Persuasion, Manipulation, and Seduction

Persuasion, Manipulation, and Seduction

Joe Smith

COM323: Persuasion & Argumentation

Jenessa Gerling

Feb 21, 2017

        In an effort to attain any type of success, we as communicators must provide the listener with clear and precise information in regards to what it is exactly we want from them. Throughout our daily lives, we rely on effective human communication to accomplish every goal we set out to do. “Communication is a deceivingly complex and fragile human process” (Kreps, 2011). Cooperation with others is key to any level of success because it allows individuals to work together to achieve a common goal and reap from the mutual benefits.

        Persuasion, manipulation and seduction all influence an audience to change they way they think and feel regarding certain topics.

        Persuasion is an attempt to change an audience’s opinion towards a subject or situation. According to Magee, “Persuasion cannot be happenstance or incidental.” The persuader must be intentional at all times in his or her effort to change someone else’s mind. It involves he communication of a message, whether it be hand written or verbally. If no message has been transmitted, then persuasion has not occurred.

        A common example of persuasion are the tobacco free advertisements that are seen on television. These commercials are designed to influence the audience to either quit smoking or never to pick up the habit. They do this by providing the viewers watching with proven facts, listing the dangers and risks of inhaling smoke from tobacco products.

        Manipulation however varies from persuasion in that it’s a technique used not only to influence but to deceive the audience. Manipulation intends to hide it’s intentions from the very start. For example, think of those sweepstakes you see on television offering a brand motorcycle, “All you have to do is enter to win.” So many viewers fall for that because lets be honest, who wouldn't want a brand new motorcycle? They hook their audience members by stating, “No purchase necessary.” Vendors force the viewers to then scroll through countless pages of products, advertising their brand. It’s not until after your fingers fall off from exhaustion of scrolling that you finally reach the “Submit” button. Vendors use this tactic to manipulate consumers into ordering something from the website in hopes of winning the grand prize. Pay attention to the fine print at the bottom of those sweepstakes. “Many will enter, few will win.”

        Similar to the person being manipulated, victims who fall to the timeless art of seduction are also uninformed of the intentions from the beginning. Seduction is a tactic used to lure or seduce an audience into buying or doing something based solely on human wants, not needs. More often than not, it appeals to happiness and personal pleasure. “Seduction primarily as a ritual and game with its own rules, charms, snares, and lures” (Kellner, 2005). Seduction makes an offer that seems appealing, but the promises are usually empty ones.