PERSUASIVE ESSAY

Name
Professor
Course
Date
Persuasion
Everyone uses persuasion to coerce and influence people’s actions or judgments intentionally. Think of the times you have had to persuade your friends to take you somewhere or to convince your parents to buy you something (Hogan 12). We all need help at some point and Learning the skill of persuasion is vital in making people get out of their way to help or agree with us. However, one needs to draw a line between persuasion and manipulation. Manipulation is persuading with the intent to fool, control or make the other party do something that will leave them at a loss. For instance, persuasion can be “going to the mall together is fun, why don’t we go later”, but manipulation is “if you do not take me to the mall you will not join me at the movies on Friday.”
The reasons why we employ or fall victim to persuasion could be explained psychologically. One reason is the psychological attitude towards someone or something. Someone’s attitude towards a person is likely to determine how you take their persuasion. This is the reason why politicians whom followers have a right attitude towards will always be chosen even if their opponents persuade voters more.
There are three main tools of persuasion, ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is used to persuade by using your reputation or how people perceive you. Example many radio and television stations introduce themselves as the best or leading station is a particular Genre. Logos, on the other hand, uses logical appeal, e.

g., when the scientific proof is used. Finally, Pathos uses an emotional appeal to persuade people. This method is mainly used by advertisers to sell their products.
When it comes to persuasion, some ethical values have to be followed. For example, a moral persuader should relay truthful information to enable the other party to makes objective information. He should also not be coercive; he should leave a range of choice for the other party to choose from (Fowler 35). The other party should be responsible too by listening carefully and responding to the persuasion by following their ethical standards.
Several studies have been taken to show how persuasion affects us. An example is when Ethiopia sent money to Mexico following an earthquake in Mexico. The main reason was that Mexico helped Ethiopia in 1935 when Italy invaded their country. So when you do good first, it becomes so easy to get other people to do the same for you. They will be encouraged to reciprocate
Coca-Cola advertisement, taste the feeling uses emotions and feelings to target the young people by showing beautiful moments of love friendship and excitement. It, therefore, uses the concept of ethos to persuade the youngsters to buy the product.

Works cited
Fowler, Alan. Negotiating, Persuading and Influencing. 7th ed., CIPD Publishing, 2010, p. 35.
Hogan, Kevin. The Psychology of Persuasion. 1st ed., Pelican Publ. Co., 2010, p. 12.