Testing persuasion techniques on customer鈥檚 behaviour through the creation of person-based and product-based advertisements

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test two persuasion techniques, logos and pathos, on customer behaviour through the creation of two advertisements. Logos is a persuasion technique based on rational arguments, while pathos techniques use human emotions and personal involvement in the purpose of persuasion (Romanova & Smirnova, 2019). The secondary research was carried out prior to the production of the two advertisements. Both commercials presented fight wear, including GI, leggings, and rash guard. The first advertisement focused on animation, lights, and product description. The human elements were purposefully left out, in order to test solely the logos persuasion techniques. In contrast, the second advertisement, based on pathos, did not contain any product description or specification, and it involved the presentation of a sports lifestyle. After the finalisation of both advertisements, qualitative research was conducted through a focus group of six participants. All participants had a certain amount of knowledge of martial arts, with one of the members having more than 20 years of experience. While the members of the focus group had different points of view about the two advertisements, the most significant finding was the correlation of personal involvement in Jiu-Jitsu of the participants with their buying behaviour and interest in the overall brand.