Media Studies: Rhetorical Techniques in Advertising

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Rhetorical Techniques in Advertising

Rhetorical Techniques in Advertising
Pathos: an emotional appeal; an advertisement using pathos will attempt to provoke an emotional response in the consumer.
-Can be a positive emotion, such as happiness – an image of people enjoying themselves while drinking Pepsi.
-Can be a negative emotion, such as pain – a person having back problems after buying the “wrong” mattress.
-Can include the emotions of fear and guilt – images of a starving child to persuade you to send money.

Ethos: refers to establishing the credibility or character of the product.
-Will try to convince you that the company is more reliable, honest, and credible; therefore, you should buy its product.
-Can give statistics from reliable experts, such as nine out of ten dentists agree that Crest is better than any brand.
-Often, a celebrity endorses a product to make it more credible.

Logos: an appeal to logic or reason; the logos of an advertisement is straight-forward – it tells you exactly what the product does, how it works, what it is used for.
-Will give the evidence and statistics you need to fully understand what the product does: One glass of Florida orange juice contains 75% of your daily Vitamin C needs.

Demographics: the characteristics that make up a human population such as gender, age, and race. Advertisers think of consumers not as individuals, but as members of groups that tend to believe, behave, or purchase in certain patterns.
Using the information you received on ethos, logos and pathos in advertising, as well as on demographics, please answer the following questions for each advertisement, responding with specific details from the ad, as well as text or dialogue that supports your response.

1. What is the message?
2. What persuasive technique(s) is being employed? Explain.
3. Who is the target audience/target demographic? Explain. In what magazine or television station might this ad appear?
4. How is this an effective ad?

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