Hey what’s up guys! Kathy Gibbens here…
Before we jump into Part 3 of our Manipulation mini-series, let’s do a quick review of a fallacy we covered earlier in this Season: the Appeal to Fear. By now, you know that an appeal to emotion is when someone tries to get you to act by evoking a feeling in you rather than by making a good argument. This works the same way. An Appeal to Fear is when someone tries to get you to do, think or believe something by making you afraid of the alternative.
Here's the question to ask yourself if you’re facing an Appeal to Fear: “Is what they’re saying being backed up by a real argument or are they just trying to play on my emotions?”
If you want to hear more about this fallacy, check out Episode 25.
Ok, let’s jump into part 3 in our Manipulation mini-series by talking about Snob Appeal - Snob Appeal is when someone tries to persuade us that doing their thing will make you better than other people or make you stand out from everybody else. It appeals to our desire to be raised up to a higher class or status. This also carries with it the idea that doing this certain thing will make you better than everyone else, that they’re just not as knowledgeable or special.
Snob appeal is used ALL THE TIME in marketing. Think of all the commercials & ads for makeup. They all show the woman putting on the makeup and instantly becoming more beautiful, more desirable and someone living a better, happier, more beautiful life as a result. That’s Snob Appeal. It’s saying, if you use this product, you will be BETTER in some way that’s desirable to their audience.
The reality is this: Snob Appeal is really just trying to manipulate us by playing to our pride & ego. The Bible is very clear that pride is dangerous and says specifically, “pride comes before the fall.” So when someone is trying to appeal to your pride to get you to do or buy or say or believe something, watch out. It’s going to come back to bite you in the end. And think about it: just b/c you buy a new car or live in a fancier house, does that actually make YOU a better person? Have you changed on the inside at all? Are you smarter? Kinder? Wiser or smarter? No. When advertisers use Snob Appeal, they’re selling an image. They’ve done a ton of market research and they knew what their target market wants…so they create ads that say if you buy our ‘thing’ you’ll achieve this outcome…whether it’s true or not.
For example: you’ll see ads for pickup trucks where the tough, rugged, cool-looking cowboy is getting out of the truck, and riding off into the beautiful sunset on a horse. They’re selling an image. People want to think of themselves as a tough, rugged, cool-looking cowboy when in reality they’ll most likely be using the truck to help their kid move into college. You get the point? Snob Appeal sells an IMAGE to try to get you to buy a product.
Question to ask yourself when you’re facing Snob Appeal is this: “Is it really true that this is going to make me better in some way?… *repeat*
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
