Persuasive Methods

There are many persuasive methods used in TV and printed adverts, some of the techniques included may be:

• Humour
• Emotional Appeal
• Bandwagon (a trend)
• Punishment/Fear
• Reward / hope
• Experts
• Testimonial
• Repetition

None of these techniques are mutually exclusive, meaning that just because an advert uses one of the techniques above it does not mean they cannot use any more. For example, humour and reward often used together in adverts.


Humour

Adverts may use humour to induce viewers into buying their products or use their services by making it relatable and funny to the target audience. One example of a humorous advertisement may be the Mars Mini Tennis Advert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmrHITYzZbY

Emotional Appeal

The emotional appeal of an advert may have a deep impact on its target audience, thus making them want to buy the product. Certain companies are known for having emotional adverts which draw in an audience, such as the well known annual John Lewis Advert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW36ZfTvp3U

Bandwagon

A company may use the bandwagon (trend) technique to appeal to their audience. This technique makes the viewer of the advert believe that they are missing out on something that everyone else is doing, therefore the viewer feels the need to buy/use the product or service being advertised - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfX0MXvRwFo

Punishment/Fear

Some companies use a fear factor to get viewers to buy their product or service. The company advertising makes the viewer believe that something terrible will happen if they don't buy the product or do what they say such as this Anti-Speeding advert by DOE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNL6t-Eu-IY

Reward/Hope

Another technique used to persuasively advertise a product is the reward factor. This technique advertises not only the product itself but also a reward that you may get if you buy into the scheme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqoE1SHsIEo

Experts

Companies will pay people who have a link to the product being sold to advertise it. This can be done in many ways but two methods are more commonly used than others, either through statistics e.g. if 96% of dentists recommend a specific brand of toothpaste and through a professional directly telling you to buy the product on the advert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppfqFJwg98

Testimonial

A testimonial advert will use the public's opinion (also known as a Vox Pop) to entice viewers to buy their product or service. This method is used because we, as the general public, will take the opinion of someone from the same social standing point into consideration more than someone from a different viewing point - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1SD2VFlh3k

Repetition

Advertisers will use repetition to drill a slogan or saying into the viewer's head. This will then urge the viewer to buy the product as it will constantly be on their mind. These adverts may become annoying after a while, however, they can sometimes become the most memorable and infamous adverts. This is a very powerful technique in advertising - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is3icfcbmbs