Persuasion Knowledge - Assignment Example

: Persuasion Knowledge Consumers have the primary task of interpreting and coping with the sales presentations and advertising of marketers Friestad and Wright (1). This paper will use the concepts presented in the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM) article to describe the persuasion attempt I experienced from a marketer of a company that operates through a concept known as “network selling”. Through this concept, salespersons earn by selling products and also by recruiting other salespersons, thus forming networks.

They are also not permanent employees of the company, but sell using brochures and collect products once they have an order. I learned about persuasion by observing the persuader’s approach and was also able to figure out what he wanted from me. Although the ultimate goal was his commission, he cautiously sought my trust. As Friestad and Wright (4) point out, trust was a key motive of the persuasion attempt because the company had also used the endorsement of celebrity sports personnel to market their products.

With such endorsements, the consumer will accept and believe all the marketer says of the product. The key tactic employed by the persuader was pointing all the benefits towards me rather than himself. Through the network selling, he will not only earn a certain percentage from the sales of each salesperson he recruits, but also the networks they create. Since salespersons are recruited for free once they make a purchase, he tried to convince me to buy a product and get brochures to make my own sales.

Although he only told me of how I would earn from the sales of the people I recruit, he never mentioned he will earn from my sales as well as those of my network. An agent and a target will both configure mental models of the process of persuasion of the other party’s and their own beliefs as to how persuade or cope with the attempts (Friestad & Wright 22). Therefore, the persuader thinks his tactics might work if I am driven by the desire to earn from the potential networks I can create and fail to recognize that in the first place, I will have earned him a commission.

I think this can actually succeed depending on his persuader ability to gain my trust both in the endorsed product and him. I reacted basing on the realization that although there is genuine earning from the networks, he is not as clear as to how easy or difficult it is to create the networks. While he is very elaborate on how networks generate money, he does not elucidate the challenges. The outcome is that although he makes his sale, I decline to be part of or start a network. I only buy the product for personal consumption but do not take sales brochures.

Friestad and Wright (11) point out that a consumer develops proficiency in dealing with multi-goal persuasion strategies by observing and considering the communication behavior of marketers. Therefore, this implies no further interactions unless the persuader addresses the challenges and their solutions. Works Cited Friestad, Marian and Peter Wright. “The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope with Persuasion Attempts.” Journal of Consumer Research 21.1 (1994): 1-31. Print.