{"id":10035,"date":"2017-09-21T00:36:30","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T00:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10035"},"modified":"2017-09-22T00:40:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T00:40:07","slug":"why-trumps-tirades-are-losing-their-potency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-trumps-tirades-are-losing-their-potency\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Trump’s tirades are losing their potency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth C. Tippett<\/a>, University of Oregon<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

President Trump on September 19 gave his inaugural speech<\/a> to the United Nations General Assembly, where he characterized<\/a> North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as a \u201crocket man on a suicide mission.\u201d He also threatened to \u201ctotally destroy\u201d North Korea if necessary to defend America or its allies. He even hedged a little, noting \u201chopefully this will not be necessary\u201d because \u201cthat\u2019s what the United Nations is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some observers<\/a> expressed shock and dismay about the deterioration of presidential norms<\/a>, others (including other world leaders<\/a> in attendance) seemed to barely react<\/a> to \u201cTrump being Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

The subdued response may have been a stoic display of diplomatic calm, the core competency of those responsible for unraveling international crises. Or, more dangerously, is it a sign we\u2019re growing complacent about the president of the United States thumbing his nose at legal, international and ethical norms? <\/p>\n

A marketing theory that describes how consumers respond to persuasive messaging \u2013 the kind you get from a repeated ad for soap or a politician on the stump \u2013 offers some clues, and some hope. <\/p>\n

Over the last several years, I have been working with social scientists to understand how consumers respond to medical information in attorney advertising. In the course of these collaborations, I learned that consumers respond to persuasive messages \u2013 including a president\u2019s \u2013 in a much more complex way than you might expect.<\/p>\n

Consumers are sophisticated<\/h2>\n

In 1994, marketing professors Marian Friestad and Peter Wright wrote a landmark paper<\/a> that changed the way researchers thought about how consumers respond to persuasion. <\/p>\n

Previously, researchers tended to assume that consumers approached persuasive messages somewhat passively<\/a>. Scholars knew that consumers responded differently depending on whether they had a high or low engagement<\/a> in the marketing message. But they were less interested in how they engaged with those messages.<\/p>\n

Friestad and Wright placed consumers at the center of their model. They believed that consumers are sophisticated in how they process persuasive messages, bringing to bear their knowledge of the subject matter, the source of the information and their knowledge about persuasion tactics. If consumers believe that the source is untrustworthy, or that the advertiser is trying to use a deceptive tactic against them, they can respond by discounting or ignoring the message.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n This graphic illustrates the marketing model developed by Friestad and Wright using a 1793 engraving by Vernet.<\/span>
\n Venet, Friestad and Wright<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, say a woman spots her boyfriend arm in arm with another woman. After confronting him, she will assess his proffered explanations in light of what she knows about him (something called \u201cagent knowledge\u201d) and how men usually try to explain their way out of such predicaments (known as \u201cpersuasion knowledge\u201d). If the boyfriend insists that he has never met the woman, according to the Friestad and Wright model, she would then \u201ccope\u201d with his persuasion attempt by disbelieving his explanation.<\/p>\n

Friestad and Wright also described the moment at which consumers realize an advertiser is trying to persuade them as a \u201cchange of meaning.\u201d An illustration of this is the moment you realize a co-worker who is complimenting your new hairstyle wants to ask for a favor and is not being merely friendly or just making idle chit-chat.<\/p>\n

According to Friestad and Wright, we are constantly updating our knowledge about persuasion tactics and the reliability of different sources, partly based on folk knowledge and partly our own experience. Their model also explains why people respond differently to the same message at different points in time. <\/p>\n

The next time you see the flattering co-worker, you\u2019ll be more skeptical of his compliments \u2013 and maybe those you receive from others in the office as well.<\/p>\n

\n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n