ABSTRACT
Most people draw distinctions between persuasion and information, and their everyday working theories often characterize persuasion as unethicalor at least suspect-while “information” is believed to be factual, unbiased, and objective. In this chapter, we introduce a controversial view that persuasion is not inherently unethical, but it is inherently inevitable. Put differently, we argue that every instance of human communication is persuasive in nature and those messages can never be purely informational or objective. Every day you practice persuasion, sometimes intentionally and often simply as part of human interaction, through a whole range of influence strategies. You try to get your friends to go to the movie you want to see, you greet others you like or want to impress with a smile and a compliment, you update your social network profiles and photos to present yourself more positively. You may not consciously realize that you’re engaged in persuasion, but nevertheless, that’s what’s going on. Persuasion is crucial to community life and democracy. Responsible persuasion helps us work together to solve problems rather than resorting to coercion. It helps us connect with each other, forge relationships, and develop shared understanding. In the world of professional persuasion, advertising and public relations help people learn about products and services they might need or like. They encourage competition, foster innovation, and help keep prices down. Of course, not all persuasion is ethical, and those are the issues we’re going to sort out in this book. At this point, you’re probably protesting that persuasion and information are different and that you can tell the difference. You may also think that other people are more susceptible to influence than you yourself. We’ll talk more about that later. But try to keep an open mind regarding our very clear effort to persuade you.
