The Rhetorical Triangle: Persuasive Techniques in Marketing & Advertising
Around 350 BC, more than two millennia ago, Aristotle published On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. In there, he outlined three methods of appeal: logos, ethos and pathos. Now, if you’ve never heard those Greek words before in your whole life, that’s probably normal. For me, as a marketer with a bachelor’s degree in public speaking, they essentially guide everything I do.
Aristotle’s intention with his book was primarily to improve the state of public discourse, but his ideas have been used across the arts and sciences. And, yes, in marketing. I believe these three persuasive techniques can be an integral part of developing marketing, branding and advertising strategies. In fact, proper application of these techniques can be the key to unlocking better audience targeting, stronger messaging and greater ROI!
What is the rhetorical triangle?
Aristotle believed that there were three broad, basic ways to appeal to people. Being a Greek man living in Greece who spoke Greek, he called them logos, pathos and ethos. Respectively, these loosely translate in English to reason, passion and morals, but their translations vary widely. I prefer to call them rationality, emotionality and credibility.
Let’s break down the definition and purpose of each before we get into how brands can use these techniques to elevate their marketing strategies.
Logos
Logos is the appeal to reason. To appeal to someone’s sense of rationality, you need to focus on clarity, accuracy, integrity and order. When reviewing your marketing campaigns from a logos lens, you should ask, “Is this factual? Does it make sense? Have we provided enough evidence to support our claim?” Make sure to give your audience concrete examples so that they can arrive at an intended outcome through some sort of reasoning. In the intro of this blog post, for instance, I leverage logos to encourage readers to continue by positing that Aristotle’s rhetorical techniques can lead to higher marketing campaign ROI.
Tactics:
- Probability. Customers are more likely to arrive early to your grand opening if the first 100 people through the door receive a free gift.
- Scarcity. Given a limited amount of time or product availability, customers need to take action immediately if they want what you have.
- Urgency. When an insurance company says seismologists predict The Big One will hit in the next six months, customers are more apt to buy earthquake coverage.
Pathos
Pathos is the appeal to emotion. For some people, this is the easiest method to employ in their daily lives but the hardest to employ in their work. After all, the first attachments we make as babies—and our first attempts to connect with or convince our caregivers—are emotional. But unless you work at a charity or your company has philanthropic partnerships, pathos can be a hard persuasive method to master. (I mean, try making a passionate plea to get someone to schedule an oil change.) Fortunately, there are a number of tactics you can try!
Tactics:
- Anxiety. At EMB, positivity is one of our core values. But for many brands, inducing a healthy dose of anxiety is a go-to strategy for getting customers to take action.
- Exclusivity. The acronym FOMO (fear of missing out) wasn’t coined until the late ‘90s, but exclusivity has been a significant marketing strategy since the dawn of time.
- Levity. Sometimes a joke is all you need. On TikTok, Scrub Daddy doesn’t even try to sell me products; it just makes me laugh. And, honestly, that makes me want to buy products.
- Novelty. Have you ever lined up to purchase a product as soon as it was released? Or been excited to try an innovative, never-before-seen service? That’s novelty, baby!
- Sensuality. “Sex sells.” Depending on your product or service, you may not even need to talk about the price or quality of your product—a ripped hunk simply holding it may suffice.
Ethos
Ethos is the appeal to character. In order to convince others, you need to be credible and believable. You’re probably not going to be persuaded to buy toothpaste from someone who doesn’t have teeth. How would they know what’s best? Similarly, even the most respectable professionals would have a hard time getting people to believe there are subterranean lizard people with psychic powers. While your brand needs experience and expertise, it also needs to remain trustworthy; one misstep and it could lose its ethos.
Tactics:
- Authority. The simplest solution to establishing ethos is to have formal or official validation like an industry certification—or a CEO with an advanced degree or extensive resume.
- Popularity. There’s more to credibility than a certification or college degree. Oftentimes, knowing that “everyone else is doing it” is all the motivation a customer needs.
- Reciprocity. Marketing is about building relationships. If a brand upholds its side of a bargain, such as an exchange of email address for a discount code, that reciprocity can convince a consumer to deepen her relationship with the brand.
How to use logos, pathos and ethos in marketing
Each rhetorical tactic above represents one way you can convince an audience to take an action or a stance—which is obviously very important in marketing and advertising. For the strongest marketing strategy possible, mix and match. When you combine persuasive techniques, you make a more convincing argument.
One of the ways we use the rhetorical triangle at EMB is by conducting high-velocity A/B tests. We do our best to take the ego out of marketing, and that means testing everything. More often than not, when we launch a Meta Ads or Google Ads campaign, we test messaging through the lens of logos, pathos and ethos. The images and audience targeting may be the same across three separate ad sets, but the messaging differs based on the three types of persuasion. For an example, let’s look at how that would play out for a spill-proof children’s thermos:
- Logos: Protect your child with our spill-proof thermos! Made with the best and safest materials, our quality products save you money and make your little ones happy.
- Pathos: Say “no” to FOMO! Our spill-proof thermoses are all the rage right now. Get your angel the best bottle on the market and you’re sure to get a Best Mom Ever mug in return.
- Ethos: If you love hot drinks as much as we do, try our spill-proof thermos! Designed by an MIT graduate and hydration enthusiast, our triple-insulated bottles are the best of the best.
We strongly suggest thinking about the ways your brand can use logos, pathos and ethos to support your marketing goals, and then institutionalizing them in your brand book or overarching business strategy. It’s smart to revisit them every six to 12 months too!
Remember: these three techniques are not mutually exclusive. It’s possible to use all three at once. For instance, if you use a health statistic from a nonprofit founded by a cancer survivor, you’re appealing to rationality with a fact, credibility with an organization and emotionality with a leader who has personal experience.
Where to get persuasive marketing support
The big brains here at EMB use the power of rhetorical techniques to target the right people in the right places at the right time everyday! If trying to use the rhetorical triangle has you going in circles, reach out to our marketing and branding experts today. We would love to invent new messaging strategies to build audience relationships and meet your marketing goals.
Cody H. Owens,
Content Director