The Power of Persuasion in Advertisements

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The viewer sits on the couch, nestled inside a cozy, warm blanket with a large bowl of buttery and salty popcorn on his lap. His heart starts racing as the movie reaches its climax. Just as his lungs stop breathing and his eyes grow wide with fascination, the channel changes to an old advertisement that he’s seen a thousand times. Ads like that one appeal to the three main techniques that have subliminal messages to viewers. These different techniques have proven to be effective with television watchers. Advertisers use these three techniques to target a certain audience.
Demographics play a large role in aiding businesses with the adequate information to convince the viewers. The main demographics include gender, age, culture, race, and location. These are just a few of the many areas that help researchers study human behaviors. The research provided by these studies can be very specific to a certain community, age group, or ethnicity. This benefits marketers in their approach to presenting products to the right viewers (Sessom).
After producers discover to whom and when to market their products, they need efficient techniques. The three main methods used in advertising are through ethos, pathos, and logos. First is the ethos appeal, which is referred to as the ethical appeal in commercials. In other words, businesses use ethics to persuade viewers to do or buy something. The second is pathos, which is the emotional application. This is where advertisers put strong feeling into advertisements, which most commonly affects females. Last is logos, the appeal to logic. Logic is frequently associated with the ability to think critically and reasonably; it is usually associated with males (Dr. Edlund). As soon as a person knows what t...

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...PittCat. 733-748. 6 May 2011. 5 May 2014. Web.
Kia Cadenza. "Impossible to Ignore." Advertisement. YouTube. 5 May 2014. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXJRF-6YiZk
Mainwaring, Simon. ”Advertising Quotes.” Brainy Quote. 5 May 2014. Web.
McDonnell Campaign. “McConnell Working for Kentuckians” Advertisement. YouTube. 5 May 2014. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdTX8m5G98
“Midterm political ads” Advertisement. YouTube. 5 May 2014. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7hmaEda53A

Pepsi NEXT. "Baby." Advertisement. YouTube. 5 May 2014. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpQHRHY172Y
Pillow Pet. “Dream Lite.” Advertisement. YouTube. 5 May 2014. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcMMuBQo6jI
Sessom, Gail. “The Importance of Demographics to Marketing.” Chron. Demand Media. 5 May 2014. Web.
“U.S. Media Trends by Demographic.” Nelson. 27 Apr 2012. 5 May 2014. Web.

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