Page 97 - The Social Animal

Mass Communication, Propaganda, and Persuasion 79

your susceptibility to persuasion on an issue irrelevant to such fac-
tors, you are behaving in a maladaptive manner. But advertisers bank
on this kind of maladaptive behavior and often count on irrelevant
factors to increase a spokesperson’s credibility. For example, since tel-
evision was in its infancy, actors who have played the role of doctors
in TV dramas show up regularly on commercials peddling such
products as aspirin and cold medicine.
Not only are such peripheral aspects of the communicator often
emphasized in commercials, but frequently they are the only aspects
of the communicator the viewer is able to perceive. Throughout the
1950s and 1960s, one of the most persistent peddlers of breakfast
food was the former Olympic decathlon champion Bob Richards,
who was probably far more effective at selling Wheaties than some
learned professor of nutrition, no matter how expert he or she might
have been. In the 1970s, Richards was replaced by another gold
medal decathlon champion, Bruce Jenner. How effective are these
people? We cannot be sure—but when Bruce Jenner was finally re-
placed in the 1980s, the Wheaties people again decided not to use a
nutritionist and hired Mary Lou Retton, an Olympic gymnastics
gold medalist. And there was no real surprise when the manufacturer
of Wheaties subsequently hired such amazing athletes as Michael
Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Peyton Manning to appear on the cereal
box. Apparently, whoever is in charge of selling Wheaties to the
masses is convinced that athletes are effective communicators.
Is this conviction justified? Will people be influenced by an ad
just because a prominent sports personality is involved? Even if we
admire the skill such athletes display on the playing field, can we
really trust them to tell us the truth about the products they en-
dorse? After all, we all know that the sports star peddling a partic-
ular brand of breakfast cereal or athletic shoes is getting paid
handsomely for his or her endorsement. My guess is that most of
us would be quick to say, “No way. I’m not going to eat Wheaties
and buy Nikes just because Michael Jordan says that he eats
Wheaties and favors Nikes. Maybe other people might be per-
suaded to run out and buy certain products just because a sports
figure tells them to, but I certainly wouldn’t trust even my favorite
player’s advice on how to spend my hard-earned cash.” But can
people really predict their own behavior? Before answering, let’s
take a closer look at the factor of trust.