Posts Tagged ‘Edward Bernays’

Influence has been on my mind lately (and not in a Klout sort of way). Of course, Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence, is in my large pile of books to read but I just haven’t had the time to read it or to even get beyond thinking that I need to dive deeper into the subject.

It is not that the subject of influence is a foreign concept; I am a marketing & PR professional after all. However, my thoughts regarding influence seem to always follow a linear downward slope that ranges from influence to propaganda.

Let’s take a look at the definition of each:

• Influence: The power to direct the thinking or behavior of others; usually indirectly
• Persuasion: The act of reasoning or pleading with someone to accept a belief or course of action
• Manipulation: To control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage
• Propaganda: Ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause

Given human nature in the business world, do influence, persuasion, manipulation, and propaganda live independently and separately? Or, is it a domino effect caused by the successful use of influence and hunger for more control?

I am curious just how slippery the slope is from influence to propaganda and where ethics, values, morals come into play. How about you?

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