Unraveling Persuasion

Persuasion is omnipresent. It envelops and permeates our daily lives, driving our decision-making, influencing our behaviors and molding our perceptions of the world around us. But how much do we really know about persuasion? Exploring the medium, the message and the mind, Unraveling Persuasion seeks to widen the lens through which we understand persuasive media and increase awareness of the theories that underpin them.

One of the most ubiquitous and explicit manifestations of persuasion is advertising. Encountering thousands of advertisements every day, persuasive messaging increasingly following us almost everywhere we go. We cannot escape it, but can we become less susceptible to its influence?

The first section of this exhibition explores advertising as a science, an art and a business. Persuasive techniques which drive our consumer habits can be explored alongside the fundamental concepts of psychology they harness. Humor, shock tactics, slick design, celebrity endorsement, allegiance to social causes—brands use them all to turn your head—but which works for you? Explore hundreds of adverts spanning time, geography and media, scrutinize your own consumer behaviors and decide for yourself whether targeted tools have had an effect on your buying habits.

Following this the exhibition explores more collective notions of persuasion, exploring how we experience and are subjected to political and social influence, propaganda and coercion.