1. PERSUASION SOCIAL INFLUENCE & COMPLIANCE GAINING
Robert H. Gass & John S. Seiter

2. Chapter 13
Visual Persuasion

3. IMAGE IS EVEERYTHING We are living in an increasingly visual society
As of 2018, 85% of all marketing is visual*
Corporate logos and insignia
Social media images; GIFs, emojis, Youtube, selfies
“bad optics” in politics
* content-consumer-preferences-2017/

4. VISUAL PERSUASION HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED
Persuasion’s traditional focus has been on oral and/or textual messages
emphasis is on persuasion within the “world of words”
the role of images in general, and art in particular, has been neglected
Picture superiority effect: images are more easily recognized and recalled.
Students hold a “lie in” in Washington, D.C., to protest the lack of gun control laws. Joseph Gruber / Shutterstock.com

5. ART AS PERSUASION
Art serves more than an aesthetic or decorative function
Just as “rhetoric” is more than mere eloquence
Artists express their opinions in and through their work
Art serves social and political ends
Awareness through interpretation
Awareness through participation
The “Fearless Girl” statue received praise and scorn when it was installed near Wall Street.
quietbits / Shutterstock.com

6. ART AS PERSUASION Art can promote social change by
Increasing awareness of an issue
Promoting central processing in interpreting the meaning of a work
Graffiti art by Banksy in a West Bank village,
Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Shutterstock.com

7. Iconicity HOW IMAGES PERSUADE
Images stand for and resemble the things they represent
Images can sum up a concept:
the “trash can” icon on a computer
silhouette of a disabled person on a restroom door
Icons needn’t be accurate; they can distort, manipulate what they represent
Lady Liberty stands for, or represents the USA. Steve Collender/Shutterstock.com

8. Indexicality HOW IMAGES PERSUADE
Images, especially photographs, have a documentary quality
A photo or video implies that an event took place
Bigfoot photo
Abu Ghraib photos
JFK assassination
Holocaust images
“truth claim” of photography: the assumption that the camera never lies

9. Syntactic Indeterminacy
HOW IMAGES PERSUADE
Syntactic Indeterminacy
Unlike language, images lack logical operators
deduction
cause-effect reasoning
Pictures can create associations, however
Associations can equate one thing with another
This image equates driving a jeep with friends and fun;
AlessandroBiascioli/Shutterstock.com

10. CINEMATIC PERSUASION Movies are influential
Movies reach large numbers of people
potential for mass influence
Movies are told in a narrative form
stories possess an aura of believability
People may not expect to be persuaded during a movie
“willing suspension of disbelief”
Dean Drobot/Shutterstock.com

11. HOW MOVIES PERSUADE
Viewer identification Product placement Stereotyping Social proof, modeling behavior Exporting values abroad Promoting popular culture Cultivation theory

12. ADVERTISING IMAGES
Consumers are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of advertising images per day. Advertising is pervasive billboards TV commercials print ads pop-ups, banner ads
Ads must stand out against the background of media clutter
Superbowl ads: visual extravaganzas
Shock ads: edgy, controversial
Anti-ads: satirize traditional advertising

13. IMAGE ORIENTED ADVERTISING
Common themes
Social status and elitism
Cause-related
Power, speed, strength
Youth culture
Safety, security
Sense of place, belonging, nostalgia

14. PHOTOJOURNALISM AND PERSUASION
Photographs tell visual stories
Photographic evidence is powerful, convincing
Photos sum up social controversies
Photographs can evoke emotions
anger, compassion, fear, pity
Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com;  Kim Kelley-Wagner / Shutterstock.com

15. PHOTOJOURNALISM AND PERSUASION--continued
Photographs are not objective representations of reality
Photos can be altered, manipulated
Photographers have a major say
What to shoot, angle, lighting, zoom, focal point, which pictures to develop, how to edit, etc.
Seeing is not believing
Photo before and after retouching, goldeneden/Shutterstock.com