, or a brand of beer will make you beautiful,

popular and successful.

28.Slippery Slope

 This technique combines Extrapolation and Fear. Instead of predicting a positive future, it warns against a negative outcome. It argues against an idea by claiming it’s just the first step down a “slippery slope” toward something the target audience opposes. ("If we let them ban smoking in restaurants because it’s unhealthy, eventually they’ll ban fast food, too." This argument ignores the merits of banning smoking in restaurants.) The Slippery slope technique is commonly used in political debate, because it’s easy to claim that a small step will lead to a result most people won’t like, even though small steps can lead in many directions.

29.Symbols

Symbols are words or images that bring to mind some larger concept, usually one with strong emotional content, such as home, family, nation, religion, gender, or lifestyle. Persuaders use the power and intensity of symbols to make their case. But symbols can have different meanings for different people. Hummer SUVs are status symbols for some people, while to others they are symbols of environmental irresponsibility.

30.Ad Hominem

Latin for "against the man," the ad hominem technique responds to an argument by attacking the opponent instead of addressing the argument itself. It’s also called "attacking the messenger.” It works on the belief that if there’s something wrong or objectionable about the messenger, the message must also be wrong.

31.Analogy

An analogy compares one situation with another. A good analogy, where the

situations are reasonably similar, can aid decision-making. A weak analogy may not be persuasive,
unless it uses emotionally-charged images that obscure the illogical or unfair comparison.

32.Card Stacking

No one can tell the whole story; we all tell part of the story. Card stacking,

however, deliberately provides a false context to give a misleading impression. It "stacks the deck," selecting only favorable evidence to lead the audience to the desired conclusion.

33.Causes VS Correlation

While understanding true causes and true effects is important,

persuaders can fool us by intentionally confusing correlation with cause. For example: Babies drink
milk. Babies cry. Therefore, drinking milk makes babies cry.

34.Denial

This technique is used to escape responsibility for something that is unpopular or

controversial. It can be either direct or indirect. A politician who says, "I won’t bring up my opponent’s marital problems," has just brought up the issue without sounding mean.

35.Diversion

This technique diverts our attention from a problem or issue by raising a separate

issue, usually one where the persuader has a better chance of convincing us. Diversion is often used
to hide the part of the story not being told. It is also known as a “red herring.”

36.Group Dynamics

We are greatly influenced by what other people think and do. We can get

carried away by the potent atmosphere of live audiences, rallies, or other gatherings. Group dynamics
is a more intense version of the Majority belief and Bandwagon techniques.

37.Majority Belief

This technique is similar to the Bandwagon technique. It works on the

assumption that if most people believe something, it must be true. That’s why polls and survey results
are so often used to back up an argument, even though pollsters will admit that responses vary
widely depending on how one asks the question.

38.Scapegoating

Extremely powerful and very common in political speech, Scapegoating

blames a problem on one person, group, race, religion, etc. Some people, for example, claim that
undocumented (“illegal”) immigrants are the main cause of unemployment in the United States, even
though unemployment is a complex problem with many causes. Scapegoating is a particularly
dangerous form of the Simple solution technique.

39.Straw Man

This technique builds up an illogical or deliberately damaged idea and presents it

as something that one’s opponent supports or represents. Knocking down the "straw man" is easier
than confronting the opponent directly.

40.Timing

Sometimes a media message is persuasive not because of what it says, but because

of when it’s delivered. This can be as simple as placing ads for flowers and candy just before
Valentine’s Day, or delivering a political speech right after a major news event. Sophisticated ad
campaigns commonly roll out carefully-timed phases to grab our attention, stimulate desire, and
generate a response.

And That was all of 40 basic persiasion techniques advertisement. There's so much technique to makes an advertisement looks interesting.