The Persuaders

1. Where are we headed? What's the future? What are your thoughts on how far the techniques of persuasion might go?

Techniques of persuasion are, at their root, always the same. The theory of ethos, pathos and logos are as alive today as they were in their forumulation in ancient Greece. It is the channel that's changing over time, becoming more intrusive and harder to shake off. In the society we currently have, however, it's totally impossible for this persuasion to legally enter the private lives of unwilling audiences. What might happen instead is a focus on identifying more thoroughly a more receptive target audience at the onset, reducing the dollars spent trying to persuade people to do something they're more than likely not going to do no matter what they're told. This would be done through more sophisticated logging technology that would make available a person's TV viewing schedules, interests on the internet and other factors that tell about each individual in a recordable and observable way.

2. Is there something distinctive in the American character that makes us susceptible to this world of advertising and messages? "The Persuaders" program explores the idea that Americans are seeking and finding a sort of identity in buying/joining a brand. What is this about?

Americans are very different than people from all over the world in one main aspect. A lot of them are alone. The huge family system, traceable through generations, is lacking in this country, leaving families small and disjoint, sometimes falling apart after the need for reliance passes on. As a result of this state of isolation, American men and women find themselves lost in the crowd, feeling as though they don't really matter, are not distinguishable or unique, or have no one to rely on. They are in search of belonging, and the advertising industry preys on this very American need to carve out one's place in a lonely world by introducing concepts like brand loyalty and brand communities. By making the people feel involved, they are fulfilling a major need extremely prevalent in our society. It is this that makes brands and advertising so successful in our nation today.

3. What are the common elements in the persuasion/selling strategies of advertising and marketing? And how can we move about in this world with a degree of self-awareness as to what's happening, especially since all these messages are increasingly trying to move us to act and make choices on an emotional level?

We should always be aware that advertisers are trying to sell not a product, but a solution. This can be a solution to a simple need, a desire, or even to a problem. Sometimes that problem is created, realized only as we view the advertising, and suddenly very important to us afterwards. This concept can be viewed through the products of HD TV (older TVs are suddenly not clear enough), new cellphones (the need to view media through the phone wherever you are), etc. These problems were invented by the product advertisers and solved virtually only by the purchase and use of the product. If we remain aware of this concept, ad constantly ask ourselves if the course of action suggested by advertising is really necessary or desired, we will be able to curtail the mindless effect desired by it and truly make our own decisions.