Language and Persuasion

Philip K. Dick, The basic tool for the manipulation of

reality is the manipulation of words.
Richard Moore, Language is a field of battle, the
media is the artillery, and vocabulary is the
ammunition.

Language and credibility

Bush-isms
Rarely is the question asked: Is our children
learning?
"They misunderestimated me." (Bentonville,
Ark., Nov. 6, 2000)
"...more and more of our imports are coming
from overseas. (reported in Slate, Sept. 25,
2000)
"Recession means that people's incomes, at the
employer level, are going down, basically,
relative to costs, people are getting laid off."
Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2004
"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know
it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee --that
says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you.
Fool me ... You can't get fooled again.
(Baltimore Sun, Oct 6, 2002)
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where
wings take
dream." (LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000)

Language and credibility-continued

Language choices
affect source
credibility
Senator George Allen
referred to a man of
Indian descent as a
macaca, a racial slur

Misspellings and
grammatical errors can
reduce credibility
in resumes or emails
In everyday interaction
example: Me and her
been to that movie. I
seen that movie too.

Language expectancy theory

Burgoon & Siegel (2004):

people have expectations
about what they consider to be
normal, acceptable language
use in various situations.
When a persuader violates an
audiences expectations, the
violation may be viewed positively
or negatively.
Depending on the sources
attractiveness
Depending on the sources
reward power

Green labeling

Environmentally friendly labels vie

for consumers attention
Dolphin-safe tuna (fish nets that dont
kill dolphins)
Fair Trade coffee label (ensures poor
coffee growers receive a fair price)
Sweatshop free clothing
Free Farmed label (humane
treatment of dairy cows and animals
slaughtered for meat)
Green products (earth friendly goods
and services)
Environmentally friendly companies

Greenwashing

Roberts (2008) more than 90% of green

labeling is misleading
more than 50 percent of eco-labels on the
shelves today promote some type of narrow
eco-friendly attribute, such as recycled parts
or content. However, they neglect to refer to
inherent environmental drawbacks like
manufacturing intensity.
Example: Tyson Chicken promotes its
chicken as "all natural," even though the
company treats chickens with antibiotics
Example: Kraft's Post Selects Cereals, touts
that its cereals have "natural ingredients"
when, in fact, the corn in the cereal is
genetically engineered

Beware of labels

Healthy, nutritional
A study of 30 nutrition bars
(protein bars, meal replacement
bars, diet bars or energy bars)
found that 60% did not live up to
their labels.
15 of the bars had more
carbohydrates than claimed.
Some had sodium and saturated
fat levels that were 2- to 3-times
greater than the labels stated.
Natural
This term doesnt mean anything.
The FDA has no regulations
governing the use of the term
natural on foods. It is simply a
buzz word consumers like to
hear.

Organic
68 percent of Americans said they
thought organic foods were safer
to eat or healthier than foods
without such a label.
In a recent interview on ABC News'
20/20, Organic Trade Association
director Katherine DiMatteo
reiterated that organic products are
not safer or more nutritious than
other foods.

The Power of Naming

People reconstruct reality through language:

Kenneth Burke, humans are symbol using,
symbol misusing, symbol making animals.
The symbol is not the thing: symbols are
arbitrary, but people dont always realize this
example: living in the 909 versus 90210 or the
O.C.

The ability to name something defines

reality, shapes perceptions, confers power
example: terms for African-Americans
example: undocumented worker versus illegal
immigrant or illegal alien
example: evil-doer, terrorist versus freedom
fighter or martyr
example Clear Skies Initiative (which weakened
EPA regulations)

Politics and language

Bush morphs the meaning of WMD in Iraq

August 2002: Weapons of mass destruction
June 2003: Weapons of mass destruction
programs.
October 2003: Weapons of mass destructionrelated programs.
January 2004: Weapons of mass destructionrelated program activities.
Already, the Kay Report identified dozens of
weapons of mass destruction-related program
activities." State of the Union Address, January 20,
2004

More on the power of naming...

Richard Weaver, language is sermonic

god terms: freedom, family values,
progress, balanced budget
devil terms: deadbeat dad, ethnic
cleansing, gang member, sweatshop,
sexual harassment
charismatic terms: freedom,
democracy, critical thinking,
empowerment, thinking outside the box
Terms may evolve and change over time
political correctness, affirmative action
liberal

The power of renaming

progressive versus liberal

troop reduction versus cut and
run
peer-to-peer file-sharing
instead of music piracy
pre-owned instead of used
physically challenged,
handicapable differently abled
Womyn instead of woman
in the event of a water
landing

The power of renaming

March 23, 2009

AIG CHANGING ITS
NAME
The massive insurance
operation will
henceforth be known as
AIU Holdings, Ltd., a
process that began this
past weekend with the
removal of the large,
front-end AIG sign from
the its Manhattan office.

Whats in a name?

Naming prescription drugs

branding companies typically earn
between $50,000 and $250,000 for
coming up with a desirable name for a
new drug. But depending upon the
scope of the project, the price tag can
reach into the millions of dollars.

Viagra, Levitra
Celebrex
Lunesta
Rogaine
Claritin
Serafem

Language and Subculture

Language can serve as a passport into a subculture

example: drug culture 4:20 or chronic (for marijuana),
Jones (for a habit)

Language can be used to show solidarity,

cohesiveness
example: gay rights movement Were queer, were here!
referring to heterosexuals as breeders

Herbert Marcuses theory of desublimation: the

larger society tends to appropriate symbols from
subcultures
example: appropriating rap, hip-hop culture (keeping it real,
representing) http://www.rapdict.org/terms/a

Double-Speak & Euphemisms

double-speak: ambiguous or evasive

language
example: Clintons answer during his taped deposition
about the definition of sexual relations or the word is.

euphemisms: substituting inoffensive

terms for offensive ones

gaming (versus gambling)

commercial sex worker (for prostitute)
collateral damage (for civilian casualties)
down-sizing, right-sizing, bright-sizing (for layoffs)
aggressive interrogation techniques or tension positions
(for torture)

language dichotomies for people

with disabilities

People with disabilities are

often labeled with heroic
terms
brave
courageous
inspirational

People with disabilities are

often labeled with pitiable
terms
helpless
imprisoned
suffering

However, people with disabilities are simply people, not

necessarily heroic or pathetic
Put the person first, e.g., a student who is hearing impaired,
versus a hearing impaired student

powerful Vs. powerless

language

Powerless language tends to reduce

persuasiveness

hesitations: well, um, uh

hedges: kind of, sort of, I guess
intensifiers: really, very
polite forms: If you wouldnt mind Could I
please get you to
tag questions: ...dont you think? isnt it?
disclaimers: This may sound dumb, but
Youll probably think Im crazy, but

powerful/powerless, exceptions
exception: Bradac & Mulac (1984) found polite
forms increased persuasiveness (e.g., being
diplomatic)
exception: cross-gender effect: Carli (1990)
found females were more persuasive with men
when they used powerless speech, but more
persuasive with women when they used
powerful speech. (a result of male
expectations?)