Ethos, Logo and Pathos in Persuasive Writing

For as long as humans have been communicating with one another, we

have been persuading one another. Aristotle, a Classical Greek scientist and
philosopher, is
among the most
important thinkers
in the
development of
Western thought. In
the treatise
Rhetoric, we see
Aristotle’s keen intellect applied to the art of
persuasion. Over 2000 years ago Aristotle created 3 categories in which he
believed were techniques of persuasion.

Logos
Logo / Logical –

“An appeal to logic or reason”

When using this technique in advertising there is

always use of evidence and statistics about the
product, for example “One glass of Tropiciana

orange juice contains 75% of you required

vitamin C.”.

The logos of an advertisement is straight

forward – it tells you exactly what the product
does , how it works, what it is used for.

Ethos
Ethos / Ethics –

“Persuasion based on the audience’s impression

of the speaker’s character, when hearing the
argument.” Advertisers want to build trust and
credibility for the product by using experts or
celebrities e.g. Dentists recommend Oral B.
The audience’s reaction to the advertisement is highly dependent on the
perceived trustworthiness of a
brand’s products and services.
Customer testimonials, expert
recommendations and
celebrity endorsements are
classic advertising techniques
because they make the
message more credible. An ad
about a company’s history and
experience also adds
trustworthiness and credibility

Pathos
Pathos – “Refers to an emotional appeal”

Persuasion based on the audience emotional state when

hearing the speakers argument e.g. charity adverts using
upsetting images of
unfortunate children
guilting viewers into
contributing money
to the charity.

An advertisement using pathos will

attempt to provoke an emotioal response
in the consumer.Humans are emotional
creatures, in most cases we make
decisions based on our emotional level before we rationalise ourselves into it.

Most advertisers use atleast two of the

techniques within their adverts. When multiple
modes of persuasion are used it is vital that
they compliment and support the overall
messge, otherwise the advert becomes
confusing and overwhelming, resulting to an
uniterested viewer.