Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

Emotions in Audience Decision Making 327

Are emotional appeals always a hindrance to rational decision making? Political scientist Ted

Brader fi nds that it is the most knowledgeable citizens, not the uniformed ones, who are the most

responsive to emotional appeals in political ads.^203 In The Place of Emotion in Argument , rhetorician

Douglas Walton contends that emotional appeals can play a legitimate role as persuasive arguments

since emotions are indicative of one’s most fundamental values. But Walton also warns of four

types of emotional appeals that are often used fallaciously. The fi rst type is Argumentum ad baculum ,

an appeal to fear. The Michelin tire slogan, “Because so much is riding on your tires,” appeals to

fear for the safety of one’s family. But it says nothing to prove that Michelin tires are any safer than

other brands. The second type, Argumentum ad misericordiam , is an appeal to pity. Advertisements

requesting donations to support medical research often include photographs of extremely ill chil-

dren and their personal stories in order to elicit the reader’s sympathy. However, the ads typically

lack any information about the trustworthiness of the source of the ad, the truth of their claims, or

the percentage of contributions used for research.^204

The third type of emotional appeal often used fallaciously is Argumentum ad populum , an appeal

to popular values or pride. Politicians appeal to popular values when they say the fl ag must be hon-

ored and law and order restored. However, those same politicians may neglect to prove a problem

existed in the fi rst place. The fi nal type of emotional appeal Walton identifi es as typically fallacious

is Argumentum ad hominem , an attack against the person that is often an appeal to anger. For example,

some politicians disparage their rivals as Ivy League “elitists” although they themselves are graduates

of Ivy League schools.

Despite the possibility of using emotional appeals to support fallacious reasoning, many of the

most memorable speeches throughout history have made strong appeals to specifi c emotions. We

have already read the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s speech is an appeal to the

emotion of gratitude: Gratitude triggers the action tendency to repay the debt that is owed. Lincoln

called on his audience at the memorial service in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to repay the debt they

owed the fallen soldiers by fi nishing the task the soldiers had begun. Another famous speech, the

“I have a dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, delivered on August 28, 1963, is an appeal to

the emotion of hope. Hope triggers the action tendency to prepare or to make happen.^205 King

wanted his audience to take the action necessary to turn his dream of freedom for all into a reality.

On the following pages, four other famous speeches are reproduced in part or in their entirety.

The fi rst two speeches are fi ctional and are excerpted from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar , Act III,

Scene 2: The Forum. In the fi rst speech Brutus makes a rational argument—an appeal to reason—

to the crowd of onlookers. He asks them to understand that his decision to assassinate Caesar was

diffi cult for him but was made with their best interests in mind. The crowd gives Brutus their

approval. Moments later Brutus invites Antony to speak and then leaves the stage. By the time

Antony fi nishes speaking, the same audience that had applauded Brutus for ridding Rome of a

tyrant is now ready to kill him for betraying and murdering their beloved leader.

Unlike the speech Brutus gave, Antony’s speech is an emotional appeal. Notice how Shake-

speare, the master communicator, depicts the crowd’s process of emotional decision making in

sequence. Shakespeare’s Antony fi rst surprises and shocks the crowd by unexpectedly throwing

off the garment that covered the dead Caesar and revealing Caesar’s bloody body with its gaping

knife wounds. The crowd’s surprise turns to pity as they grieve for their now-beloved leader. Pity

quickly turns to anger and anger to the action tendency of attack, and this is exactly what Antony

wants his audience in Rome to do—to attack and kill Brutus. Audiences comprehend emotions

faster and more accurately when information about others’ emotional appraisals is provided to

them not in random order but in sequence—unexpectedness, valence, certainty, agency, and norm

violation^206 —just as Shakespeare does so brilliantly.

The last two speeches are the actual words of two great American leaders. The “D-day order”

speech by Dwight D. Eisenhower, delivered on June 6, 1944, is an appeal to the emotion of pride.