Analysis of "This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations" (part 1)

Analysis of "This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations" (part 1)

Introduction

As always I want to thank you, the loyal reader for dropping by to check out my blog. If you are one of the loyal few you know I just completed an in-depth analysis of Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy A. Borchers. I had a lot of fun doing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it. So in the spirit of keeping this money-machine rolling, I wanted to write about another topic near and dear to my heart, and that is public relations. So to achieve this aim, I shall now begin an in-depth analysis of a book I enjoy very much entitled This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations which is written by Doug Newsome, Judy VanSlyke Turk and Dean Krukeberg.

Pluto

Pluto 

Full-disc view of Pluto in near-true color.
Discovery
Discovered by	Clyde W. Tombaugh
Discovery date	February 18, 1930
Designations
MPC designation	134340 Pluto
Pronunciation	i/ˈpluːtoʊ/
Named after	Pluto
Minor planet category	Dwarf planet Trans-Neptunian object Plutoid Kuiper belt object Plutino
Adjectives	Plutonian
Orbital characteristics
Epoch J2000
Aphelion	49.319 AU (7,378.07 Gm) February, 2114
Perihelion	29.656 AU (4,436.4 Gm) (September 5, 1989)
Semi-major axis	39.54 AU (5,915 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.24905
Orbital period	248.00 years 90,581 d 14,164.4 Plutonian solar days
Synodic period	366.73 days]
Average orbital speed	4.67 km/s
Mean anomaly	14.53 deg
Inclination	17.1405° (11.88° to Sun's equator)
Longitude of ascending node	110.299°
Argument of perihelion	113.834°
Known satellites	5
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	1,187±4 km 0.18 Earths
Flattening	<1%
Surface area	1.77×107 km2 0.035 Earths
Volume	(7.006±0.071)×109 km3 0.00647 Earths
Mass	(1.303±0.003)×1022 kg 0.00218 Earths 0.177 Moons
Mean density	1.860±0.013 g/cm3
Surface gravity	0.620 m/s 0.063 g
Escape velocity	1.212 km/s
Sidereal rotation period	6.387230 d 6 d, 9 h, 17 m, 36 s
Equatorial rotation velocity	47.18 km/h
Axial tilt	119.591°±0.014° (to orbit
North poleright ascension	132.993°
North poledeclination	−6.163°
Albedo	0.49 to 0.66 (geometric, varies by 35%)
Surface temp. min mean max Kelvin 33 K 44 K (−229 °C) 55 K
Apparent magnitude	13.65 to 16.3 (mean is 15.1)
Absolute magnitude (H)	−0.7
Angular diameter	0.06″ to 0.11″
Atmosphere
Surfacepressure	1.0 Pa (2015)

Mosaic of best-resolution images of Pluto from different angles

Pluto  was the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered. It is the largest and second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume but is less massive than Eris, a dwarf planet in the scattered disc. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is primarily made of ice and rock and is relatively small—about one-sixth the mass of theMoon and one-third its volume. It has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit during which it ranges from 30 to 49 astronomical units or AU (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This means that Pluto periodically comes closer to the Sun than Neptune, but a stable orbital resonance with Neptune prevents them from colliding. Light from the Sun takes about 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance (39.5 AU).

Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, and was originally considered the ninth planet from the Sun. After 1992, its planethood was questioned following the discovery of several objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt. In 2005, Eris, which is 27% more massive than Pluto, was discovered, which led the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term "planet" formally for the first time the following year. This definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a member of the new "dwarf planet" category.

Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, with a diameter just over half that of Pluto), Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered a binary system because the barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body.The IAU has not formalized a definition for binary dwarf planets, and Charon is officially classified as amoon of Pluto.

Meanwhile: Back on Earth

The Job of the PR Practitioner

Although the basic duties of a public relations practitioner have not changed much over the last several decades, the demands on the practitioner and the way the practitioner carries out his or her duties have changed and will continue to change. There is more call for depth and diversity in knowledge for this field now that it is functioning at a global level. There is less tolerance for hype. Practitioners need more command of a greater array of communication technologies, and media relations.

Other skills include thinking (first and foremost), writing of all kinds, speaking, being persuasive, understanding and appreciating media, knowing graphics and photography, respecting deadlines and developing an ability to deal with and solve multiple PR problems at one time.

Three Basic Roles

The way a PR practitioner applies his or her special skills depends on the role he or she plays in an organization. The three main roles are those of staff member, an agency employee and an independent PR practitioner, who might from time to time function as a PR counselor.

Staff Members  Staff public relations practitioners are employees of commercial or non-profit organizations or of divisions of government such as local, state and federal agencies. They perform highly specialized tasks in their organizations but they get a paycheck just like other employees, and they share the same corporate or institutional identity. Specific needs of the organization usually determine the staff member's job description.

Staff positions with small organizations will often include responsibility for external relations. In the case of a small nonprofit organization, the PR person typically works either with volunteers who provide professional expertise of various kinds or with outside suppliers whose services may be bought on a limited basis or donated.

Staff positions with larger organizations can involve responsibilities for all other communications functions that report to public relations. Large organizations are likely to buy services such as research, audiovisuals (everything from employee training videos to video news releases and commercials) and perhaps even the annual report from outside suppliers. Outsourcing of special public relations services is increasing as companies cut back on their total number of in-house employees.

History

Discovery

Discovery photographs of Pluto

Clyde Tombaugh, in Kansas

In the 1840s, Urbain Le Verrier used Newtonian mechanics to predict the position of the then-undiscovered planet Neptune after analysing perturbations in the orbit of Uranus. Subsequent observations of Neptune in the late 19th century led astronomers to speculate that Uranus's orbit was being disturbed by another planet besides Neptune.

In 1906, Percival Lowell—a wealthy Bostonian who had founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1894—started an extensive project in search of a possible ninth planet, which he termed "Planet X". By 1909, Lowell and William H. Pickering had suggested several possible celestial coordinates for such a planet. Lowell and his observatory conducted his search until his death in 1916, but to no avail. Unknown to Lowell, his surveys had captured two faint images of Pluto on March 19 and April 7, 1915, but they were not recognized for what they were. There are fourteen other known prediscovery observations, with the oldest made by the Yerkes Observatory on August 20, 1909.

Percival's widow, Constance Lowell, entered into a ten-year legal battle with the Lowell Observatory over her late husband's legacy, and the search for Planet X did not resume until 1929. Vesto Melvin Slipher, the observatory director, summarily handed the job of locating Planet X to 23-year-old Clyde Tombaugh, who had just arrived at the Lowell Observatory after Slipher had been impressed by a sample of his astronomical drawings.

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Commercial and Nonprofit Organizations  Public relations people in organizations, whether commercial or nonprofit, may have skilled jobs in a PR department.They may be middle-managers  of specialized PR activity, such as community relations or employee relations or  may function as general professional staff.. Increased use of computer technology is likely to decrease the number of practitioners working at the lower-level jobs and increase the number working at the middle and senior managerial levels.

Government   Job descriptions for PR positions in government vary dramatically. Some people who are called "public information officers" are really publicists whereas others with precisely the same title may have all the responsibiities of a corporare vice president for PR.

Firm/Agency Employees  Each agency or firm has its own internal structure, but generally, the president of the firm shares in handling accounts as do the salespeople who also may be account executives. A firm may employ a bookkeeper, a secretary, a publicity writer, an advertising or graphics specialist and an artist. In some instances, the writer may prepare both publicity and advertising copy and the artist may be responsible for illustrations and layout.

Large firms have copy editors, media specialists, several artists and a production facility. Most firms, even the largest ones arrange contracts with printers, typesetters and photographers. Desktop publishing makes the jobs of writers and artists more efficient and easier to coordinate. Computer software programs that include type and graphics make almost instantaneous page makeup possible in-house. These systems usually make the writer the production person as well, since the writer actually develops the final format of publication. The artist provides original designs and artwork.

Independent Practitioners/Contractors  The independent public relations practitioner is usually hired to accomplish a specific task, one that is ordinarily but not always predetermined. Payment may take the form of a flat fee, a fee plus expenses or a base fee plus hourly charges and expenses. The less experienced the PR practitioner is, the more often he or she will have to work for a flat fee.

Although some experienced independents prefer to bill for actual costs, they price a job based on the hours to complete it multiplied by an hourly rate. They often increase these costs by a certain percentage to cover overhead and profit. Independent public relations professionals sometimes function as public relations counselors. Some independent practitioners work almost exclusively as counselors.

A PR counselor is called in at an advisory level and works for a consultant's fee, which he or she sets, with hours and expenses added. The counselor studies and researches, interviews the people involved, outlines recommendations and makes a formal presentation of these. The program is then implemented by other PR workers at the organization or at an agency. Counselors may work independently or they may be associated with a firm as senior members. Some independent PR practitioners do various PR jobs, but most are strictly counselors.

Some counselors are sensitive about their role because people tend to view them as behind the scenes influence peddlers. Another misconception is that counselors are simply unemployed would-be staffers. Public confusion is understandable, because counselors are advisers who possess special areas of expertise, most of it gained in agency or corporate work. Their value resides in their experience, in the people they know and are able to call upon and in their skill as researchers, analyzers, communicators and persuaders.

Some counselors develop reputations for helping institutions prepare for and handle crisis communications. Others are known for their ability to help institutions establish and maintain good government relations (at all levels but primarily the federal level). Still others are called on for their ability to help with internal problems, typically involving employee relations. Counselors as senior practitioners often develop staffs that include younger people who have particular strengths or specializations.

End

Full-disc view of Pluto in near-true color.

Clyde W. Tombaugh

February 18, 1930

134340 Pluto

ⁱ/ˈpluːtoʊ/

Pluto

• Dwarf planet
• Trans-Neptunian object
• Plutoid
• Kuiper belt object
• Plutino

Plutonian

Epoch J2000

• 49.319 AU
• (7,378.07 Gm)
• February, 2114

• 29.656 AU
• (4,436.4 Gm)
• (September 5, 1989)

• 39.54 AU
• (5,915 Gm)

0.24905

• 248.00 years
• 90,581 d
• 14,164.4 Plutonian solar days

366.73 days^]

4.67 km/s

14.53 deg

• 17.1405°
• (11.88° to Sun's equator)

110.299°

113.834°

5

• 1,187±4 km
• 0.18 Earths

<1%

• 1.77×10⁷ km²
• 0.035 Earths

• (7.006±0.071)×10⁹ km³
• 0.00647 Earths

• (1.303±0.003)×10²² kg
• 0.00218 Earths
• 0.177 Moons

1.860±0.013 g/cm³

• 0.620 m/s
• 0.063 g

1.212 km/s

• 6.387230 d
• 6 d, 9 h, 17 m, 36 s

47.18 km/h

119.591°±0.014° (to orbit

132.993°

−6.163°

0.49 to 0.66 (geometric, varies by 35%)

Surface temp.	min	mean	max
Kelvin	33 K	44 K (−229 °C)	55 K

33 K

44 K (−229 °C)

55 K

13.65 to 16.3
(mean is 15.1)

−0.7

0.06″ to 0.11″

1.0 Pa (2015)

The Conclusion of "Analysis of 'Persuasion in the Media Age'" (part 26)

Creating Mediated Persuasive Messages

So far, in this in depth analysis of Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy A. Borchers, we have discussed how to create persuasive presentations. While many of the theories we have discussed in this analysis hold true for creating mediated persuasive messages, there are elements related specifically to the medium of the message that warrant special attention. You need to take into consideration unique aspects of the medium for which you are creating. To conclude this analysis we will explore some of the ways that you can create mediated persuasive messages. Keep in mind that a complete discussion of the topics that I covered in this analysis is beyond the scope of this piece and that you should look for this book and others or classes at the higher institute of learning of your choice that fully cover these topics to learn more if you wish.

Print Advertising

A popular medium for persuasion is called print advertising . Whether designing an advertisement for a newspaper or magazine or simply creating a flyer to hang in high pedestrian areas to promote an event, follow the guidelines here to create a persuasive document. The first part of the advertisement that your reader will notice is the headline. The headline generally uses the largest type-face of the advertisement. Usually it appears at the top of the ad but often is placed in the middle or at the bottom. Here are some tips for creating a headline:

1. Use the headline to capture the attention of the reader.
2. The headline should lure the readers into the body (or middle) of the hard copy.
3. The headline should also make a connection to the reader, like receiving some benefit from the product or service advertised or it may reinforce a brand name which with the reader is familiar.

It is always a good idea to include a visual image to attract the readers' attention in print advertising.

Write in the second person, using the word you. Be specific by avoiding generalities and vague words. Use the present tense and active voice whenever possible. Test your copy by reading it aloud, and rewrite if necesarry.

Video Advertising

As we have seen throughought this analysis, television is the dominant medium in the United States today. Television is used to advertise products nationally, regionally or locally. Persuaders who are good at using the television medium enhance their chances of identifying with audiences.

Websites

The Internet has unique characteristics that make it challenging to use as a persuasive medium. Hypertext links allow users to create their own order for the information, or to leave the site whenever they wish. Additionally, the computer screen presents challenges. It is also difficult to read large quantities of information on a screen for a long period of time. However, the integration of text, color, visual images and audiovisual information provides unique opportunities to persuadfers as well. 

In Sum

Persuasive presentations require an understanding of the audience, careful attention to arrangement of ideas, thorough investigation of information to support the ideas of the speech, and eloquent delivery. By learning how to use these tools effectively, persuaders can influence the attitudes of audience members.

End

Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 25)

Using Verbal Symbols

Persuaders often use visual images in their presentation to gain the audience's attention, prove a point or advance a claim. Yet the primary tool used by presenters is language. The language persuaders use is often self-disclosive, personalized and visual. Persuaders also use language strategically (Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy A. Borchers, pg. 430).

Delivery

Throughout the history of rhetoric, theorists have at times praised delivery and at other times condemned delivery for its ability to sway audiences to accept poorly supported arguments. In the media age, delivery has become an important aspect in a speaker's effectiveness. Successful politicians, lawyers and sales representatives are able to comunicate in a conversational style to their audiences. As audience members, we expect presenters to look, act and sound like movie stars. We expect eloquence on the part of persuasive speakers (Persuasion, pg. 430).

Modes of Delivery

Persuaders use four modes of delivery: manuscript, memorized, impromptu and extemporaneous. When a persuader uses a manuscript he or she reads the speech from a fully written text. The advantages of this method of delivery include knowing exactly what to say, using powerful language and not having to worry about memory lapses. Disadvantages are that the speaker cannot adapt to audience reactions without departing from the script and the speaker cannot maintain uninterrupted eye contact with the audience. Persuaders who are testifying in front of a committee or delivering an important speech in which careful word choice is important use manuscript delivery. In some cases the speaker may read the text of a speech from a TelePromp Ter which allows the persuader to seem as if he or she is looking at the audience (Persuasion, pg. 430-1).

A memorized delivery method requires that the persuader commit a complete manuscript to memory and present the speech without the aid of notes or teleprompting equipment. Speakers use this style when they want to have maximum eye contact with the audience, as well as use specific and carefully selected words or phrases. Speakers who rely on memory may struggle at times to come up with the right word, or they may lose their place. Political candidates will often use the memorized mode in stump speeches that they have presented many times previously (Persuasion, pg. 431).

An impromptu delivery method is used when the speaker has little or no time to prepare the speech. This style is often used during meetings when a speaker is called on at the last minute to give a presentation. A speaker may use brief notes or no notes at all when speaking impromptu. Impromptu speaking can be effective because the speaker is not tied to a preset text, but the speaker may leave out important points or use less effective language than in a planned speech (Persuasion, pg. 431).

In extemporaneous delivery, the speaker presents the speech from a previously prepared outline. Extemporaneous speakers have had time to consider the points, ideas and language they want to use, but they can also react spontaneously to the audience's response as well as make strong eye contact with them. Speakers in many situations find that the extemporaneous style is the most effective (Persuasion, pg. 431).

End

Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 24)

Conflict Resolution

Conflict is an inevitable result of our interaction with others. Whether you are trying to decide which movie to see with your significant other or trying to resolve a grade with a professor, conflict arises when individuals with incompatible goals communicate with each other. When conflict occurs, persuasion can often be a useful way to reach agreement. By understanding the causes of conflict, the variables involved in conflict and some ways of resolving conflict, one can be a more effective interpersonal communicator.

Causes of Conflict

There are a number of factors that give rise to interpersonal conflicts. First, you may have different values, philosophy, goals or objectives than another person. For example, your roommate might not share your ideas about the value of a clean apartment. The two of you might disagree about the apropriate level of cleanliness. 

Differences in perception of the other side account for many disputes. Often we do not accurately gauge how the other side feels or thinks. You might think that your roomate is mad at you and respond accordingly. However, your roommate may not be mad at all. Depending on what you said to your roommate a conflict may have arisen because of your misinterpretation of your roommate's emotional state.

Individuals must often compete for limited resources. When there is a finite amount of financial or other resources available, we must compete with others for those resources.

Conflicts also arise do to turf battles. When someone perceives that another is trying to take his or her ground, the individual seeks to preserve that ground. Divisions of large organizations often differ over who is responsible for a given job. Conflict arises in these situations when more than one individual or group attempts to use shared resources to carry out the same mission.

A Model of Dispute Resolution

Disputes typically involve four variables: actor attributes, conflict issues, relationship variables, and contextual factors. Understanding how these ideas are related can help individuals settle disputes with others. Actor attributes include the needs, personalities, beliefs and attitudes of those involved in the dispute. The individuals involved in a dispute have certain qualities that influence the conflict resolution process.

Conflict issues are the root causes of the dispute and the positions of those involved. Knowledge of these issues aids a disputant in presenting arguments to the other side. For example, a consumer who understands the differences between two similarly priced products has an advantage when negotiating with a salesperson.

Relationship variables include trust, power and degree of interdependence. The disputants can be related in several ways. They may be competitive. Having more options is a source of power as well. Being legitimate, either formally or informally, can be powerful. Being an effective persuader is another source of power. Persuaders are powerful when they can convincingly state their case and have others see the situation from their perspective.

Contextual factors include climate issues, precedent and legal-political constraints. The climate in which conflict is managed is important.

A defensive climate usually results in a bitter resolution process. Individuals should avoid a defensive climate which is characterized by these qualities: 

• Evaluation: Judging and criticizing the other party or parties.
• Control: Imposing the will of one participant on the others.
• Strategy: Using hidden agendas.
• Certainty: Being rigid in one's ability to listen to others.
• Description: Presenting ideas or opinions.
• Problem orientation: Focusing attention on the task.
• Empathy: Understanding another person's thoughts.

Methods for Resolving Disputes

A number of methods can be used to resolve disputes. Often an authority settles a dispute. The two parties may simply avoid discussion of the issue in question until it goes away or becomes so big that it must be confronted. Third parties are also used to resolve disputes.

Another method of resolving disputes is negotiation. Negotiation is the process where both sides present their positions to each other, consider these positions, and then reach a compromise based on their original positions.

End

Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 22)

Interpersonal Persuasion

by:

Charles Lamson

Compliance Gaining

Compliance gaining is one of the most widely studied aspects of interpersonal persuasion. Compliance gaining is the use of persuasive strategies to induce behavior in another person. You might threaten to quit your job if you do not receive a raise or you might promise your roomate that you will clean the bathroom if he or she cleans the kitchen. In both situations, you are using compliance-gaining techniques. Compliance gaining forms the basis for much of the interpersonal persuasion research.

Techniques

Gerald Marwell and David R. Schmidt (1967) isolate 16 techniques that persuaders use to change the behavior of an audience member. Chances are you have used quite a few of these techniques. This list of 16 techniques is then grouped into five different strategies that persuaders use in compliance-gaining situations.These general strategies can help us better understand the goals and functions of persuaders who seek compliance. The five general strategies are rewarding activities, punishing activities, expertise activation of internalized commitments and activation of interpersonal commitments.

• Rewarding activity includes the techniques of pre-giving, liking and pomise. The persuader who uses a rewarding strategy attempts to manipulate the receivers' environment in a positive manner. A salesperson at a car dealership who offers you a soda is using the rewarding activity of pre-giving.
• In punishing activity the persuader seeks to negatively alter the receivers' environment. Threat-and-aversive stimulation are punishing techniques. A parent who threatens a "timeout" for a child is using a punishing strategy.
• The positive and negative expertise techniques make up the expertise strategy. A parent who makes a child learn to play piano because "its good for you" is using expertise.
• Activation of internalized commitments includes the techniques of positive and negative self-feelings, positive altercasting, positive esteem, and moral appeal. These strategies are effective because they make aaudience members think about internalized norms or their ideas about what they ought to do in a parrticular situation. These strategies focus on how individuals feel about themselves
• The final group of techniques called "activation of interpersonal commitments" includes the techniques of altruism, negative esteem, debt and negative altercasting. These techniques cause audience members to consider how others will think about them. They are based on audience members' identification with some reference group. Audience members will comply with a persuader's request because of how they believe others will think about them if they will not comply.

In Sum

May you all have a very American Heavy Metal Weekend!

End

Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 21)

Researching Audiences for Advertisng

Advertising agencies must conduct research about their clients' product or service to determine an appropriate target audience for advertising. This process is usually hidden from consumers, We often do not consider how we have been carefully selcted to hear, read or see an advertisement. Advertisers constantly adapt their messages and strategies to the demands of the day. As media audience measurement techniques and consumers themselves have changed, so to have advertisers' attempts to reach consumers. A brief history of advertsing reveals three major approaches to the advertising audience: mass-marketing, segmentation and mass customization. Advertisers today use all three approaches.

Targeting Audiences

In the 1940s and 50s, advertisers used media to target large audiences. With relatively few media, few products and more homogeneous customers, mass-marketing worked well. Advertisers delivered information about products to large audiences via radio and television programs. Today the owner of a pizza delivery store near you may use mass marketing to reach local residents. By advertising in such media as a local newspaper or a popular local radio station the owner can reach a large part of the target audience.

During the 1970s, advertising researchers realized that not every consumer wanted the same product or service. As a result advertisers sought to segment audiences so that they could adapt both their message content and the media channel to reach the ideal target audience for their product or service. There are three popular methods of audience segmentation: demographics, psychographics and geodemographics. Demographics refers to such audience characteristics as age, sex, race and religion. Psychogrphics refers to the personality and lifestyle characteristics of consmers. Geodemographics shows advertisers where particular audiences live. Segmentation helps persuaders to understand who is likely to purchase their products and how to target those potential customers. It is important to note that although it is based on research, audience segmentation cannot perfectly predict the beliefs, attitudes and values of each audience member.

Since the 1970s, there has been a great increase in the number of products available to consumers, in the number and type of media channels available to reach consumers and in the diversity of consumer interests. As a result, advertisers now see limitations with audience segmentation  Robert J. Lavidge (1999) argues that we see ourselves as individuals and prefer to be targeted as individuals. Using database technology, advertisers are able to reach consumers on an individual basis.

Consider a grocery store in your city where you purchase a case of Pepsi. At the checkout, you show your "preferred customer card" to receive an additional discount. In a few weeks, you might receive a coupon in the mail for your next purchase of Pepsi. The grocery store is using relationship marketing to sell you a product.

Media Selection

After they determine the target audience for a product or service, advertising agencies must select the appropriate medium or media for the advertisement. Media organizations promise audiences to advertising agencies. which buy time on a particular medium. After an audience has been gathered, its attention is "rented" to an advertiser. The audience is forced to watch the advertisement but it is given something in return: entertainment. Viewing advertisements is the "work" that we do to receive cheap entertainment. I will now focus on seven types of advertising: television, newspapers, radio, magazines, out-of-home, Internet and direct mail.

7 Types of Advertising

Television	Television is an attractive medium for advertising because it delivers mass audiences to advertisers. However, television is an expensive medium and not all advertisers can afford to use it
Newspapers	After television, the medium attracting the next largest annual ad revenue is newspapers. Newspapers are seen as the last mass-medium and this accounts for their popularity among advertisers
Radio	Advertising on radio continues to grow. Radio is often used in conjunction with other media such as outdoor billboards and the Internet to reach even more customers than television, which means advertisers can afford to repeat their ads often
Magazines	Newsweeklies, women’s titles and business magazines have all seen increases in advertising because they attract an upscale demographic market
Out-of-Home Advertising	Out-of-Home Advertising, also called place-based advertising, has become an increasingly effective way of reaching consumers who are more active than ever before. Many consumers today do not watch television. Using newsstands, billboards and bus shelters for advertising is an effective way of reaching these on-the-go consumers
Internet	As consumers become more comfortable with online shopping, advertisers will seek to reach this market. As consumers get more of their news and information from the Internet, the ability of television and radio to get the word out to consumers will decrease
Direct Mail	Direct mail uses mailings to consumers to communicate a client’s message. Direct mail includes newsletters, postcards and special promotions

End

Television

Television is an attractive medium for advertising because it delivers mass audiences to advertisers. However, television is an expensive medium and not all advertisers can afford to use it

Newspapers

After television, the medium attracting the next largest annual ad revenue is newspapers. Newspapers are seen as the last mass-medium and this accounts for their popularity among advertisers

Radio

Advertising on radio continues to grow. Radio is often used in conjunction with other media such as outdoor billboards and the Internet to reach even more customers than television, which means advertisers can afford to repeat their ads often

Magazines

Newsweeklies, women’s titles and business magazines have all seen increases in advertising because they attract an upscale demographic market

Out-of-Home Advertising

Out-of-Home Advertising, also called place-based advertising, has become an increasingly effective way of reaching consumers who are more active than ever before. Many consumers today do not watch television. Using newsstands, billboards and bus shelters for advertising is an effective way of reaching these on-the-go consumers

Internet

As consumers become more comfortable with online shopping, advertisers will seek to reach this market. As consumers get more of their news and information from the Internet, the ability of television and radio to get the word out to consumers will decrease

Direct Mail

Direct mail uses mailings to consumers to communicate a client’s message. Direct mail includes newsletters, postcards and special promotions

Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 20)

Advertising in the Media Age

by:

Charles Lamson

The most frequent encounter we have with mediated persuasion is through advertising. Researchers estimate that the typical American is exposed to some 3,000 advertisements a day. Advertising reaches us as we listen to the radio, watch TV, read our favorite magazine, sit at a bus stop or drive past billboards. Advertising also reaches us in less conspicuous ways. When we tune in to the latest episode of our favorite television show, we might see our favorite sitcom star use a Macintosh laptop. When we watch our favorite college football team, we see the logo of an athletic shoe company emblazoned on the uniforms. As we use the internet, we see a constant barrage of advertising messages, all wanting us to click on some site. We are surrounded by the messages of companies that desire to attract our eyes and change our attitudes (Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy A. Borchers, pg. 358).

The mediated environment of the 21st century places new demands on advertisers. They must try to make their product or service stand apart from other similar products or services. They must cut through the clutter of our mediated world, keep audience members' attention and find ways of forming relationships with audience members. Because advertising is increasingly sophisticated, we as consumers, must understand how advertising influences our decisions and lifestyles. We often make spending decisions based on advertising. On a deeper level, we form emotional attachments to certain brands (Persuasion, pg. 358).

The advertising process begins when clients approach an advertising agency in order to create a message that can be transmitted to potential customers via the media. The advertising agency researches the potential audience, creates a message, chooses media to transmit the message to the audience and evaluates the results of the advertising. Often the advertising agency works with other organizations such as research companies or media-buying agencies to complete its tasks. Media create vehicles such as a magazine or television show, that attracts audiences. The audiences are then sold to the advertising agency, which buys time or space for the advertisement (Persuason, pg. 358).

Advertising provides a constant stream of persuasive messages that are transmitted through media to audience members. Advertisers make use of language and visual images to induce us to identify with their message. Our acceptance of their message is tied to our emotional state and our perception of what we need and value. Identification takes the form of purchasing the advertiser's product or feeling some kind of connection to the advertiser's brand. Throughout this process, we as audience members, provide information to the advertiser that can be used in audience analysis. Our interests, preferences and demographic information all influence how advertisers shape their messages for us (Persuasion, pg. 359).

James B. Twitchell (1996) describes several qualities of advertising in today's culture. He writes that advertising is ubiquitous, symbolic, profane, and magical. Advertising is ubiquitous; it is all around us. Twitchell writes that advertising cannot not be found. It is in magazines, newspapers and on television shows. Babies' diapers contain images of Warner Brothers' cartoon characters. The Olympics are sponsored by technology companies and banks. We cannot escape advertising's reach (Persuasion, pg. 359).

Advertising is symbiotic. It lives on other cultural organisms. It thrives on the success of cultural icons and events. A good example is advertising's association of sports stars with companies. Tiger Woods and Nike were synonymous at one time. As the golf star continued to win championships, his success was tied to Nike's, Nike uses a premise - Tiger Woods is a great golfer - and we fill in the rest to draw the conclusion that Nike can somehow make us better athletes and people (Persuasion, pg. 359).

Advertising is also profane. It is of this world, it is shocking and it is repetitious. Advertising sells goods and services to us for our use in this world. In addition, advertising is shocking. Whether it is sexual in nature, intense or grotesque, advertising must seek to get our attention. Advertisements burn themselves into our consciousness by repetition.

Finally, advertising is magical. Twitchell (1996) argues that the process by which things come to have meaning is magical. When we purchase a good, we expect magical results. We expect the product to work as advertised and we expect to feel different having purchased the item. For example, you might think that driving a particular type of car will make you feel like a different person (Persuasion, pg. 359).

When we purchase a product or service or adopt a particular kind of lifestyle, we identify with the persuader's message. Identification occurs because we bring to the persuader's message our ideas about cultural expectations and beliefs.

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 19)

Emotion

The study of emotion is currently enjoying a great deal of attention from a variety of scholars. One school of thought says emotions are comprised of two elements: a state of physiological arousal and cognition appropriate to this state. Physiological arousal may be experienced as that "rush" or "high" you experience when faced with something exciting or dangerous or pleasurable. The cognitive aspect of emotion refers to how you perceive or describe the physiological arousal. Think about how you respond to the emotion you feel when seeing a loved one after an absence. you might experience that rush we have described and then feel you have to act in a certain way. For some people, hugging the loved one or kissing him or her would be appropriate. We learn how to respond to the rush we experience. Because the cognitive aspect of emotion is most applicable to our understanding of how persuaders use emotion.

Defining Emotion

Porter and Samovar explain that when we are born, we do not have an awareness of emotions such as shame, pride or remorse. emotions are something we learn. Emotions are belief systems, or schemas, that guide how we understand our feelings and how we organize our responses to those feelings. Emotions are social constructions. Hyde (1984) puts it another way; Before we are aware of emotion, we must be conscious of the emotion, and this consciousness emerges through our interaction with the world (Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy A. Borchers, pg. 305).

Our belief systems, or schemas, about emotions are based on beliefs we learn. These belief systems help us to identify when we are experiencing a certain emotion. They allow us to actively interpret emotional situations in. which we find ourselves. So despite the popularity of such cliches, we do not "fall in love" or become "paralyzed by fear." Love and fear are emotions that we learn about. Averill (1980) argues that we also learn to respond to emotions based upon our interactions with others in our culture. We learn from our parents, siblings or television characters what it means to fall in love with someone. We come to an understanding of what happiness means. We learn appropriate and inappropriate responses to our anger. Finally, we express emotions in ways that are acceptable to members of our culture (Persuasion, pg. 305).

Averill also explains that emotions are the enactment of transitory social roles. A role he explains is a socially prescribed set of responses followed by an individual in a given situation. We constantly interpret our situation and choose from among the emotions we have learned to enact. At a funeral we play the role of  grieving person; at a wedding we enact those behaviors associated with happiness. We learn about emotions from others, and this forms the basis for how we express emotions (Persuasion, pg. 305).

As we learn about emotions from others, we learn about ourselves as well. We learn what kind of person we think we should be. Gerard A. Hauser (1986) explains that emotions involve our self-esteem or our sense of who we are or ought to be. This is because we learn what our culture thinks are the appropriate emotional responses and behaviors in given situations. When we learn about emotions, we learn what is acceptable or normal for our culture. We measure ourselves against this norm to see how we compare. If we experience the same emotions as others, we feel good about ourselves. If we do not, we feel bad about ourselves. Our image of what kind of person we should be is inherently tied to what others say we should be (Persuasion, pg. 305).

Being oriented toward the world by emotions has ideological implications. Much advertising today focuses on how we experience happiness. Whether it be owning a new house, driving a particular make of car or wearing clothes from a particular store, persuaders often seek to shape our belief system about what it takes to experience happiness. We learn that to express happiness, we need to engage in certain behaviors. We experience feelings of happiness because of where we live, what we drive or what we wear. Happiness is connected to our consumption of products and services. The chaining out of the happiness emotion clearly benefits some members of society. On the other hand, those who cannot afford to purchase products or services that are thought to bring happiness experience shame, guilt or anger (Persuasion, pg. 305).

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 18)

Narratives

Walter Fisher (1987) proposes a model of persuasion in which "stories" take on the role of arguments. It is these stories we refer to when we mention narratives. He claims that all people are essentially storytellers and that we constantly evaluate and choose from the stories we hear. For example closing arguments in a trial can be viewed as stories. That is not to say that these stories lack substance or that they are mere rhetoric. In fact, the contrary is true. Fisher argues that our world is created through symbols and that by using symbolic structures, or stories, we can induce others to see the world through our eyes. According to Fisher, stories have substance and weight because they reflect how we see our world. It is these "stories" that we refer to as narratives.

Fisher's narrative approach is particularly well suited for the media age, in which we are constantly exposed to the narrative form on television and in movies. Jamieson (1988) contends that television invites the use of private narratives about persuaders. The preferred style of language today is one of intimacy. Narratives, as ways of expressing reasons, work hand-in-hand with this intimate style of using language. Narratives allow persuaders to reduce complex ideas into short and eagerly understood arguments. Jamieson argues that the power of narratives lies in their ability"to create identity for an audience, to involve the audience and to bond that audience to the persuader.

First, Fisher says, humans are "essentially storytellers." Our communication can be considered a story with a plot, characters and other attributes of good fiction. Second, instead of using strict rules of logic such as inductive and deductive reasoning, Fisher writes that we use, "good reasons" when making decisions and persuading others. Good reasons include traditional ideas about logic, along with ideas about the values the storyteller shares with his or her audience. What "good reasons" means varies, among situations, genres, and media of communication. Finally, "the world as we know it is a set of stories that must be chosen among." Viewing communication as a narrative is meaningful for people in a wide variety of cultures and communities because "we all live out narratives in our lives and because we understand our own lives in terms of narratives."

Evaluating Narratives

Humans employ narrative rationality when evaluating the stories they hear. Narrative rationality is comprised of two standards: narrative probability and narrative fidelity. Narrative probability asks whether the story is consistent with itself. Narrative fidelity evaluates the degree to which the story "rings true" with the audience. Narrative rationality depends on hard-and-fast rules of logic, but also on the values that are a part of decision making. This is an important part of Fisher's (1987) theory.

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