We recently listened to a great episode of the Mark Groves podcast with costar guest, Robert Greene on the art of seduction. By seduction, we don’t mean what you all think. Seduction is persuasion and is an element of gaining power. This is something all brands strive to attain to gain new customers. All advertising is based on some sort of persuasion to influence attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. This is where the Theory of Reasoned Action comes into play. This theory is an attempt to understand the relationship between attitudes, and beliefs and determine behavioral intention of human actions. There are three things to consider here. 1. Attitudes as a function of beliefs and evaluations of the outcomes. 2. Subjective norms of society as a function of normative beliefs. 3. Motivation to comply and self-control is a function of these beliefs with consideration to how much sway they hold over the person. These three things lead to behavioral intentions. So, now it’s important to understand what controls these beliefs that we all have and where they stem from. Some background factors are personal, demographic, and environmental.
Personal
Self-esteem
Personality traits
Emotions
Health
Demographics
Age
Gender
Race, ethnicity
Education level
Income
Religious beliefs
Environment
Stress levels
Media exposure level
An interesting study done on one Nike advertisement can explain how understanding this theory can help brands promote a paradigm shift to sell a product. The ad was “I Have Thunder Thighs.” In this case, they’re promoting body positivity for women. They tell women to embrace their thunder thighs and it’s a compliment to be told that you have them. Let’s take a deeper look here. The study shows that the first component is the attitude of beliefs and evaluations. They try to sway their audience to love their body as it encourages positive attitudes toward self-esteem and confidence. Next, they tackle subjective norms of social pressures to engage or disengage from behaviors based on what is considered “socially normal.” Nike encourages a community of women who support each other as they are and that they want you to be healthy and fit. Behavioral intention is next inferred to adopt a healthy lifestyle or continue one. Lastly, and most importantly, behavior is what Nike wants their audience to do. They want them to exercise, be confident, and embrace themselves despite what size and shape society tells them to be. This ad shows how advertising uses persuasion techniques to sell a product. Understanding this theory can help advertising agencies the best ways to go about persuading the audience in favor of their product.
