Pathos In Advertising

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Advertising companies use many different techniques in persuading an audience. It is important for advertising companies to use the three main strategies--ethos, pathos, and logos--to effectively deliver a message which informs a targeted audience. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has an advertising campaign that effectively promotes the influenza (flu) vaccine. One of these campaigns, "Make It Your Business to Fight the Flu" effectively targets the audience of business people and employers by discussing how it is important to fight the flu when working in the business industry.

Ethos, or the use of credibility, is a very important component of a persuading advertisement. Without presenting credibility or adding authority, the audience wouldn't be as persuaded as if the information was verified or somehow presented as valid. Credibility can be …show more content…

Advertising companies use this strategy because human emotions have a very strong influence when it comes to decision making. Certain advertising companies will present information that makes an audience feel sad, angry, or pitiful towards the subject presented. An example of this would be a company that is advertising for awareness of malnutrition. The company could present the audience with pictures or information that makes them feel sorry for people suffering malnutrition. The audience is more likely to consider information in the advertisement if the information makes the audience feel a certain way. Pathos is used in the CDC campaign when information about the large number of people who are effected by the flu virus each year is presented. This information makes the audience feel scared, which helps persuade them to get the influenza vaccine. This is an important factor for the targeted audience because it shows business people, who are often exposed to a variety of people each day, the large number of people who get the flu