Friday, April 20, 2012
Sea of Persuasion
Immediately after I read this discussion question I reflected on my morning and so far it has been a bombardment of persuasion. It started with checking my email and glancing through what was mostly emails from online websites that I have previously visited trying to persuade me to buy more things from them. This time of year for some reason I am highly driven to buy new stuff, maybe its the renewed energy of Spring, or maybe its the increased level of persuasion from retailers who know people shop more this time of year. On the way to my children's school I was being persuaded to buy my daughter a doll with real hair and some new puzzles, and my son was being especially persuasive in his request for after school frozen yogurt. I then went to the district office of my kids school district to pick up info on a new charter school in our district, The woman at the front desk gave me her persuasive bit on the school, which was nice because I wanted information and am thinking of switching my kids to the new school anyway. When I got in my car I called a friend who's daughter is best friends with my son and I used my best persuasive speaking skills to hopefully convince her to also switch her child to this school. From there I went to the grocery store, to succomb to mass media persuasion of all sorts. It was interesting to reflect on all these types of persuasive situations and to gauge my reactions and whether the outcome was successful or not. It reminded me of Chapter 14 and how your speech should be modified depending on how you audience feels about your topic, whether they agree, disagree or are apathetic. I think there is so much persuasion going on every day in our lives we definitely have to learn to be critical of what we are really getting into and what the persuader really has to offer. In a persuasive situation the speaker is going to try to convince you to do something, think a certain way, or take an action. As listeners we have to filter through what the speaker has said, think about what their goal is and how they are presenting that, and always consider the things they have left out or have slanted to reach their goal. Its really hard to do with how many times a day we are targeted in our personal lives, at work or school and from the mass media which is practically everywhere. Some persuasion is great and helpful and informative, and a lot of it is unnecessary, manipulated, or driven by money only. As consumers and individuals it is up to us to be aware and open minded to what we are really hearing.
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Wow Jessamyn, you are a top notch persuader! I really enjoyed your account of persuasive influences throughout your day. And I liked how your son was being "especially persuasive in his request for after school frozen yogurt." :) A-freaking-dorable.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think persuasion I immediately jump to the media, or somewhat negative inter personal persuasion. I forget to include some of the more positive inducements that I come across throughout the day, and how I am also often an encouraging/discouraging factor in other people's lives.
So thank you, once again, for presenting an alternative outlook that got me thinking more deeply about the topic. :D
Hello,
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until I read your post that I realized the ways I am persuaded too. I want to cancel my Uverse because it goes down every night at the same time, and I can't cancel until I made a my payment; therefore, I feel persuaded to keep Uverse until I make my next payment. Perhaps this is a "persuasive" tactic in that the company knows I will cool off and change your mind and not cancel the service. I looked at a grocery ad at Bel Air, and I was persuaded to purchase an array of produce, meats, and other items. So, yes...advertising is linked to pursuasiveness.
Its funny how we get this sense of enlightenment after reviewing this chapter. I feel like I have a heightened awareness to so much persuasion I am exposed to in so many different forms; many of which you pointed out. Kids are big on trying to be persuasive or in many cases persistent, which seems to be equally effective. I suppose persistence can b a persuasion technique. Advertisers use it by playing the same commercials over and over, or by sending me five emails a day letting me know about the big sale and how I must act now because it is my last chance to save. I think I have a pretty good defense to most forms of persuasion, its the persistence that seems to wear me down.
ReplyDeleteI think when you have kids the amount of persuasion you are bombarded with increases about a thousand fold. All of a sudden advertisements you didn't care about or have a second thought about before now stand out like a sore thumb. Every trip to the grocery store is now accompanied by a constant stream of, "Can I have this?", or "Ooh ooh, look at that!" Often times I think that children are better marketers than marketing managers of companies paying them six-figures.
ReplyDeleteChildren seem to be naturally born with the art of persuasion giving innocent logic on why things should work to their favor or why they should have what they want. I remember when my little brother was 5 he asked my mom to write the governor to allow him to have his drivers license because he knew he could do it. I think part of what makes a child so persuasive is that they aren't afraid of "No." Many of us would probably be more persuasive and get more of what we wanted if we had the same mentality.
I agree that as consumers and as an individual, it is our job to sort through all of the information given. Without paying too much attention, i just realized that my niece was able to persuade me today in running out to pick up lunch for her and her girlfriend. She was so good at just being charming, and telling me that they were hungry and that mom hadn't gone grocery shopping yet. I didn't even bother looking in the pantry to see if there was something I could conjure up. I just asked what they wanted, and I was off. I suppose there's persuasions in our day to day life that happen even when we aren't aware of them.
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