Speech Communication Week 3 Discussions

Activity 1: Discussion

Context: The persuasive strategies used by advertisers who want you to buy their product can be divided into three categories: pathos, logos, and ethos.

· Pathos: Pathos is an appeal to emotion. An advertisement using pathos will attempt to evoke an emotional response in the consumer. Sometimes, it is a positive emotion such as happiness such as an image of people enjoying themselves while drinking Pepsi. Other times advertisers will use negative emotions such as pain: a person having back problems after buying the "wrong" mattress. Pathos can also include emotions such as fear and guilt such as images of a starving child persuade you to send money.

· Logos: Logos is an appeal to logic or reason. An advertisement using logos will give you the evidence and statistics you need to fully understand what the product does. The logos of an advertisement will be the "straight facts" about the product

· Ethos: Ethos is credibility. An advertisement using ethos is showing the product or company has a history of truth and stability. An example would be a commercial from halftime at Super Bowl XLVI, by automaker Chrysler featuring actor/director Clint Eastwood. The commercial, titled "Halftime in America," used Eastwood's gravelly voice and numerous patriotic images to associate the can-do spirit of America with Chrysler's new line of cars. Eastwood's history of playing tough-minded roles allowed the audience to tie his image to that of the American auto industry in general and to Chrysler in particular.

Description: Post a picture or link to an advertisement video that uses one (or more) of these 3 persuasive appeals