COMM 103-Exam prep 4

Question 1

Definition of Advertising

Answer 1

controlled, identifiable information and persuasion

Question 2

Brand salience

Answer 2

the degree to which a brand is recognized and thought of by consumers when making purchasing decisions

Question 3

Brand Image

Answer 3

consumers perception and interpretation of a brand

Question 4

Parity Products

Answer 4

“Positioning” in the marketplace
Create ads to reach that segment of population

Question 5

The Psychology Behind Good Advertising video

Answer 5

argues that effective ads influence consumer behavior by appealing to emotions and shaping identity, rather than just promoting products

Question 6

Manson article: How your Insecurity is Bought and Sold

Answer 6

explains how advertising manipulates our insecurities—using emotional and psychological tactics—to sell products and urges readers to build self-awareness to resist these influences.

Question 7

Video: Hacking Your Mind: Weapons of Influence

Answer 7

Main idea: marketers, social media companies, and politicians exploit our brain’s “autopilot” mode—where we make decisions unconsciously—to manipulate our choices using big data. This manipulation threatens democratic processes and personal autonomy

Question 8

Keltner reading: Communication Strategies– Use of Ethos, Pathos, Logos within advertising

Answer 8

explores how ads use rhetorical strategies—like emotional appeals, logic, and credibility—to persuade consumers, while also raising ethical concerns about manipulation and the need for critical thinking

Question 9

Advertising Analysis

Answer 9

encoding—construction of a text; texts are “open”;
decoding—receiving a text: preferred meaning, negotiated meaning, oppositional meaning

Question 10

Video: Advertising at the Edge of the Apocalypse

Answer 10

Main idea: advertising promotes relentless consumerism, which drives environmental destruction and social inequality. Sut Jhally argues that advertising has become the dominant cultural force, shaping our values and identities

Question 11

Definition of Public relations

Answer 11

the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.

Question 12

Go through chart on exam study guide

Question 13

8 propaganda PR ploys

Answer 13

1. fear: companies with the most to lose use this, using loss of jobs and threat to public health as a ploy
2. glittering generalities: arouses emotions by using “democracy” and “Patriotism” to create support
3. testimonials: celebrities recruited to support cause, product, company
4. name-calling: associate the target of the insults with a negative or unpopular cause or person
5. plain folks: business exec poses with customers claiming to be “of the people”
6. euphemisms: selecting words that obscure the real meaning of actions
7. bandwagon: everyone else is doing it, you should too
8. transfer: the propagandist carries over authority of something we respect to something he would have us accept

Question 14

Serving clients ethically while serving the public interest

Answer 14

the level of public trust PRSA members seek, as we serve the public good, means we have taken on a special obligation to operate ethically.

Question 15

Potter: Deadly spin playbook fundamentals

Answer 15

• hire a well-connected PR firm
• set up front group
• recruit third parties as members of front group
• write letters to editor and put in local/national news
• cultivate close relationships with editors
• influence the tone and content of articles about your company
• conduct a bogus survey with the intent of misleading
• feed talking points to TV people
• carry out duplicitous communications campaign

Question 16

Significant differences in “legal” representation vs representation by PR representative

Answer 16

• Rules of law
• 1. everyone has a right to representation regardless of ability to pay
• 2. there are rules of evidence—a judge determines whether or not evidence is admissible (can’t lie on the stand)
• 3. Lawyers need a license to practice
• For Public Relations…
• 1. One does not need a license to practice: there are no consequences to PR practitioners if they practice their craft unethically
     o There are advantages to those who do practice their craft unethically

Question 17

Merchants of Doubt video

Answer 17

A small group of influential scientists deliberately spread doubt about well-established science—like climate change and tobacco risks—to delay policy and protect industry profits, using media manipulation and pseudo-science to mislead the public