Techniques of Persuasion

* Neuromarketing 


study consumers  cognitive and affective response to marketing stimuli
Study measures in the brain to track progress, used to measure consumer's preference on products
Example - researchers measured the brain to see how people think in relation to what they actually do. Measure people's satisfaction with products that they use. 




* Emotional branding


"do you feel lonely when you eat bread" try to figure out what emotions are attached to products.
register moment by moment feelings of republicans/ democrats.
Emotional branding influences how the company advertises and markets the product because they are much more concerned with what people feel then what they think
Example- persuasion techniques try to persuade people to buy products by making an emotional connection



* Branding/creating a culture around a brand


identity of a specific product. creating a name/culture changes consumers attitude on the product.
Example- airline "song" vs. Delta. crucial for song airline to build an identity. don't even show airplane in ads, focused on other aspects, tried to appeal to certain demographic which ultimately failed. shows the importance of advertising, it can make or break a product/company.




* Narrowcasting


disseminating information to the general public. radio, tv, newspaper, internet.
Aim media messages at specific segments of the public
Example- "Cabivision"- a network in London cabs which shows pre-recorded TV programs which target taxi cab passengers.




* Rhetorical marketing


what accounts for primal impulses? must understand the unspoken need of the people. good marketing research works- marketers understand need of customers. "give us what we want" changing slogans and words to have different meaning to appeal to consumer. by changing the rhetoric you can sell anything to the consumer. (FRAMING).
using technology to figure out what language for politicians to use. when both political parties agree with rhetoric of speach, he can tell, and knows whaent to use that wording when he wants everyone to agree. MANIPULATIVE.
Example- Global warming vs. Global climate change 






* Under the radar marketing


low- key marketing and advertising
Example- Advertisements embedded into cell phones and games.



* Across-media marketing

Guerilla marketing technique, strategic marketing
Example- stamping people's hands at the club with certain logo



* Product placement across media


Branded goods or services are placed in context
Example- Advertising in movies, somene holding a Coke can for instance.

* Guerilla marketing

Advertising where people aren’t expecting it, like having your brand’s logobe the stamp at a night club. This technique reaches people who are not searching for the advertisement, but it’s easier to target specific “types” of customers this way because you are going to them in their everyday lives and putting advertisements in front of their faces when they aren’t expecting or maybe even realizing it.  

* Viral marketing

Marketing that relies on existing social network and word of mouth to spread news of their product. Every big company has ads on Facebook and a Twitter page; they create events for everyone to invite their friends to and join contests so that people are talking about Pepsi without even realizing they are being advertised to.

Internet & Democracy

1. Based on this debate and previous readings, what definition of democracy do you feel is most fitting for us to use in-conjunction to our growing reliance and integration of digital networked technologies? 
       It is obvious that the current grounds of these debates we have ventured into relate in all aspects to the media, political organizations, citizens and voters alike. With that being said, it is safe to say that each of these debate topics have trickled down from some form of E-democracy; a term combining the words electronic and democracy. These debates have been about blogging and its political views on it. In other words this explains the use of information technologies and communication technologies in political and governance processes, also known as E-democracy (Wikipedia.com).


2. How does your answer to #1 fit into the unchecked nature of Web 2.0 technologies, and what are some tangible examples of this? Do you feel this is an important issue that needs to be addressed further?
      Most of the technologies mentioned in Web 2.0 have software that is pretty simple to understand in order to take full advantage of what it has to offer, hence its availability to any and everyone. If it were a piece of technology that was not meant to be so easily accessible, it would be harder to use. These applications were designed for a reason. I'm sure everyone has enough common sense to decipher an applications reliability as it is basically presented through how secure of an app it is. We have the ability to use these apps or not and that is what's most important in this debate of "unchecked technologies". You wouldn't walk into a shady tarot reading shop with hopes of finding plausible answers to your life would you? These technologies are simply alternative means of communications that can be more widely broadcasted. 


3. Define and describe the phenomenon of the Media echo-chamber as described in the Internet Debates. What are some examples of this silo effect, and do you believe it is an issue that needs to be addressed? Why or Why not?
       Media echo-chambers in relation to these debates, implies that when ideas, beliefs, or general information is released into the media and is constantly mentioned and discussed it somehow becomes reliable or factual in a sense. It refers to the notion that people tend to believe certain things that repeated constantly, especially if it is coming from a familiar or popular source that coincides with your particular beliefs. For example there have been many cases where the news mentioned ending bullying. However, since the case of the woman who created a profile page to harass a young girl and the case of Tyler Clementi, sources have accredited the main cause of suicide to be associated with cyber-bullying and how this imminent epidemic needs to end.  


4. What are some ways that expertise and authority could be (or is being) enforced on the internet? Who would be behind these forces? Why do you believe they are needed or not needed?
       To my Knowledge the only expertise and authority being enforced on the internet is the fact that web pages are either .edu's, .com's, or .net's. These have a lot to do with a websites informative credibility. When researching a project in school teachers encourage students to utilize information from edu web pages. Educational websites tend to have the most accredited resources as all their information is drawn from scholarly sources oppose to .com's or networks which are usually bias or advertisement based information. Scholarly based sites gather information from professors and or grad. students.


5. Give an example of an adaptation or improvement made by a social, political, or cultural group, government, business or individual to keep up with changing nature of the internet.
   Im sure that there are numerous examples of businesses adapting or improving to the internet's changing nature. One that comes to mind is itunes. After music was changed forever due to illegal digital music downloading i.e. (napster), companies desperately looked for other means of earning profit. Apple accommodated the internet's evolutionary change to digital music downloading by creating itunes. Itunes is an online store that allows customers to purchase anything from music to movies, shows and audiobooks.    
  
6. Is democracy threatened by the unchecked nature of the internet?  
     As a principle democracy is the governing of the people for the people. The principles being reflected by democracy suggest that all just citizens are equally abiding by the law as well as rightfully utilizing the power they possess. With that being said all the internet and it's applications do for democracy, if anything, is liberate and diversify it.       

The Great Seduction Questions

1.       Some people may argue that democratized media is very beneficial. The exemption of the middle man in any circumstance gives the original publisher more credit or even more credibility in the craft.  What Andrew Keen is arguing, is the exact problem with this new revolution in media. Keen argues that democratized media is a “seduction, it’s promising…Digital economy will free us from old structure.” He is suggesting that it in a sense disinter mediates, makes traditional media more efficient and more truthful.  Everyone is able to publish themselves and by doing so people without any real expertise are able to create, distribute, market, and sell their products or ideas without any real certification or expertise of the middle man. There are two problems Keen sees with this; these are untrustworthy mediums, without any organizational structure or credible sponsorship and we don’t have a viable economy to support such an independent endeavor, it’s sort of like autonomy.

2.       Keen sees social media as something that defines us in the 21^st century, something that defines us as a society. Something people can look back on as a reference for how we existed in any point in time. With that being said, Andrew Keen suggests the main idea of Web 2.0 to be more of “superficial observations of the world around us rather than considered judgment.”  I believe that Rushkoff portrays that previous idea exactly. He explains the benefits of these mediums, like the fact that public schools in the Bronx are benefitting from the technology because it encourages them to want to learn. He also mentions how games like World of War Craft are connecting people all over the world. After analyzing such statements I can draw the conclusion that these people are severely addicted to the internet and all the mediums it has to offer. So by going back and applying Keens theory of social media, one could interpret that our society is solely fixated on the digital world and the shortcuts they offer. This would not be a positive or even admirable way to be perceived if one were to look back on our generation/society in the future.

Responding to Ricky Distefano

Digital Nation Paper: The Mob

Due to the imminence of various technological advances and their ability to appeal to society’s demand for speedy service and results, we have become not depended on technology, but rather accustomed. Our society’s upbringing with technology has in a sense shaped and evolved the world today. Advances in technology in regards to our level of connectedness, was initially meant to satisfy the world, by making everyday tasks easier and enjoyable.  In the process many effects or causes of being so “connected” were revealed. Interpersonal relationships have almost become a thing of the past. People hardly ever initially meet face to face anymore. Mediums such as video chat, text messaging, tweeting and Facebook create alternate means of communication. Why waste time commuting to physically meet when you can use the Second Life program? Why take the time to actually get to know someone when you can just read the info page on his or her profile? Why stop to ask someone what they’ve been up to if you can just browse photos to get the just of it?  Lines of what we use to know as proper manners and etiquette have been crossed due to the extension of connectedness; we know it is impolite to talk on a phone at the dinner table because it is rude and distracting to others, but what about texting? Do the same rules apply?

Being connected has also made a typical day for a criminal easier. There is no doubt that there are stalkers, hackers, and sex offenders lurking around in cyberspace. Connectivity on the Internet has made their jobs easier. Instead of stalker going through the tiresome task of physically following a person around and harassing them, he or she can now do so while in the comfort of their own home. Thieves use to have to be sneaky and mischievous in the way they go about stealing. Nowadays all a thief has to do is hack into a computer by setting viruses for someone to click on that will enable them to track every punch of a computer key, deciphering any hidden passwords, account numbers one may be trying to conceal.  There are many unintended effects of being so connected that many people are unaware of.

The cause of misbehavior and all collective anger that seems to be unleashed online has to do with more than the incentive given by anonymity and connectivity, it’s deeper than that. Anonymity plus connectivity breeds a mixture of curiosity, confidence, and willingness. What would you do if you were invincible and had the ability to do anything you wanted? It’s not so much the anonymity and connectivity that equals misbehavior and cruelty online, it’s the openness and confidence people possess when they do not directly have to deal with the responsibilities that come with their actions. Depending on the person, their morals, and the degree, to which they follow those morals, determines whether they will chose a path that will negatively or positively affect people.  

Web 2.0: Discussion Questions

1. Amateurish or "homegrown" TV and advertisements give people a sense of realism, or rather something to relate to. Subconsciously we are able to to this type of TV and ads because of the fact that it is not professionally produced, and not necessarily done up with all the glamor, hype and superficiality it usually entails. Think about the difference in production of the two; the action, the graphics, the professionalism. Professional production puts us in a fantasy, a place of euphoria. regular tv shows tend to stick to more plots that deal with everyday issues. With that being said the production will fluctuate, as it does in all aspects TV and Advertising.

2. I tend to use facebook. The reason facebook is so much more successful because of the way it came on the scene of social networking sites. When facebook first hit the web, users were not able to sign up unless they were in college or had a college email address. This is what separated it from myspace and other sites. Because it was only offered to college students, any non college students were unable to sign up. This made it exclusive. People who could join loved it, and people who couldn't were curious about it. As it grew more popular the site opened its services to all and any users, causing it to expand to an even greater population, the entire world.

3. Transparency is important in both on and offline, Online transparency is much more imperative because the parties are not physically present, which eliminates any chances of direct inference of the situation. Offline, people can directly interact, decipher and simulate with any situation. So transparency is important in both areas, but differs in degree of importance as well.

McLuhan Final Project

Advertisement campaigns are very important when it comes to the popularity and publication of a product. There are many messages we can decipher when studying campaign ads. The advertisement is more than just the picture itself. The caption at the bottom tells us that this product will super charge us up with electrolyes, carbs and everything else gatorade has to offer when drinking it. The fact that Michael jordan is on the cover certifies that this product is definitely used by elite athletes. Lastly, notice his positioning, how high he is, how fit he is. This also gives us the impression that by drinking gatorade we are on our way to performing like a pro.