Donald Trump’s Use Of Peripheral Route Persuasion In The 2016 Presidential Debate And Election Campaign
'Peripheral route processing (also known as peripheral pathway to persuasion) occurs when a recipient evaluates a message, such as an advertisement, due to peripheral clues such as physical attractiveness, background music or other surface-level characteristics Rather than the actual content of the message.”
After Donald Trump’s Republican victory in the 2016 US elections, scores of people were left surprised at the outcome and were also left wondering how and why it came to be. I will be looking at the persuasive techniques of Trump and which worked proved more important in his campaign. Historical examples and the psychology and thinking behind the votes of Trump supporters will also be analysed. This essay will cover two areas: central route persuasion – the factually based gaining of support; and peripheral route persuasion – the influence of unrelated external factors. Both Trump and Hilary Clinton used these in different ways, but did Trump’s persuasive hyperbole win over the votes that Clinton could not with hard facts? Overall, the central route was the most influential in Trump’s rise to power, but how important was his relatable, inspiring (to some) and confident character to winning over the vote for Presidency?
First coined by psychologists Petty and Cacioppo, there are two main forms of persuasive technique: the peripheral and the central routes of persuasion. The central route to persuasion is the persuasive technique that utilizes the purely logical and factual points of reasoning, unaffected by the external factors of peripheral. Peripheral, however, persuasion is the type of persuasion that requires charisma but little substance to the argument, swaying opinions in one’s favour through external factors, like relatability or physical attractiveness.
The Peripheral Route to Persuasion
A distinct example of peripheral route persuasion that related closely to Trump’s campaign is the 1964 advertisement from that year’s US presidential election. Titled ‘Daisy,’ it was used in the campaign for the re-election of Lyndon B Johnson. A video of a small girl as the audience sees the image of nuclear bombs go off in the reflection of her eyes; ending with a voice ordering the viewer to ‘vote for President Johnson on November 3rd.’ The almost fully silent video with an effective and emotive message was bound to stick in the minds of the viewer, more than any long-winded political explanations of the policies that Johnson would decree could ever do. This proves relevant as Lyndon B. Johnson was elected by the highest percentage of the popular vote in the history of the USA (at 61%) and the advert became renowned as a prime example of pure peripheral route persuasion in a presidential election. The message conveyed that the consequence of electing the opponent, Barry Goldwater, would hold the danger of nuclear war – yet this is backed up with no fact whatsoever.
Throughout his campaign, Trump used much hyperbole, making sweeping promises to win votes quickly. For instance, he said at a presidential debate in September 2016, “The companies are leaving,” he said. “I could name, I mean there are thousands of them, they’re leaving and they’re leaving in bigger numbers than ever.” And whilst subsequently talking about crime in Chicago:” In Chicago, they’ve had thousands of shootings, thousands, since January first. Thousands of shootings.” Here he used vague and exaggerated terms to emphasise the sheer quantity of these figures – this inspires a sense of fear and panic in the viewers, and he supplies the most immediate solution on the stage in front of them. A similar situation happened at a speech in West Virginia, April 2018, 'In many places, like California, the same person votes many times. You probably heard about that. They always like to say, 'oh that's a conspiracy theory.' Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people.' When many witnessed Trump’s sudden and ambitious promises that were seemingly made on the spot, it was expected that he would be unable to follow-through with all of them. He once swore to label Beijing a “currency manipulator,” a statement that agreed with the overwhelming majority of American citizens’ view on china – (33% of the Chinese view America's influence positively, 61% negatively. Similarly, 22% of Americans view China's influence positively and 70% negatively. However, he later told the Wall Street Journal in 2018 that he didn’t agree with that term at all and had been trying to support the yuan from weakening further. He also said he would reintroduce waterboarding and torture to prisons, to win the more extreme voters over, yet he later said he was no longer agreeing to this. To arouse public anger at Clinton, he called her a “nasty woman” saying they needed to “lock her up,” but, once again, he later said that he owed her a “dept of gratitude.”
Donald Trump is completely aware of this tactic and knows how effective it is to capture the interest of huge swathes of the population. He wrote in his book, The Art of the Deal (1987): “I play to people’s fantasies … People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration.” “You can't con people, at least not for long. You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you don't deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.”
“Hyperbole lies, but not so as to intend to deceive by lying. . .There is in all men a natural propensity to magnify or extenuate what comes before them, and no one is contented with the exact truth… For we are then allowed to say a little more than the truth, because the exact truth cannot be said; and language is more efficient when it goes beyond reality than when it stops short of it.” Aristotle on hyperbole. We listen to those whose exude confidence, because that confidence seems to wordlessly promise us stability. The way that Trump talks, with auspicious promises and undeniable sureness, is undoubtedly a major factor in his appeal. A group of phycologists deduced, when analysing the behaviour of Trump, that “We like people who talk big. We like people who tell us that our problems are simple and easy to solve, even when they aren't. And we don't like people who don't look like us.” Ehrenfreund explains, “Trump doesn't give the kinds of speeches that political consultants are used to hearing. He certainly doesn't deliver lines that are carefully formulated for applause and for prime-time sound bites.” The words Trump delivers to his audience do not seem to be carefully constructed, tactful sentences that try and fit as much relevant information as possible, but rather a senseless compilation of words that those present would like to hear. Opening a campaign address at the White House in October 2016, Trump said, “it is my great honour to be with so many brilliant – and that’s what you are – brilliant, courageous, patriotic and proud Americans.” This instantly flatters the audience and put them in his favour, even though he had not said anything political or likable about himself or his views.
“In stark contradiction to Clinton’s use of the central route of persuasion, Donald Trump has attracted voters with spontaneous wit, immense confidence, and an unwillingness to back down to anyone” whilst “Clinton strives to influence voters with logical reasoning and political rhetoric, even though some of her conceptual ideas may not be easily understood by segments of the general population.” Clinton’s advantage was experience in politics that gave her a deeper understanding of American societal issues whereas Trump used the scarcity tactic of saying he could give the viewers something that they didn’t have, but without saying how exactly he would attain those things. He possesses an ability that Clinton has to a lesser degree: to sway the population at an emotional level.
The Central Route to Persuasion
The central route of persuasion is based on hard facts and considering what one has to offer before making a choice. For instance, someone voting for a politician with central persuasive qualities would find the appeal in said politician’s points not in the non-factual and more emotional points they make, as it is with peripheral route persuasion. One of the main central-leaning arguments behind the Trump campaign is that he will bring jobs to the country and run the country efficiently and like a business – a 29% of Hispanic Americans and 8% of African Americans did vote for Trump, raising the question of their reasoning behind their choice. When the candidate’s policies seemingly go against your people, why vote for such policies? Rosa Moreno, a Mexican immigrant in Arizona for the last forty years since coming over on a student visa, provides a reason that falls purely into the central line of route persuasion. “I support all Mexicans and I ask them to support Donald Trump because he will protect us, he will make more jobs for them, but they need to come legally, and they have to follow a process.” However she does not agree with Trump’s promise to deport illegal immigrants, “he’s a politician, he’s a businessman.” Kevin McCray, an African American citizen said that Trump will “run the country like a business, and that's a good thing.' Nancy Poindexter further supports this, a Mexican immigrant and fervent Trump supporter stated that “He has given jobs for every race.” The key appeal of trump to these voters was of a very central influence. Trump’s experience as a businessman, whilst seen as a bad thing by some, and the increase of jobs to the country. These voters thought with logic and the available facts before placing their votes; that the sacrifice of having a less minority-tolerating president was worth it, in the name of benefitting the entire nation. “Look in the mirror and ask yourself what Trump can do for you and what you want in a candidate. That's what really matters” said McCray.
Zena Mitchell, an elderly African American woman from Arizona stated that, “I do think Afro-Americans and Latinos are often taken for granted when it comes to election time,” she said. “It’s rather obvious that those politicians don’t care about us. They don’t come to our communities until they want votes. They make the same promises over and over again.” Which is referring to the circumstantial attention and care that political parties show to minority groups, but once they’ve been elected into power, they seem to stop caring. Mitchell has seemingly based her votes upon a more peripheral argument, talking about how she seems to trust the Republicans more than the Democrats, regardless of Trump’s alternative views on some minority groups.
“Practicality trumps morality” when looking at the voters who voted for the Republicans out of practicality; because the laws that they intended to enforce may be ideal for them. “For some wealthy people, it’s simply a financial matter. Trump offers tax cuts for the rich and wants to do away with government regulation that gets in the way of businessmen making money” and “Some people who genuinely are not racist… simply want stronger immigration laws because they think that a country with open borders is not sustainable.” Trump has mastered the ability to grab a viewer’s attention, having the skills that stop people from clicking off promotional advertisements and leaves them wanting to watch on. When it came to voting for the benefit of the country, central route votes were the prevailing force. Most people voted for his principals and what he was going to do with the country, whether it was taxes or immigration laws. Yet when it came to the initial capture of interest, Trump’s charismatic tactics were highly effective. His trustworthy exterior and relatability to the majority of Americans tilted the more indecisive people to choose him. In conclusion, both Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton captured many voters in the central region of persuasion, yet, Trump managed to also grab the hearts, minds and, subsequently, votes of the majority.
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