Introduction

In this paper I would like to discuss the definition behind the word ‘seduction’ in relationship the consumer and the rise in mass consumption.   The main question that I would like to pose is whether consumers are persuaded or seduced into their role as mass consumers?  Both acts of seduction and persuasion are similar in that consumers are engaged in some sort of discourse with the “other” about what he or she should buy in order to win their approval.   However seduction is slightly different in that it involves elements of manipulation and deception.  In fact, there is a blindness involved in being a seduced consumer (i.e. you are being fed without knowledge or awareness of your own hunger).  Seduction has more of deceiving feel than persuasion because information is revealed and presented to the consumer in a selective fashion.  In persuasion, the advertiser tries to convince the consumer that “a” is better than “b,” while a seductive advertiser would present only option “a” to the consumer while leaving out option “b.”  While it is important to add that both acts of seduction and persuasion have the same goal in mind (to get the consumer to buy), the way in which the information is technically concealed and revealed to the consumer is different.  The American Heritage Dictionary makes the distinction between seduction and persuasion relatively clear.  Seduction is defined as “the act of being led away from duty, accepted principles, or proper conduct,” while persuasion is to convince or “induce to undertake a course of action or embrace a point of view by means of argument, reasoning or entreaty.”  While somewhat of a fine line between seduction and persuasion exists, it is my understanding that to seduce in advertising is to disguise or discard relevant information, while persuasive advertising offers the consumer more of a choice.  Based on this understanding, it is difficult to think of any form of current advertising that doesn’t use seductive advertising techniques, the only exception being today’s pharmaceutical advertisements which are government regulated to present certain factual information about possible side effects  that could have some impact on the consumer’s health. 
 
“The Seducers”

With these two definitions in mind, perhaps the more accurate title for the documentary “The persuaders” should have been “The seducers.”  As consumers, we are largely seduced into the notion that someone is looking out for us, while in fact this is only a feeling, not necessarily a reality.  Interestingly, seduction becomes less about the actual product and more about this invisible other who offers the consumer the perception that someone out there is doing you a favor by telling you to buy this product because you will be bigger, better and stronger with it.  Upon deeper examination, underlying each advertisement, is the unconscious communication that you will never be good or strong enough, but perhaps there’s still a chance if you buy and use this product.

Inadequacy and the Consumer

Today’s advertising focuses on the consumer’s sense of urgency within his or herself to become adequate.   Unconsciously the consumer experiences his or her own lack and is thankful to the advertiser for pointing this out to him or her (e.g. you didn’t know you had large pores, but good news, we have a pore minimizing cream to reduce the magnitude of their size).  The seductive aspect of this dialogue is that the consumer is not consciously made aware of his or her inadequacy, but is made to feel this absence within his or her self through sometimes very subtle suggestion.   While persuasion can be equally forceful, persuasion tends to involve a form of convincing; the option to buy one product over another one.  Another way to look at it might be to consider persuasion as being pulled along a level ground plane, versus being led down a sloped plane without knowledge that the ground is not level.  In the next section I will look at some of the consequences and social implications of being seduced versus persuaded in the advertising world. 

Social Implications: Seduction versus Persuasion and Social Narcissism

While seduction and persuasion are different tools in the advertising world, they are tools with the same aim (i.e. to get the consumer to buy).  Particularly as Americans, we are led to believe that our decisions are our own.  Teenagers are told by Pepsi advertisers that if you drink this particular brand, you will be ‘in’ with the right and youthful crowd; after all “it’s for those who think young.”  Along the same lines, its competitor Coca Cola, seduces the consumer into feeling authentic with a slogan that reads “the real thing.”  In essence, these companies are telling the consumer that he or she is in the “know” and that he or she has chosen the drink of the free thinkers.  Companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola have learned to seductively play on the social narcissism of Americans, recognizing most Americans’ need to be the best of the best.  In its extreme form, the American narcissist believes that he or she is a part of the best people on earth.  Soldz discusses this phenomenon in his interview on public radio on the Pinky show.  Soldz states that as Americans “we have this idea that the rest of the world should aspire to be like us, they should emulate us, aspire to have our cars, our political system, our coca cola, and there’s very little interest in that fact that different cultures have different values, interests . . . and it’s true of all countries to some degree, but with American’s it’s particularly true . . .”  While Soldz takes a strong stance, he is pointing to that fact that in countries and cultures where mass consumption is encouraged either directly or indirectly, people have the need not only to consume, but to feel unique and important even among “the best.”   Furthermore, being a part of the best nation is not enough; you must drink Coke to set yourself at the top of pack.  Companies like Coke and Pepsi are aware of this type of rampant self absorption and general lack of awareness that other people, values and traditions exist.  There is an insatiable need in American culture to have the biggest, smartest, strongest, sexiest . . . etc. even among other Americans.  More important than selling to you as the consumer a product that will make you the smartest, these companies have learned how to create an absence or longing within the self and rush to the individual’s aide with something to fill the void.    The advertising involved in the selling of many products is intentionally made to instill a feeling of incompleteness.  In this regard, soft drink companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola have learned to use American narcissism to their advantage.  Not only are you living in the best country, but you are the best of the best, BUT only if you drink Pepsi.  It’s the idea that if you drink Pepsi you have asserted yourself, and in many senses are civilized along with a certain select population who has achieved the finer and more quality things in life.

Implications of a Seduced Population: i.e. You May Be the One Left Out 

The art of seduction seems to itch at sociologists on the academic level as they watch “the barbarians” construct a world where if we don’t “twitter” we might not be able to tweet with the rest of the birds.  Academics are realizing that the relationship to technology is different now; the new technology informs the current mode and dynamics of communication, but more importantly if you are unable to keep up, you will be the one left out.  The new technology makes the old technology art, but more importantly a relic or a surviving trace of something that was at one point in time important, but no longer vital to the current body of people.   As McLuhan writes, the medium is the message.  In many ways, Coca Cola and Pepsi are exactly the same drink, and while these companies know this, they make a conscious decision to focus on the consumer’s inadequacies rather than their actual details of their product.  These types of companies therefore are not selling the product, but rather the message this product says about you if it is in your possession.  

The result: Mental Breakdown

Another important notion that McLuhan touches upon is the idea of what seductive advertisement does to psychic life when consumers are being bombarded by so many different messages simultaneously.  McLuhan writes that a “mental breakdown of varying degrees is the very common result of uprooting and inundation with new information and endless patterns of information” (McLuhan, p.16).  In many it is not simply the frequency of these messages, but that you are being infiltrated without your awareness—(again the seductive piece involved in advertising).   The average consumer becomes desensitized and numb not only to their commercial surroundings, but life in general.  Is this not what Pink Floyd was ultimately referring to in the song “comfortably numb?”  Patterns of information are inescapable and as Americans we are affected by the infiltration of advertising, even those who claim to live relatively simple lives.  McLuhan makes an excellent point when he discusses how Louis Pasteur noted that our greatest enemy (in his case, viral) is often an invisible one.  This reinforces the silent and invisible nature of seduction in advertising, as I noted early ‘being fed without knowledge of your own hunger.’  In addition, the viral aspects of advertising are similar to the viruses we catch and spread from one person to the next-- in fact it is impossible to check your email or research a particular topic on a search engine without various advertisements being listed in the margin of the web browser’s page.    

The Results of Seduction and a Changing Perception

Another idea that McLuhan presents is the notion of perception changing without our awareness.  He writes, “the serious artist is the only person able to encounter technology with impunity, just because he is an expert aware of the changes in the sense of perception”   (McLuhan, p. 18).  In different words, most people will not be able to understand how technology shapes their thoughts, preferences and so forth.  He discusses how perception changes for the average individual without any resistance or knowledge.  Technology is seamlessly integrated without our selection, or need to incorporate any kind of personal decision making process.  In other words, a person believes that they chose a drink because it is what he or she wants, rather than the individual recognizing they chose that drink because the infiltration of media dictates that they chose it.  For most people life changes and we only become aware of this change when there is some sort of discord.  In personal relationships for example, our relationship partner may be changing or growing distant from us without our awareness, until this distance has an effect on our own immediate need.    Technology is no different, we are most often not even aware of all the ways that we are draw towards particular products, and may never become aware of the seductive aspects in being sold product, until we feel that we have been “scammed” or the product delivered far below expectation.   
In the documentary “The Persuaders,” the film states that “consumers are like roaches.  You spray them and spray them” and they keep returning.  The question I have is whether it is innate human desire to consume in such a voracious manner  or if our appetite is whetted and fed in a seductive manner through advertising.  In different words, the question is whether individuals are born with an uncontrollable desire to consume, or whether the speed and rate at which information is communicated to the consumer produces an insatiable need in the consumer to consume. 

One the largest problems with seductive advertising is that you’re being led to believe that you are in control and when in fact only certain parts, truths, realities of you are being accessed through the seductive revealing and concealing involved in advertising.  Instead of making rational decisions based on a level-headed sorting of information, our decisions are being made by our emotions and the pockets of emptiness that the advertiser knows how to access. 

Implications/ Complications of seduction:

In many ways, some individuals may feel that there is little difference in terms of being seduced or persuaded,’ into buying a product, after all both methods can be considered quite forceful.  However the main concern with seduction is perhaps its invisible nature, which goes against the “American way” and the free right to decide.  As Americans, we feel we are free to make our own decisions about who to vote for, what to eat, wear and say—all decisions we believe are made exclusively by me.  However one must start to ask whether we are really free if we are being seduced by our senses and emotions, and not an open and rational line of thinking and communication.  Are we making free decisions or are we being manipulated into what advertisers would like us to feel and consequently buy.   In many ways, consumption is about filling a void—some consume out of necessity, but many consume to shape an identity.  In other words, if I have this bag and these shoes, than I am this type of person.   The advertiser knows this making the consumer susceptible to needing to define or classify ourselves as being a particular type of person.  In fact, even the no name brand is a “brand” in itself.

At the root of people, is the strong need to fulfill the other’s desire.  The searching individual asks “is this what the other wants me to be” or similarly as Lacan famously said “is this what thinks in my place, another ego?”  In many regards, the advertiser is thinking in our place.  The advertiser is aware of the consumer’s need to be desired (either consciously or unconsciously) and realizes this and tells the consumer what the other wants him or her to be through the consumer’s identification with their product.  In many senses, we consume because we want to be what the other wants me to be—not because I am defining and choosing what I want me to be.