week3 response 1

Describe the three elements of a persuasive appeal, and give two examples of each element that influence persuasiveness. Have you ever been persuaded by these elements? If so, how? If not, how did you resist?

Good afternoon class and Prof.,

I believe that the three elements of persuasive appeal are as follows: 1) ethos, 2) logos and 3) pathos. When it comes to ethos it has to do with the creditibility of the speaker. So, does this speaker have the right creditials to talk about the subject at hand? Then when it comes to logos, this has to do with the strength of the argument. So, does the speaker have a good with the subject they are going to speak about? And lastly, when it comes to pathos it has to do with the communication's ability to emotionally move the audience. Another example of this would be: can the speaker get through to the audience. When it comes to whether I have been persuaded by this, I would hae to say yes. It was when I was in elementary school and we had a speaker come to speak to my class and it was such a moving speech about his life and how he turned it around. It had brought the audience to tears, me included.

Maria

According to the text, in the 1950’s, three researchers (Hovland, Janis & Kelley), broke persuasion down to three elements, also called the three W’s of persuasion.

The “who”, source of the message

The “what”, content of the message

The “to whom”, intended audience

Characteristics that can influence persuasiveness are, attractiveness, credibility, and confidence. Imagine someone was trying to persuade an individual to purchase a diet plan or gym membership. In order to effectively persuade their target audience, it would be expected that the salesperson was in good physical shape, carried themselves well and was knowledgeable about health and fitness. If this person was not all of these things, they might have a difficult time persuading people to purchase their product, because who would want to join a gym or purchase a food program if the person selling it didn’t seem to follow it themselves? Other characteristics that have been shown to be persuasive are by displaying vivid or fear inducing content. Taking the same example, the salesperson might have images and documentation on what COULD happen to the human body if it is not taken care of properly. The fear of the possibility could be enough to persuade the target audience to purchase the program. I chose the example of the gym because I have been personally persuaded in the past to do just that. I wanted to be fit and look good and I allowed someone to talk me into it, even though I was perfectly capable of accomplishing my goals without fancy gym equipment and expensive food, I still signed up because the salesperson made it seem like I “just had to do it!”

Julie