The website reviewed in the following analysis is goarmy.com. It is a US army website that tries to persuade people into enlisting. It makes use of different persuasive techniques from all three categories.
Bandwagon: This is the most obvious technique that would be expected of an army website. The Go Army webpage shows the number of people that joined the US army and offers you to join the bandwagon.
Association: The Go Army website links joining the military with positive rather than negative aspects of life. The best example in on the website is how the persuader tells that the skills that you learn in the army, can be applied in specialised civilian jobs/activities. This technique makes the user want to learn those skills and make their life experience richer. Paratroopers in the army can become parachuting instructors or do it as a hobby. The US army even has a racing team in order to appeal to the public.
Experts: There is definitely testimonials from army experts on the website. There sections on the webpage where you can contact experienced soldiers and ask them about their opinion/recommendations. Also there are pictures of professionally trained soldiers preforming specialised tasks and a statement in bold that says that "the army trains you to be the best, both as a soldier and as a civilian".
Intensity: Even without looking at the website, it is safe to say that the army will use some intense vocabulary in order to try and persuade you to join. Even the title (Go Army) already glorifies the armed forces and puts a positive connotation beside it. Words like "Best", "Strong", "Benefit" and "Skills" are literally throw at the viewer in size 72 font. They play a MAJOR role in trying to persuade someone to join.
Maybe: Even though most of the content is believable due to the US army being one of the best in the world, there are inevitably some maybe's in the website. For example the website states that it is guaranteed that your life will change for the good once you join, that is not always the case, especially when your friends and you start getting shot at.
Plain Folks: As the army mostly consists of non commissioned (low ranking) officers, the website uses ordinary soldiers as means of persuading other to join. Similar to the experts section, the viewer has an ability to read the stories of current US soldiers. The stories were obviously selected and only talk about the good thing in the army. There is also a lot of reference to advantages that an ordinary civilian can get through enlisting.
Charisma: There is definitely Charisma involved in the website. It is indirect charisma. It is mostly conveyed through pictures of bold, confident and professional-looking soldiers, rather than the author's point of view.
Flattery: This technique is used very prominently in the website. Almost every other sentence that is thrown at the viewer has the word "you" in it. A good example is "By joining the intelligence you will become the eyes and ears of the army...". It is used to make a viewer think that he is guaranteed to be more successful in the army than he would be in a civilian job.
Rhetorical questions: There are not too many of those on the website that we spotted BUT there was one major rhetorical question on the frontage. "Can you rise to the challenge?". This question creates a sense of interest or even doubt in a viewer and may end up persuading him to join up.
Symbols: There are a lot of symbols used throughout the website. They are mostly used to make the army look good and link it to all the positive things in life, therefore all the symbols are positive. They include; Home, family, music, leisure, sport, religion, nation, lifestyle, job, civilian life and may more.
Card Stacking: This technique was used very simply but very effectively in the website, even though it is easy to spot. At no point in the website, there is anything that mentions the probability of one getting shot while on duty. The reason behind hiding these fact is the fact that people will stop joining if they are told that they are going to die.
Yes we think that these techniques are effective because people join the army. The US army is one of the biggest in the world therefore, websites like these do work, otherwise they would not exist. The website uses numerous techniques in order to try and persuade a person, so if one fails, there are more methods that may change the viewer's opinion. Its not only about the quantity, some of the persuasive techniques are very effective on standalone because they emotionally appeal to people's needs and wants in life.
Well, some of the aspects of the website can be considered as a bit exaggerated, but we would not necessarily classify the website as a source of any major progaganda. yes, propaganda can be jistified because sometimes it takes some exaggeration in order to persuade people into doing something good. A good outside example would be WW2, where the Allied soldiers were told that they were winning in order to boost their morale (Even if that wasn't always the case, especially in the beginning of WW2).
Bandwagon: This is the most obvious technique that would be expected of an army website. The Go Army webpage shows the number of people that joined the US army and offers you to join the bandwagon.
Association: The Go Army website links joining the military with positive rather than negative aspects of life. The best example in on the website is how the persuader tells that the skills that you learn in the army, can be applied in specialised civilian jobs/activities. This technique makes the user want to learn those skills and make their life experience richer. Paratroopers in the army can become parachuting instructors or do it as a hobby. The US army even has a racing team in order to appeal to the public.
Experts: There is definitely testimonials from army experts on the website. There sections on the webpage where you can contact experienced soldiers and ask them about their opinion/recommendations. Also there are pictures of professionally trained soldiers preforming specialised tasks and a statement in bold that says that "the army trains you to be the best, both as a soldier and as a civilian".
Intensity: Even without looking at the website, it is safe to say that the army will use some intense vocabulary in order to try and persuade you to join. Even the title (Go Army) already glorifies the armed forces and puts a positive connotation beside it. Words like "Best", "Strong", "Benefit" and "Skills" are literally throw at the viewer in size 72 font. They play a MAJOR role in trying to persuade someone to join.
Maybe: Even though most of the content is believable due to the US army being one of the best in the world, there are inevitably some maybe's in the website. For example the website states that it is guaranteed that your life will change for the good once you join, that is not always the case, especially when your friends and you start getting shot at.
Plain Folks: As the army mostly consists of non commissioned (low ranking) officers, the website uses ordinary soldiers as means of persuading other to join. Similar to the experts section, the viewer has an ability to read the stories of current US soldiers. The stories were obviously selected and only talk about the good thing in the army. There is also a lot of reference to advantages that an ordinary civilian can get through enlisting.
Charisma: There is definitely Charisma involved in the website. It is indirect charisma. It is mostly conveyed through pictures of bold, confident and professional-looking soldiers, rather than the author's point of view.
Flattery: This technique is used very prominently in the website. Almost every other sentence that is thrown at the viewer has the word "you" in it. A good example is "By joining the intelligence you will become the eyes and ears of the army...". It is used to make a viewer think that he is guaranteed to be more successful in the army than he would be in a civilian job.
Rhetorical questions: There are not too many of those on the website that we spotted BUT there was one major rhetorical question on the frontage. "Can you rise to the challenge?". This question creates a sense of interest or even doubt in a viewer and may end up persuading him to join up.
Symbols: There are a lot of symbols used throughout the website. They are mostly used to make the army look good and link it to all the positive things in life, therefore all the symbols are positive. They include; Home, family, music, leisure, sport, religion, nation, lifestyle, job, civilian life and may more.
Card Stacking: This technique was used very simply but very effectively in the website, even though it is easy to spot. At no point in the website, there is anything that mentions the probability of one getting shot while on duty. The reason behind hiding these fact is the fact that people will stop joining if they are told that they are going to die.
Yes we think that these techniques are effective because people join the army. The US army is one of the biggest in the world therefore, websites like these do work, otherwise they would not exist. The website uses numerous techniques in order to try and persuade a person, so if one fails, there are more methods that may change the viewer's opinion. Its not only about the quantity, some of the persuasive techniques are very effective on standalone because they emotionally appeal to people's needs and wants in life.
Well, some of the aspects of the website can be considered as a bit exaggerated, but we would not necessarily classify the website as a source of any major progaganda. yes, propaganda can be jistified because sometimes it takes some exaggeration in order to persuade people into doing something good. A good outside example would be WW2, where the Allied soldiers were told that they were winning in order to boost their morale (Even if that wasn't always the case, especially in the beginning of WW2).
No comments:
Post a Comment