Sources of Persuasion

There is a lot of literature, in the form of self-help guides, sales books and academic textbooks which outline the central cognitive theories of persuasion. However, when trying to understand persuasion in general, and persuasion applied to political mesages, there is limited advice based on empirical research.

One website which is a good source of real hard-and-fast advice is influence at work, well-known academic psychologist Robert Cialdini's company. Go to the articles section and there are lots of interesting publciations, for example, on the best alternative to torture to gain information from suspected terrorists, how to get your children to tidy up at home and how to get hotel guests to use towels as often as possible to save the environment.

In the political sphere there is Drew Westen's The Political Brain which has influenced much right-wing thought about how individual's can be 'nudged' to make small changes which overall improve society. For example, in the U.S., Westen's analysis has led to a discussion on how workers can be encouraged to take out health insurance (the suggestion is that they have to opt-out, not opt-in as currently). It is argued, therefore, that such uses of persuasion can lead to societal changes but without needing strong government to achieve it.

The BBC had a fascinating series in 2002, Century of Self, which looked at the influence of the Freud's in the development of consumer society. Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays is often seen as the 'father of PR'. Bernays learned his craft during World War 1 within the American government's 'propaganda' unit, and during the 1930s he played a role in how Government's could, within a democratic society, persuade citizen's to do what they wanted.

The interesting thing about Bernays is that he started off within the propaganda school, but throughout his long career (1891-1995) gradually moved his interpretation of PR.