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(VISUAL) PERSUASION AND RHETORIC

Proper speaking has always been important in our lives, specifically when one tries to convince someone to accept an opinion or to do something. In a broader sense, contemporary marketing, economics, and brands use various persuasive methods to encourage and convince consumers to buy their product. In this context, persuasion and rhetoric have a very important place in media studies. 

Figure-1

Retrieved from:
https://gohighbrow.com/portfolio/persuasion-science-masterclass-part-ii/

Of course, persuasion is not only used in marketing, but it can also be used in politics, media, daily life, etc. As Simmons argues, persuasion can be explained as “human communication designed to influence the autonomous judgment and actions of others” (Simmons, 2001, p. 7). Persuasion is a kind of attempted influence which aims to change the way others think, feel, or act. Unlike other practices such as torture or coercion, it does not push people to change, but it convinces them.  (Simmons, 2001, p.7) In this sense, persuasion is a way of communication which is used to influence an individual’s ideas, and in the end, individuals are decision-maker. 

 Figure-2

Retrieved from:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156500155779162435/

Persuasion is a very old concept which has been the discussion of Plato and Aristotle. As Plato defines, rhetoric is the art of persuasion. (Simons, 2001, p.3) Aristotle and Plato realised the power of persuasion in influencing others ideas. According to them, his practise could have both positive and negative results. Socrates and Plato accepted rhetoric as a corrupted art. It is not ethical since it does not impose both sides of knowledge during the process of persuasion.  On the other hand, Aristotle argued that persuasion focus on “matters of judgement, rather than certainty” (Simons, 2001, p.4) In this sense, rhetoric was just an instrument for “giving effectiveness to the truth.”(Simons, 2001) Simons highlight both positive and negative sides of rhetoric. It can be misleading, deceive, but it also can help the listener too. Also, since rhetoric is only dealing with judgment, the last decision is up to the receiver anyway. According to Simons, there are two different approaches one persuasion which are: behavioural approach and the critical studies approach.

Critical studies approach finds persuasion as a kind of art which focuses on the values of persuasion. It focuses on the deeper meanings of theory. (Simons, 2001, p.17) Researches should focus on the features a persuasive message to analyse and understand it as a concept better. In that way, one can understand the deeper meanings behind the advertisements, news, media or even daily life events.

Behavioural approach is more like a scientific approach rather than artistic. It defends that human behaviour is predictable and thus controllable. The natural habitat we live in determines our behaviours, ideas, and judgments. If one can manipulate the independent variables, one can reach to the communication-persuasion matrix to understand how persuasion works. 

Figure-3

Retrieved from: 
https://blog.qlik.com/direct-and-indirect-persuasion


Verbal persuasion has taken attention of researches, however, Hoffman pays attention to the visual persuasion in her research on Visual Persuasion in George W. Bush’s Presidency: Cowboy Imagery in Public Discourse, emphasises the influence of visuality as a type of persuasion. In her article, she explores George Bush’s political campaign through visuality, specifically his usage of cowboy image. Hoffman says visual images “are associated with emotional reactions that are the antithesis of rationality and are lacking in reasoned argument”. (Hoffman, 2011, p.323) Bush associated himself with the image of cowboy. Since the mythic cowboy is associated with the very identity of the country, virtually all Americans can participate in references to the myth. (Hoffman, 2011, p.325) Hoffman also claims that Bush’s cowboy persona, emphasised visually, prompted widespread debate about his leadership style and approach to national problems, particularly terrorism. “This heroic figure possesses great courage, strength, decisiveness, and strong moral values.” (Hoffman, 2011, p.323) Bush is only an example of this practise, in order to have a better understanding I will give another example of this method.

Figure-4

Retrieved from: 
https://www.gercekgundem.com/galeri/siyaset/4084/eyupsultanda-iftar-acan-ekrem-imamogluna-yogun-ilgi

Just like Bush, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is a rising star in Turkish politics and a potential candidate to challenge Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 Turkish presidential election, used visual persuasion to create a persona to address to the religious part of  Turkey. In Turkey, politicians are highly categorised with their loyalty to Islam. Imamoglu’s is a member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP),  which is a party known for its secular aspects. In order to become a symbol of both secular and religious values, Imamoglu started to share his photographs on social media, as a guest at the middle-low class families feast dinners at Ramadan. As seen in the figure-4, he sits at the end of the table, praying and waiting for the feast.  The visual images are always colourful and present a feeling of intimacy. He usually looks at to the people instead of the camera to imply casualness and reality of the moment. Another aspect of those images are, they always include a woman with headscarf and a women without headscarf. In this way, he started to convince society to the idea that CHP is a party of all society regardless of religious or secular. Every politician aims to project a certain image to society. Specifically, after those photoshoots, Imamoglu started to become a symbol of a both secular and religious party’s representative as he wished.

References:

Hoffman, K. S. (2011). Visual persuasion in George W. Bush’s presidency: Cowboy imagery in public discourse. Congress & the Presidency, 38(3), 322-343.

Simons, H.W. (2001). The Study of Persuasion. In: H.W. Simons with J. Morreale & B.E. Gronbeck, Persuasion in Society (pp. 3-24). Thousand Oaks: Sage

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