Use Of Rhetoric In 'Business Psychographics Revisited'

The first canon of rhetoric is invention. Lori Moses defines invention as “the identification of the target audience so the message can be tailored to them, and the use of logical rationale to appeal to the needs, concerns, or desire of that audience” (Moses 59). The target audience is the group of people the media message is intended for. Demographics and psychographics are the basis for defining a target audience. Demographics categorize characteristics such as age, marital status, income, education, employment, gender, and race. Psychographics categorize personality traits, behaviors, attitudes, and desires (59) John Barry argues in his article “Business Psychographics Revisited”, that understanding psychographics are imperative to creating

While the age of the woman depicted in the advertisement is ambiguous since her face isn’t shown, the style of clothes appear to more the style for women in a younger age group rather than an older one. The advertisement seems to be aimed at both genders. A woman viewing this ad may place herself in place of the woman depicted, while a man may put himself in place of the person viewing the woman in the ad. Other aspects of the intended demographic would be employed, middle class with a college degree. The rationale to these aspects of the intended demographic are tied into the intended psychographics. Rather than just one psychographic group, the Transitions™ advertisement appeals to the traits of innovators and experiencers. Innovators are successful, and embrace change and new technology. Experiences are younger, trendy, highly visual, and also embrace change. As previously stated, the woman appears to be dressed rather trendy, and in general the advertisement is bright and colorful. These aspects appeal to experiencers. The ad also uses language such as “upgrade your vision”, and focuses on the technology used in the product. This information, while it does appeal to experiencers, is fundamental in appealing to innovators.

The second canon of rhetoric is arrangement, and focuses on the use of elements and principles of design to create visual hierarchy. The elements and principles

This is a key aspect of advertising, as an image needs to be memorable for a consumer to recognize the product when shopping (Moses 74). Media message creators can do this in several ways: creating unusual imagery, using concepts considered to be “general knowledge”, and triggering emotions or memories in the audience (75). The Transitions™ ad uses the second and third method. Analysis One: Semiotics, established that the combination of balloons and the pier indicated a boardwalk being the setting of the ad. American television shows and movies repeatedly use boardwalks or carnivals as settings for dates. If the subject viewing the woman was also pictured, it wouldn’t be a leap to assume they’d be holding a teddy bear they won for the woman. I am personally reminded of visiting Cony Island with my friends on Long Island. I am brought back to eating cotton candy and going on rides until I thought I might puke. I have very fond memories of those summers, and the ad effectively plays on those emotions to make their product stand