What Are The Disadvantages Of Persuasion?

The Skin Cancer Foundation has a website that tries to persuade against tanning, and informs about the dangers of tanning. After some searching and digging throughout the website, I have learned some things. The basics of persuasion are to change an opinion, which I think the foundation is successful at. They uses a variety of techniques and tools to further emphasize their point and persuade the readers. Some features of the website are more persuasive than others. To me, I found that one of their strongest features was the use of testimonials from experts. Personally, I am much more likely to believe what an expert (such as a doctor) has to say. The use of authorities makes it clear and their message more persuasive; this allows readers to more easily believe their message, rather than having to go and confirm the information (Gregory, 2015, p. 40). The website has another strong quality on their website of using words that carry a lot of weight with them, like cancer and death. For me, these words are more persuasive because of the …show more content…
For me, the website made me think about my own body and health differently, and while I do not tan, it succeeded in making me never want to start. The articles I read made me think about more about the dangers of tanning, not only indoors, but outdoors “naturally” as well. Moreover, after reading the website, I wanted to pass along the information to people I know who are into tanning, and show them the dangers it can cause. There were so many articles that made me reflect on what they were saying, but some of my favourite articles were, “Bronzer Not Required; Beauty Trends from the Experts” and “Glow-How: A Step by Step Guide to Going with Your Own Glow.” These articles showed me how to embrace my own natural skin, without feeling self-conscious of being pale. I would say that the website was persuasive for me