Ethos, Pathos and Logos in Modern Business Communication

ETHOS, PATHOS AND LOGOS IN MODERN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

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Ethos, Pathos and Logos in Modern Business Communications

        Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are the three kinds of Aristotle’s mode of persuasion furnished by the vocal expression. Ethos depends on the individual character of the speaker; the second kind (Pathos) depends on positioning the audience into a certain mind frame and the logos hinge on the plain proof, provided by the statement of the speech itself. According to Aristotle, persuasion is attained by the personal character of the speaker especially when the speaker is so verbalized as to make people consider him trustworthy. In order to persuade the audiences, good ethos, pathos and Logos is indispensable. This essay will describe their explanations and applications in modern business communications with relevant examples.

            In the present day, being able to speak credibly is a very important skill not simply for politicians, business managers, and teachers. It is vital for everyone because nearly everybody will, in the future, have to persuade other individuals. However, business communicators in the modern business have to apply ethos, pathos, and logos for their substantial benefits. As per Zimmer (2016), ethos is an appeal founded on a speaker’s credibility. A speaker who is not alleged by the audience as being plausible will have a hard time convincing them of anything. Pathos, on the other hand, is an appeal to the listeners based on passion (Zimmer, 2016). Speakers can draw into the audiences’ emotions in visuals, storytelling, metaphors, and call to action. Logos appeals to the logical part of an individual. When speakers depend on logos, they use things like examples, data, statistics, and evidence to persuade. It follows that the listener/audience then has the chance to handle this information and extract some assumptions (LaBracio & Langston, 2017).

            Aristotle stated that all persuasive communications in any field are comprised of the aforementioned elements. In the modern business, marketing appeals are communication strategies that specialize in marketing use to attract the attention and win over people to purchase or take action (Breakenridge, 2018). In order to appeal to people, business people apply these main appeals of communication to become credible and impinge on their emotions.  Advertising experts use appeals for as long as advertising and marketing are concerned. For instance, we can consider public figure endorsements as a major example of applying ethos or the backing/credibility appeal. If an individual sees a picture with Aniston Jennifer grasping a bottle of ‘Smart Water,’ he or she will be appealed to by Jennifer’s notoriety or credibility. Therefore, if the water is good enough for her, marketers hope people will mull over and feel, then it is good for the customer who values and adores Jennifer.

            Modern business communicators use pathos with the aim of evoking an emotional response in the customer (Garcia, 2012). At times, this response is a positive emotional feeling such as happiness. For example, Pepsi Company puts a picture of people enjoying themselves sipping Pepsi drinks. Marketers in the modern business use images portraying negative emotions like pain: an individual having back pain after purchasing the wrong mattress. According to Stiff (2016), pathos can include feelings such as guilt and anxiety such as pictures of a hungry child thus persuading consumers to buy a certain product. Businesses use logos in the creation of a product recognition for a company or organization since the fundamental roles of logos are to encourage trust, appreciation, and respect for a product or business (Archuleta, 2016).

            According to Archuleta (2016), many advertisements today depend on pathos to affect consumers, particularly through the use of absurdity. Entertaining advertisements give people positive emotions that can result in the positive feeling that can make people have positive sentiments regarding the product that the business promoters wants them to purchase a product. Businesses exploit humor and emotion to get the attention and convey a message to different people (Stiff, 2016).

            Businesses mainly find themselves competing against customers’ abridged attention spans. For this reason, modern businesses have turned their focus to developing innovative, more outstanding logos for various reasons. Logos are used to exhibit the fundamental of the business as it describes a business that is encouraging, proficient, stable and consistent. Logos also increases awareness of the business and further allows the company to be noticeable from their competitors (McKay & Kate, 2010). It presents the principles and operations of the business in a tremendous visual picture. Basically, when a person sees the business logo, it should juggle up a suitable feeling regarding the business or its goods and services (Roeloffs, 2015). For instance, when a consumer sees a logo for ADT Company, it should make them consider or feel secure. Besides, Disney logos make people feel capricious and enjoyable.

            According to Folk & Apostel (2013), pathos can be applied in digital business to connect with users. An organization’s website does not matter when it comes to this element. As earlier mentioned, pathos involves the association with the audience, developing a connection with users. A Nike Company, for instance, networks with its consumers astonishingly well. The company has over 16 million followers on Instagram and most of their photos have about 380,000 likes and over 2,500 comments. This is definitely a positive way to connect with users (Roeloffs, 2015). Basically, users are more likely to purchase Nike brands if they see the company’s newsfeed at all times. This indicates that the pathos is implemented well by the company.