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Secret Intelligence Service
Unit (C-I) London
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METHODS OF MANIPULATION : STRATEGIES IN PROPAGANDA
SEMINAR NOTES. I to VIII
(January 2020. Harrogate)
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Transition to personalities (source poisoning) – when the opponent is attacked, and not his/her arguments.
Repeated repetition – an idea, especially a simple slogan that is repeated a sufficient number of times, can be perceived as true; this approach works when the number of media sources is limited or controlled by the propagandist.
Appeal to authority (way of confirmation) – the use of public statements of famous or respected people in favour or against a position, idea of an argument or a course of action.
Fear appeal – an attempt to gain support for your ideas (views), playing on the existing fears and prejudices of the audience.
Using prejudice – the use of weighty or emotional terms to portray weighty or moral virtue in order to be believed. Used for fanatical or deceiving way
Appeal to the people – is to get support for a certain statement from the majority by stimulating the feelings and enthusiasm of the masses.
‘Do not be late’ (victory is inevitable) – creating the impression that everyone else is already doing (thinking) or acting and it is time to join the majority.
Joining the Mass – enhances people’s natural desire to be on the winning side. It is used to convince the audience that a certain programme expresses the irrepressible desire of the masses and listeners (viewers) that the best thing is to join it.
Attractive people – a type of propaganda associated with famous people or an indefinite circle of attractive, happy people. Encourages other people to think : if they purchase a product or adhere to a certain ideology, they will also be happy or successful.
Lies – Repetitive voiced set of events that justify the next action. The description of these events has elements of truth, but there is a big lie that eventually supplants the correct perception of events.
Fake Dilemma – Providing only two choices, the best of which is the idea or product that is being promoted.
Conditioned reflex – if object X is always present when object Y is present, and object Y generates a powerful physical reaction (such as disgust or pleasure), after repeated repetition of the situation, when at the end we see object X without object Y, then we experience the same sensations ;.
Cognitive Dissonance – If a certain group of people hates a presidential candidate but loves Actor X, that candidate brings the actor to his team to change people’s minds because they don’t like inconsistencies and are now forced to either stop loving the actor or start loving the candidate.
An ordinary person (his/her own person) – the propagandist applies methods of communication that are acceptable in the group with which he/she communicates in order to gain the trust of this group and delivers the propaganda message in a language understandable to the target audience (group). As a result, it inspires more confidence, since the propagandist him/herself is already perceived as one of their own.
Personality cult – the propagandist uses the media to create an idealised, heroic public image, often through undeniable flattery and praise, and only then defend the positions that the client wants to promote. That is why it is customary in politics and advertising to attract popular people to promote an idea or product.
Demonisation of the enemy – portraying opponents (often political) or representatives of a hostile state as ignorant, unbalanced and extremely cruel, such that they deserve neither support nor sympathy.
Dictating – the use of words and images that directly induce the audience to take certain actions.
Misinformation – the creation or removal of information from public documents in order to create improper documentation of an event or the actions of a person or organisation, including complete falsification of photographs, films, broadcasts and sound recordings.
Slamming the door – if the object is dissatisfied with the situation or proposal, then it worsens for the object, and then returns to the previous level, as a result of which it is already perceived as the best and most profitable option;
Euphoria is the use of an event that causes euphoria or a feeling of happiness (from unexpected cash prizes in bright parades and concerts).
Fear, uncertainty and doubt are a way to influence public opinion or provoke a certain reaction by disseminating relevant negative and questionable (false) information designed to shake the public’s confidence in its own.
Waving flags is an attempt to justify a specific impact on the basis that it is patriotic or acts in a certain way for the benefit of a country, group or idea that is supported by the target audience.
Engaging : An example of this technique: an agent – a person of the opposite sex approaches the object and gives him/her a flower or gives a small gift. The subject is grateful and from that moment takes on a psychological duty. The agent then asks for a service (buy a product, support a slogan, sign up for lists, etc.) and an unwritten social contract between the object and the agent prompts the object to respond.
Say ‘yes’ – it is worth asking the object questions, to which he/she will certainly answer ‘yes’ and he/she will say ‘yes’ to your next offer automatically, without thinking whether it is beneficial to him/her or not.
Vivid generalisations – expressive emotional (or trendy) words that are attached to a product or idea, but do not provide for specific arguments or analysis (see the Barnum Effect)
Half-truth is a deceptive statement presented in any form, which necessarily contains some elements of truth.
Labeling is a way of giving negative content to a phenomenon by giving it a name that evokes negative emotions, or vice versa. Euphemism is used when a propagandist is trying to increase the quality of perception, persuasiveness or credibility of certain ideals. Dysphemism is used when a propagandist seeks to discredit, diminish the quality of perception, or shake the perceived veracity of an object.
Expanding the range of acceptable – if the message is beyond the perception of the individual and the group, then most techniques will cause psychological reactive resistance (just listening to the argumentation makes the message less receptive). There are two methods of expanding the boundaries of perception : (I) you can take a more extreme position, which will make the more moderate position much more acceptable, like slamming the door; (II) you can make your position more moderate by lowering it to the border of perception, and then slowly move to the starting position over a period of time.
Love Bombardment – Used to attract new members of a cult or ideology by using a group of individuals to cut off existing social support and outright replacement by group members who deliberately bombard the face with love in order to isolate the face from previous beliefs and value systems.
Management of news – in the minds of society, one basic principle of perception of information and assessment of events is affirmed, which can consist of several points, repeating continuously.
Milier’s control – society is controlled by social pressure on the individual.
Shameful epithets (going personal) – abusive or offensive speech addressed to a person or group whose authority must be reduced in a given environment. The propagandist uses the technique of shameful epithets to provoke fears in the listener of given prejudices, avoiding the need to argue their position.
Clouding of consciousness, deliberate ambiguity, confusion – the main provisions are deliberately vague, so the audience can choose their own interpretation. The goal is to confuse the audience by using vague phrases without allowing critical analysis
Destruction of authority based on negative comparison – the technique is used to convince the target audience that an idea that they were ready to support, or have supported so far, is promoted by negative or destructive groups, so that whoever supports such an idea is not him/herself positive. Here the formula of incorrect logic is used hence : if A includes X, and B includes X, then A = B.35 Operant motivation – the technique provides for attraction through imitation (copying) : if a known or attractive person buys a product, then we also buy this product.
Over-simplification – complex, complex questions are answered as simply as possible, taking into account the customer’s desired accents.
The unanimous opinion is the elevation of polemics to no alternative with simple phrases like “-‘there is no alternative to this’.
Taking out of context is the selective use of quotations that, without context, can be interpreted in a completely opposite (beneficial to the customer) meaning.
Rationalisation – certain actions or beliefs are justified by rational explanations, which are presented in pleasant and attractive phrases.
Ignoring the topic – an argument that in itself may be correct is made to support a statement to which it has nothing to do – it is a deliberate logical distortion, to divert attention from the essence of the issue or the actual subject of discussion.
Repetition – repeated repetition of a symbol or slogan in such a way that it is remembered by the audience.
Scapegoat – blaming a person or group of people in a situation where others are to blame, whose guilt is more significant – the technique is designed to divert the attention of the target audience from the real targets of the blame at the expense of others.
Slogans (slogans) – the use of short, precise phrases that appeal more to emotions than to logic and may carry labels or stereotypes
Stereotypes – the technique involves provoking prejudice about the object of propaganda by hanging labels, the nature of which causes hatred, disgust or disgust of the audience regarding such an object.
Straw arguments (straw scarecrow) – a logical flaw and a way of persuasion, which consists in creating the illusion of refuting the opponent’s arguments, although in fact substitutions are refuted, similar, but not equivalent arguments (attacking not the opponent, but looks like a scarecrow)
Recommendations – quotes from famous or popular people in support of certain actions, a certain policy idea, etc. – the technique helps the audience to more quickly and easily perceive the propaganda message consecrated by the authoritative person;
From a third person – when an opinion is expressed by unbiased sources we tend to believe it more – the illusion of unbiasedness is created by attracting third parties to promote their own position : journalists, actors, writers, scientists, etc.
The cliché is not in essence – a well-known phrase is used (a well-known quote or popular wisdom) that is not directly related to the topic, but is correct in itself, and in this case serves solely to neutralize (distract, confuse, silence ) of the opponent.
Displacement – the use of an association with an attractive or expressive symbol (often graphic) in order to maintain a promoted idea or image.
Selective truth – the point is that the best propaganda is when the propagandist speaks the truth, but only the one that is beneficial to him, or sounds in a context attractive to his goals.
Assumption – the essence of this technique is that directly expressed theses have a lower level of confidence than hints at the thesis, which give the impression that the audience itself guesses the essence of the problem (but in fact the interpretation of the problem is prompted by the propagandist).
Positive words – the expressed propaganda idea is embellished with words that are positive in the audience’s value system; peace, happiness, security, prosperity, freedom, will, a wealthy country.
The effect of primacy – when receiving conflicting information, which cannot be verified, a person believes what came first, and it is very difficult to change an already established view.
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Unit (C-I) 10 01 2020 Harrogate
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SEMINAR ON MANIPULATION – METHODS IN PROPAGANDA
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Secret Intelligence Service
Adversitate. Custodi. Per Verum
United Kingdom
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