Believe it or not everyday you’re bombarded in various ways trying to  ”force” you to buy something (persuasion ads) or to perform a certain act. These psychological bombs are commonly called Persuasion Techniques and they are aimed at influencing your behavior toward a definite goal. You’re a target.

These days psychological techniques are everywhere, from helping politicians to have a nice public image to writing commercials for TV or designing web pages and emails. All done to have you do what they want. From using specific music or tones to images or even subliminal messages inserted everywhere as only UK and Australia have banned them. So, how can you know if what you do comes from your own mind or you’re obeying someone else orders? When you buy something is because you want it or are you following the directives of persuasion ads?

It’s not so easy. Let me give you a couple of examples showing you how subtle persuasion techniques can be.

Tv Commercials as Persuasion Ads:

The main technique used in commercials is linking a positive emotion to a specific product so that next time you go to the grocery store you see the product get reminded of the positive emotion and so influenced to buy that specific product. Many times together with a world of rainbows and flowers there is a special song so that the stimulus is as various as possible and you get hit whether you prefer to use your eyes, your ears or your heart. First the emotion and at the end, usually for a very short time, the product. You get caught and remember the emotion but the goal is linking it to the product. No chance of escaping.

Retail Stores using Persuasion Techniques:

When you go to your preferred store tens of different techniques are used to influence your buying habits: from using the same songs you hear during commercials on TV to putting the biggest earner products right in front of your eyes, from using relaxing songs and colours so that you feel comfortable and stay longer to buy more to putting water, sugar and coffee at the end of the store so you have to cross it all and possibly find more “interesting” things to buy. There’s a reason if usually the colour red is used mainly just for special offers and not all around. Red usually provokes action and they don’t want you to buy what you need in five minutes and exit the store, they want you to stay in the store and influence you to buy a specific product.

Persuasion Techniques all around the web:

Ads and sale stuff follow the same rules, colourful, flashing, testimonials “Mrs. such says this product is wonderful!” or “Mr. such says this has changed his whole life!”, repetition of concepts so that they get fixed into your mind, linking of emotions to products, carefully crafted words and sentences and so on. Persuasion ads are everywhere. Look at those banner or selling pages and you’ll begin to see a specific pattern going around similar to that of retail stores or TV commercials. First the fluff and at the end the price or the product.

Now, what’s wrong with these persuasion techniques? Nothing if they are used with your consent as we routinely do in Hypnotherapy. Everything if they are subtly used to influence your behavior without your knowledge. To give you another example Fear is an emotion routinely used by various governments and criminal groups around the world to get people stay calm and following the herd. First you create a fear for something, then you give people an enemy to focus on (so that they also forget about everything else) and third you slay the enemy so that people can feel good again. And then you can begin the cycle again. Fear can also be used to sell you an enormous amount of stuff, most of the times useless. So how can you defend yourself from this bombardment of persuasion techniques?

Well, there are two ways: the first is paying attention and knowing that there is a reason behind; well after reading this short article you already know it. Second is using Hypnosis to permanently protect yourself from persuasion techniques. As an example you could use a Positive Affirmation like: I’m permanently shielded against external influences unless I really want it or When someone or something is trying to influence me against my will I’m instantly aware of it and protect my mind stopping it all.

I hope I haven’t used Fear on you but really we are all bombarded by persuasion techniques and children more than everyone else, just take the time to look at TV in the afternoon and you’ll immediately see what I mean. Commercials and commercials and commercials and almost all of them are persuasion ads.

So, now tell me what you think about Persuasion ads or if you have examples of Persuasion Techniques and don’t forget to share this with your friends.