Persuading the American Public

Every campaign season, each presidential candidate’s campaign digs out every strategy in the book to persuade the public that it’s candidate is best. After watching this ad endorsing President Obama as our new president, you may say, “sure persuasive, but ultimately harmless. Does not affect me.” However, that is where you would be wrong. What you may not know is, beyond the obvious persuasive message, there are multiple well-researched, and valid techniques of persuasion used in campaign marketing that are not detectable by the average viewer. Campaign ads on both sides of the presidential race use these techniques.  

   

This ad endorsing Obama uses multiple techniques. The first is the use of vivid imagery, not statistics, as a medium for conveying the despair of the American economy. People respond to vivid imagery more so than statistics (Aronson, 1972). The ad shows dismal pictures representing the economic crisis, while in the background, a narrator presents the despair and loss of jobs that resulted. The ad shifts into short news clips of Wallstreet, houses with foreclosure signs, and people picketing, while newscasts again describe the despair of the economy. After a clip showing President Obama’s inauguration, the mood of the ad lifts, and a sense of hope is portrayed with images of people with jobs and soldiers greeting their families.

Another strategy used is Ego Depletion; the idea that we only have a limited store of cognitive energy, and when that energy is depleted, our ability to resist persuasion is also depleted (Baumiester, 2008). One study found that eliciting a negative emotional response depleted participants’ cognitive energy (Schmeichel et al., 2006). Many Americans are frustrated with Obama because they believe he has not done enough to counter the economic crisis. They have probably put up defenses to resist persuasion for Obama. However, this ad begins with a reminder of the despair of the economic crisis, eliciting a negative emotional response from those affected by it. The ad then presents the argument that President Obama has significantly improved the status of the unemployed, and because of cognitive depletion, it is harder for people to resist that argument.

The next strategy, reciprocity, is the idea that we feel gratitude for someone who does something for us, and are compelled to give back (Morales,2005). This ad appeals to that desire, it argues that Obama has fulfilled the promises he made to the American people. In fact, one of the lines in the ad says, “ He believed in us, and fought for us,” and it then shows the number of jobs the Obama administration as already created for the American people coupled with the promise of more to come.

Finally, this ad also uses identification. The Obama campaign wants the viewer to identify with the “greatness” of the American people. Phrases such as “American’s greatness”, “don’t bet against the American worker”, and “we’re coming back”, elicit pride for the United States. President Obama is portrayed as a hero who will fight to continue the greatness of our nation. This identification technique could be specifically aimed at Democrats and Republicans who do not highly identify with their respective parties. Riggio (2007) found that when this population is presented with an idea that threatens an universal American ideal, in this case having a job, they will adhere that ideal rather than to party lines and vote with the candidate who will uphold the ideal.

As you can see, each campaign ad uses multiple techniques because the goal is to target and persuade as many people as possible. Knowledge is power, and in this case the power is held by marketing campaigns that are manipulating the public to believe what they tell them to believe. 

Brianna Huber

huber003@regis.edu