Archive for 2017

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[ecrea] propaganda, persuasion and the great war

Tue Sep 26 14:17:45 GMT 2017



I would like to bring to your attention my new book /Propaganda, Persuasion and the Great War. Heredity in the Modern Sales and Political Ideas/(Routledge, 2017). Here is the book cover and the link: https://www.routledge.com/Propaganda-Persuasion-and-the-Great-War-Heredity-in-the-modern-sale-of/Pedrini/p/book/9781138293915

The book is a critical analysis of World War I posters whose purpose is to investigate the principles of persuasion from the socio-psychological perspective according to Cialdini and other scholars.

In the course of my research I studied almost 2500 posters produced by the English and American propaganda organizations, with a few examples from others countries, in order to demonstrate how earlier persuasion techniques for enlistment and war financing are identical with those of modern advertising and political persuasion (Isis campaigns included).

World War I propagandists manipulated people’s thoughts and actions and became the precursors of modern spin doctors and advertising professionals.

The posters caught people’s attention with pictures of children and beautiful girls, which stimulated their inner needs for development and learning, for well-being and social prestige.

They motivated them to act by using scenes of amusement and adventure.

They gave them a way of thinking about the enemy and the purpose of the war: to make the “world safe for democracy”. Then, as now, economical goals were disguised with a noble cause.

The book is a sort of handbook of all the common techniques used today, therefore it is suitable for students and scholars of communication.

No form of discourse is left out: storytelling, humour (!), parody, fear and body language are common used.

All the weapons of persuasion are to be found as described by Cialdini in /Influence. The Psychology of Persuasion/**(1984) and in /Pre-Suasion/ (2016): consistency, liking, social proof, authority, scarcity, reciprocity, and identity.

All these principles were used to create a sense of guilt in those who chose not to participate in the war effort.

Summary (and key words):

 1. Propaganda and Persuasion
 2. Persuading for the Great War
 3. The organization of the persuasive apparatus
 4. Attracting attention
 5. Repeating the message
 6. The power of questions
 7. The persuasion of the source
 8. Unity is strength
 9. Target 1: the homefront (consistency, reciprocity)
10. Target 2: men to enlist (liking, social proof, scarcity, identity,
    propaganda of fear)


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