Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion

An analysis of the use and abuse of persuasion in daily life, "Age of Propaganda" reveals how persuasion influences our behaviour, which propaganda strategies are most commonly used today, and why some techniques work better than others. Drawing on the history of propaganda and modern research in social psychology, the authors show how the tactics used by political campaigners, sales agents, advertisers, televangelists, demagogues, and others, often take advantage of our emotions by appealing to our deepest fears and most irrational hopes, creating a distorted vision of the world we live in. Thoroughly revised and updated, this second edition of "Age of Propaganda" includes coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, recent election campaigns, the rise of talk radio, teen suicide, U.F.O abductions, the Columbine shootings, and novel propaganda tactics based on hypocrisy and false allegations. Also included is a completely new chapter on how to protect yourself from unwanted propaganda.

Table of Contents:
The psychology of everyday persuasion; pre-persuasion - setting the stage for effective influence; communicator credibility - real and manufactured; the message and how it is delivered; emotional appeals - touch the heart, persuade the mind; when information fails - the challenge of propaganda to society; counteracting the tactics of propaganda.

About the Author :
ANTHONY PRATKANIS is at the University of California. - ELLIOT ARONSON is at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Review :
"Pratkanis and Aronson warn in their conclusion that we're all headed for an 'ignorance spiral' if we don't stop American standards of persuasion from deteriorating. . . . Don't be part of the problem. Read the book." --"Philadelphia Inquirer" "A people's guide to baloney-detecting." --"Seattle Times" "In one brilliant tour-de-force, Pratkanis and Aronson give us . . . a comprehensive text of what we really need to know about the most pervasive cultural phenomena of our time." --George Gerbner, Dean Emeritus of the Annenberg School of Communication "The authors . . . inform, provoke, and occasionally shock the reader about the ways in which our beliefs, preferences, and choices are constantly influenced." --Mahzarin Banaji, Yale University "After reading this book, I have begun to doubt that I ever had much control over how I have been influenced by media hype and clever half-truths." --James Randi, debunker of psychic fraud and author of "Flim-Flam "and "The Mask of Nostradamus" "I could easily list ten reasons why you should read this book, but your boss and colleagues will probably tell you more about it at the office tomorrow--or worse, your competitors will show you next week." --Peter H. Farquhar, Center for Product Research, Carnegie-Mellon University ." . . a gold mine of valuable information and insights into the persuasion process." --Robert B. Cialdini, Arizona State University, and author of "Influence"