Persuasive Techniques in Advertising

In Just as important as fact vs opinion from Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson shares,

“Knowing how tell whether something is a fact or an opinion has long been viewed as an important skill…”

One of my favorite lessons to do (especially for an observation) is on persuasive advertising. I have used this on the elementary level up to high school level.

Background:

The following are 10 specific persuasive advertising techniques that advertisers use. Sometimes they use more than one in their ads.

1.     Bandwagon – You should join the crowd getting something because you don’t want to be the only person without it!

2.     Celebrity Association or Testimonial  - a famous person endorses a product. The consumer believes it is good just because this famous person says they use it.

3.     Emotional appeal – appealing to emotions such as  fear, sadness, excitement or happiness. These emotions have nothing to do with the facts of the product.

4.     Humor - Get the commercial to stick in people’s minds in a positive way and influence them into buying it.

5.     Anti-bandwagon appeal – Don’t be like the crowd. Be an individual. Think for yourself. It is okay to be different.

6.     Slogans – a catchphrase, tag-line, or word is used. People remember them, associate with it to some personal level and the product, and the next time they're out shopping, they're tempted to buy it.

7.     Glittering generalities – words have positive connotations attached to them. At times, it can also be vague in conveying the true meaning behind the message.  (words like "good", "healthy", "low fat", "home", "freedom", "sensational", "peace", or "tasty)

8.     Comparison advertising -  two or more products are compared. The product being advertised is always the best!

9.     Repetition - words, phrases, ideas, opinions, sounds, and even images 

10.  Plain Folks – the product is for ordinary people.

Purpose: Students learn to distinguish persuasive advertising techniques in order to make informed consumer decisions. By making better buying decisions, students will be able to make wiser decisions on how to spend their money.

Objective: Given 20 examples of advertising, students will identify the correct persuasive advertising techniques with 85% accuracy.

Essential Question: Why do I need to know how advertisers are trying to convince me to buy their products?

Time required: 1 hour

Supplies needed: several pieces chart paper, markers, magazines to cut pictures out of, construction paper, glue sticks

Before the lesson:

·      The teacher will cut out magazine ads that are an example of each technique. Some may be an example of more than one.

·      The teacher will cut out 2 ads for each strategy to use for the final assessment.

·      Make a large chart of the techniques and their explanations

·      Get 10 pieces of chart paper. At the top, right the title of each technique.  Hang these around the room.

Intro to the lesson:

·      Talk about advertisements and the ones that students remember.

·      Ask why they think that product is worth buying. List the reasons on the board.

Lesson:

1.     Introduce the persuasive advertising techniques and their explanation. (These are listed on a large  chart and posted on the board.)

2.     The teacher will show an example of a magazine ad for each technique. Explain the reason for choosing that technique. Using a glue stick, a student is asked to stick the ad on the chart paper under the correct technique.

3.     Students work individually at their desks. They are given magazines and asked to find ads that demonstrate at least 5 different of the techniques discussed.

4.     They cut them out and on the back of each ad, they put a sticky note with the number of the technique from the chart that was used.

5.     After all students have gotten 5, the students will share their ads with class.  Going around the room,  each student will have a turn to share one ad and the technique used. If this is correct, they may glue their ad to the matching chart paper. Keeping going around the room until everyone has shared their choices.

Individual Differences:

·      For those who have difficulty using scissors,  some ads can already be cut out. The student has to put a sticky note on the back with the number of the technique.

·      Students who have trouble reading may work with a partner.

Learning Styles: Visual (pictures of ads), Auditory (Explanation and discussion), Kinesthetic-Tactile (Cutting out ads and gluing them to the chart paper)

Assistive technology: Chart paper, sticky notes

Assessment:

Informal assessment: teacher observation of ads cut out and which technique was used.

Formal assessment: Students sit at their desk with an answer sheet numbered 1 – 20. Students will be shown several ads and they will write the number of the techniques on the chart used for that ad.

Enrichment:

Students can find examples of TV or radio ads at home to demonstrate some of these persuasive techniques.

Photo by Jan Böttinger on Unsplash

Time to Refresh My Classroom Materials

I have a wonderful friend, Patte, who has truly inspired me to look more closely at all the things that I have and whether I really need them. I tend to be a hoarder and sometimes the clutter can really bog me down. It can overwhelm me and keep me from being as productive as I want to be. She has done a lot of purging of things she really doesn’t need, and it has motivated me to try to do the same with my personal and professional belongings.

Now that summer is coming to an end, it is time to revisit materials and supplies that I have for the classroom. I need to sort everything so I can get a better idea of what to do with things. Sometimes at the end of a school year, I’m so tired that I toss everything in boxes with the plan on dealing with it later. That time has now arrived.

Things that I will throw away:

·      Things that no longer work.

·      Things that have broken parts.

·      Things that are out of date and are no longer relevant.

Things that I will give away:

·      Things that still have value, but I won’t need to use anymore.

·      Things that someone else may like but I don’t anymore.

Sort things into separate boxes:

·      Things I plan to use right away.

·      Things I will use this year but not right away.

·      Things I might use at a later time but maybe not this year.

Decisions:

Things that have sentimental value: Do I save it or just take a photo and keep the memory.

Look at the things I’ve saved and asked myself if I really need it? If so, what am I going to use it for? If I can’t answer that question, I may need to get rid of it.

I have used this process to get rid of a lot of clothing months ago and I’m very happy with my actions. I love how easy it is to find the clothes I want to wear. I have kept up my system of arranging clothes because now it is so easy.

Now I need to apply this system to other areas of my life.

What system do you use? Please share.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 7/27/18

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Expii Solve – “Fun, thought provoking, interactive math puzzles shown through current events and pop culture designed to relate to your life.”  (L:H;SA:M)

Ancient Egypt 101 – from National Geographic; “The Ancient Egyptian civilization, famous for its pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, and tombs, flourished for thousands of years. But what was its lasting impact? Learn how Ancient Egypt contributed to society with its many cultural developments, particularly in language and mathematics.” (L:G;SA:SS)

Would You Rather? – using comparison skills to choose the cheapest item. (L:G;SA:M)

Google’s Science Journal – “Science Journal transforms your device into a pocket-size science tool that encourages students to explore their world. As they conduct eye-opening experiments, they’ll record observations and make new, exciting discoveries.” (L:G;SA:S)

What is a Grand Jury – “What is a Grand Jury? How does a Grand Jury work? What is the meaning of the 5th amendment? In this short lecture we look at the origins of the Grand Jury, how it made it's way into the Bill of Rights, how they operate as well showing you some examples of the Grand Jury.” (L:M,H;SA:SS)

Original photo by Pat Hensley