Media Analysis Two: Applying Motivational Appeals to a Tips from Former Smokers Campaign Advertisment

       In my COMM 340 class on persuasion and advocacy, I learned about motivational appeals through an in class PowerPoint and an experiential classroom learning activity. By doing these two learning activities I learned how motivational appeals are present within several of the advertisements used within the media to persuade and to advise the public. By applying motivational appeals towards an advertisement I learned I can become more aware of how motivational appeals are intertwined into many of the advertisements I view within the media on a daily basis.  The media example I chose to do my media analysis on is a commercial advertisement created by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from their Tips from Former Smokers campaign. It features three people who have stomas as a result of their smoking and they each provide tips on how to live life with their condition.

        In the classroom PowerPoint, Gass and Seiter mention motivational appeals as external inducements, often of an emotional nature, which are designed to increase an individual's drive to undertake some course of action" (Gass & Seiter, 2014). Within this 30 second commercial advertisement there are several types of motivational appeals which are used to influence the choices of the commercial viewing audience. The motivational appeals are further influenced by the use of production techniques. For example, the use of the production techniques of using the white colored capitalized font words in front of a black background during the commercial's start helps the audience to ease into this commercial's main message of action.

       This technique helps the commercial to have a warmth appeal towards its viewing audience. This is because the viewing audience is getting "Tips from Former Smokers" to hopefully help prevent similar results from happening towards themselves if they are currently smokers. The usage of warmth appeal shows that the former smoking individuals are being helpful since they are giving the viewing audience advice and it also builds the commercial's motivational appeal of kindness because if the former smokers were not giving tips and instead telling the audience to just quit smoking with a motivational appeal style of guilt it would make some viewers feel uncomfortable of less open to hearing the main message. This would be due to creating a hostile emotion; thus making some viewers upset and less likely to listen to the commercial. Therefore, by giving tips in a motivational appeal style of kindness it creates a bond with the viewing audience compared to if the audience being lectured to with statistics. 

       Another motivational appeal used within this advertisement commercial is the usage of Whitt's Extended Parallel Processing Model (EEPM). In Putting the Fear Back into Fear Appeals: The Extended Parallel Model, Kim Witte states "fear appeals are persuasive messages designed to scare people by describing the terrible things that will happen to them if they do not do what the message recommends." This is used within the commercial because the commercial uses danger control by showing three individuals who are former smokers to convey their daily experiences and routines of having a stoma in their throat. This makes the viewing audience see that their daily life has to change if they do not want to get cancer or they can have a higher chance of getting a stoma put into their throat like these three former smokers have. Thus this is showing the commercial's use of fear control because the audience focuses on the possibility that this can happen to anyone who smokes.

        However, the commercial ends by using a perceived efficacy tactic. This is because after the commercial shows the daily routines of the three individuals it concludes by using the same production technique as it did in the beginning of the commercial. However, the white colored capitalized words now say "smoking causes immediate damage to your body." It then goes to the logo of the CDC and their website address for resources on helping an individual quit smoking. Plus by putting the CDC website and logo at the end of the commercial it helps the viewer connect with the CDC though an emotional connection. This is because they have hopefully became emotionally connected with the three individuals  who gave them tips and will now look for more tips on the CDC website.

     In conclusion, the media utilizes motivational appeals by applying them into their advertisements to persuade and advise the public. By analyzing motivational appeals and how they connect to the persuasion and advocacy within this media advertisement, I also learned I can become more aware of how this concept is used within many of the advertisements I and others view on a daily basis.

References: 

C. (2012). CDC: Tips from Former Smokers - Anthem Ad. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEWky9PEroU

Robert Gass & John Seiter, (2014). Chapter 13 Motivational Appeals [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://moodle.alverno.edu/course/view.php?id=22807
 

Witte, K. (1992). Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model.Communication Monographs, 59(4), 329-349. doi:10.1080/03637759209376276