La présente thèse a pour objet l’analyse du contenu et des techniques qui sont déployées dans le processus persuasif. Elle se propose d’éclairer la substance du contenu en montrant comment celle-ci est traitée pour convaincre ou persuader. Le discours d’influence fonde l’essentiel de l’organisation sociale et semble intrinsèque à la majorité des discours dans la mesure où les gens sont plus enclins à assurer qu’à démontrer. Affirmer avec vigueur que la persuasion est un phénomène qui se situe uniquement dans la sphère de la rhétorique pourrait passer pour une analyse réductrice. Cependant, la complexité et la diversité du phénomène persuasif illustrent parfaitement l’usage manifeste que fait l’homme de la langue. La mise en évidence du contenu dans les échanges sociaux peut constituer l’exécution d’une action et justifie par conséquent l’étude de la dimension pragmatique du langage. Un tel usage de la langue confère à la persuasion un caractère si obscur au point où elle se montre comme un facteur insaisissable et confus qui ne se prête guère à une modélisation sémiotique. Cela amène à supposer qu’en deçà d’une certaine complexité qui découle particulièrement de la multiplicité des approches du phénomène persuasif, les séparant les unes des autres, il existe un modèle d’ajustement structurel qui se situe en particulier dans le champ de la sémiotique. L’élaboration d’un tel modèle d’encadrement des opérations intellectuelles, que suppose toute construction d’argumentation, contraint à déceler les constantes qui président à sa stratification structurelle dans son détail et à faire apparaître les aspects qu’il dissimule à travers les propositions qui le rendent légitime. / The present thesis aims at the analysis of the content and the techniques that are deployed in the persuasive process. It proposes to shed light on the substance of the content by showing how it is treated to convince or persuade. The discourse of influence elaborates most of the social organization and seems intrinsic to the majority of discourses insofar as people are more likely to insure than to demonstrate. Strongly asserting that persuasion is a phenomenon that lies solely in the sphere of rhetoric may be seen as a reductive analysis. However, the complexity and diversity of the persuasive phenomenon perfectly illustrate man's manifest use of the language. The identification of content in social exchanges can constitute the execution of an action and therefore justifies the study of the pragmatic dimension of language. Such use of language confers on persuasion a character so obscure that it shows itself as an elusive and confusing factor that lends itself little to semiotic modeling. This leads us to suppose that, under a certain complexity which arises in particular from the multiplicity of approaches to the persuasive phenomenon, separating them from each other, there is a structural adjustment model which is particularly in the field of semiotic. The elaboration of such a model for the supervision of intellectual operations, implied by all construction of argumentation, forces us to detect the constants that preside over its structural stratification in detail and to reveal the aspects that it conceals through the proposals that make it legitimate.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 12, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Sharon Walpole, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

Cette étude examine l'attitude du consommateur tunisien vis-à-vis de la publicité comparative. La publicité comparative en particulier directe, est l'un des formats publicitaires qui connaît le plus d'essor actuellement dans le monde. Au fil des ans, de nombreux pays ont légalisé la publicité comparative directe. En Tunisie, ce format est encore illégal mais il a de fortes chances d'être légalisé si on se fie à l'évolution qu'ont connue de nombreux pays européens et asiatiques. Cette étude est la première qui teste l'effet des différentes formes de publicité comparative dans un pays arabo-musulman. Les études antérieures s'étant toutes focalisées sur l'Amérique du nord et plus récemment, l'Europe et l'Asie. La Tunisie est un pays collectiviste à dominance masculine, sa situation géographique proche de l'Union Européenne fait en sorte qu'il est soumis à plusieurs influences culturelles. Pour tester l'impact de la publicité comparative, une expérimentation a été menée sur 176 étudiants universitaires tunisiens. Cette expérimentation a mis en scène 2 produits de marques fictives, l'un de forte implication (un ordinateur portable) et l'autre de faible implication (du dentifrice). Les résultats indiquent que dans le cas du produit à forte implication, la publicité comparative directe s'est révélée plus persuasive que la publicité non comparative. Alors que dans le cas du produit à faible implication, c'est la publicité comparative indirecte qui a été la plus persuasive. La publicité comparative directe bi-référentielle a aussi été explorée et les résultats indiquent, que dans le cas du produit à forte implication, elle permettait de pallier au manque de crédibilité ressenti. Ces résultats indiquent que la publicité comparative est un format qui devrait être envisagé par les agences de publicités tunisiennes. Auparavant, le gouvernement devrait assouplir la législation relative à la publicité comparative directe. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Publicité comparative, Publicité bi-référentielle, Attitude, Persuasion, Culture, Collectivisme, Tunisie.

This essay examines the persuasive side of music and its affect on consumer behavior when utilized in television commercials. It includes an interpretation of twelve study cases, in which three groups of four people is presented the same commercial, with different music being the only item dividing the groups. This is followed by a few questions about the product. The aim is then to see how the answers differ from one group to another, and how they match the music’s presupposed connotations suggested in the theory part of the essay, thus, observing the communicative, and eventually persuasive, power of music in television commercials. The main question is: how might music utilized in a television commercial power people’s opinions about the product in that commercial. The results show how music may alter people’s opinions about the product in the commercial, and that the interviewees’ opinions, in most cases, match the music’s presupposed connotations. The study’s results confirm what was previously found by Adolfsson in 2007. By comparing results from then and now it adds to the understanding of musical meaning in everyday life.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Administrative Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-116). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR46022

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-237).

Product placement, also referred to as stealth advertising, raises important questions when it comes to television because a far larger audience views television than movies. Product placement in newscasts is even more controversial. Television news is expected to be free of persuasive attempts and provide citizens with basic information that is of public importance. Yet, product placement blurs the line between journalism and commercial promotion, thus destroying the integrity of the news. Product placement in newscasts raises ethical questions about the effect it has on viewers, provided that they do not realize that they are presented with commercials, framed as news story. Yet, this paper argues that, since viewers focus on the actual news and do not elaborate consciously on the advertised product or brand, product placement in newscasts has little effect on their brand recall. To support this hypothesis the paper compares brand recall from product placement and commercials. Results revealed that this hypothesis is partially true. Important discovery from this study is the fact that product placement directly affects news credibility.

Narratives and Rhetoric: Persuasion in Doctors’ Writings about the Summer Complaint, 1883-1939, is a study of narrative as it is used in scientific writing. This rhetorical analysis follows the historical evolution of a genre as the genre mediates competing scientific, professional, and social forces, changes them, and is changed by them. Despite advances in scientific and medical technology that offered supposedly objective and measurable data and despite doctors’ push for recognition as scientific professionals, doctors’ writing increasingly relied on narrative as a persuasive device in medical articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Medical narratives perform pedagogical functions, illustrating both the general course of a disease and variant courses so that practitioners can make better diagnoses when they are faced with similar cases. Medical narratives also shape doctors’ discourse and, through that, the practice of medicine and the formation of the medical profession. Medical narratives maintain ambiguity, perpetuating the need for the skilled human clinician despite the proliferation of more and more sophisticated medical technology. Medical narratives also determine how the various participants in medical decisions--the doctor, the patient, the parent, and the disease itself--are valued and judged. These value judgments determine what medical interventions and cultural systems are deployed to return a patient to health. Medical narratives can be epideictic, reinforcing doctors’ ethos; they can be disciplinary, correcting errant members; and they can be exhortatory, urging doctors toward better ethical practice. Thus, narratives are extremely valuable in medical discourse, and their persistence in doctors’ writing is easily explained. / text

Persuasion scholars have documented the use of compliance-gaining messages in both negotiation and negotiation. The extant research offers suggestions for litigators and negotiators, but fails to compare the methods of persuasion in the two circumstances in order to advise attorneys and clients which communication messages to employ in the different contexts. The present study explores differences in use of 7 common compliance-gaining message strategies (“It's Up To You”, “This Is The Way Things Are”, “Equity”, “Benefit (Other)”, “Bargaining”, and “Cooperation”; Kellerman, 2004) in separate negotiation and litigation cases. Findings indicate that “This Is The Way Things Are” messages were more frequent in litigation than negotiation, but “Cooperation” messages were more common in negotiation than litigation. No other significant differences in strategy frequency across the different contexts were found. These results indicate that some differences exist between the messages used in negotiation and litigation and that future research should investigate what other messages may be used differently in the two contexts. / text