Essay Sample on Intellectual Genealogy of Communication Media and Persuasion

Introduction

The influence of social psychology and history in the realization of advancement in media technology can never be underestimated. It is not possible to have a full understanding of the status quo of media without having a tour of the historical events that have occurred in this field. Similarly, the aspect of social psychological helps in deciphering more profound insights about the events that occur in media technology. It is important to realize that communication media influence the attitudes of people in the society. People get engraved on the communication media on a daily basis and the information they receive from the communication media significantly impact their thoughts, attitudes, and ways of life. Communication media has both positive and negative impacts on the view and psychology of people through perception, appearance and beautiful thoughts which are critical in influencing people's attitude especially during brand marketing and advertisement.

Media makes use of the eyes and ears to influence perception and appearance of issues among the people in the population. Media psychology is best understood through a historical understanding of the influence the information portrayed in the media has had on the cognitive and mental perception of the situation by people in the society. It is realized that communication media has an enormous impact on the cognitive of the people who receive information. The light of the images in the media technology affects the retina and similarly, affect the perception of people concerning the information passed.

The existence of the current day media has gone through a lot of transformation. According to Cantril and Alport (1935), the audio media was more influential that written media in influencing behavior and other actions among people. Before audio became popular, the written media was the most frequently used. This occurred in the form of arts and other written pieces of work. The written form of media depended on the representation of information using images or sketches that were put together to form meaning. The observers of these images were expected to process and understand the data in the pictures. The process of understanding the information in images required processing (Cantril & Alport, 1935). The images were created with the intention of appealing to the senses of the receiver. This involved creation of attractive images that would attract the mind and lead to great concentration. The early psychologists appreciate the significance of quality in the creation of the images. The intervention of the mind regarding creating meaning out of the images was critical to the understanding the influence the image would have on the receiver (Cantril & Allport, 1935).

According to Cantril and Alport (1935), the impact of the image created on the mind transverse beyond the basic understanding of what is seen with the naked eye. The mind creates imagination and organizes the information in the image to interpret and have a knowledge of the image. The organization process leaves a mark that is important for influencing the mind of the individual who receives the information. Time spent in organizing and understanding the image determines how much it alters the perception of the receiver. The experience of following the images is believed to be critical in transcending visual sensations. The creation of a feeling that exceeds expectations through the image was the technique behind visual media that was used to influence cognitive mind to work in a way that is desired by the media industry. This was the idea behind adverts and use of images to pass information. Chi (2011) supports the ideas of Cantril and Alport (1935) by arguing that the content created is meant to persuade the mind, and this helps to explain the idea of cognitive mind and persuasion in the communication media. This idea was appreciated right from the beginning of communication media even when images were the only reliable form of communication media. In this case, the invention of images in the media industry was done with the aim of attracting the mind thus captivating the mind of people. This invention was meant to appeal to the psychology of people (Cantril & Alport, 1935).

Krugman (1965) argues that most of the artist who created content for media had their focus on mediation and psychology. The works created focussed aimed at being a bridge between nature and process of perception. The content was created with the aim that the viewer would have quick processing and relate them to their thoughts and perceptions. The details of most of the painting such as those of Cezanne appealed much to the judgment of people who were supposed to view these objects (Cantril & Alport, 1935). These works were so captivating such that the viewers were fully engraved in viewing them while trying to make meaning out of what they were seeing. The painters at this point created content that was meant to keep people busy while trying to understand the secret behind the information that was in the paintings. This was a great way of captivating the mind as the people kept guessing and trying to find meaning in what they were seeing (Cantril & Allport, 1935).

The media psychology in the early days had set the precept for the current visuals used in the media industry. The advancement in the creation of the images led to the incorporation of sound to static images. This move was necessary as it helped to find something more captivating that would help to keep the mind busy on the content created by media. This idea was based on the fact that bringing sound and images together appeals more to the mind of people. The media industry is considered of no use if it cannot create content that keeps the minds busy. People prefer to have visuals more than hearing the sounds. However, putting the two together becomes more appealing as this involves engaging two senses at the same time. Before the advancement in bringing images and sound together, the radio was an extraordinary form of media that sought to appeal to people (Cantril & Allport, 1935).

The audio media was important as it helped to pass a variety of information. In most instances, information in print form was relayed through and audio and flavored by the use of specific tone or captivating voice (Krugman, 1965). A good voice was considered extremely useful when trying to appeal to the hearing senses of an individual. The higher the voice used to pass information the more likely an individual would keep listening to message being passed. In essence was to avoid being annoying to the listeners and showing them mastery of information together with the provision of entirely something new that they have never heard. The ideas used in this industry still tried to appeal to the perceptions of people. The audio message could create a desired image in the mind of the listeners, and this was important for their cognitive behaviors (Krugman, 1965). People would listen to descriptions on the radio and try and emulate precisely what they perceived. The absence of images or videos made this process of passing information a bit challenges and probably contributed to the use of images and audios to pass information. The intention was perhaps create the best impression in the minds of people at all time (Cantril & Alport, 1935).

Krugman (1965) in his work elaborates the contribution of television on the behavior people. He describes TV as an essential tool in the media industry which had far-reaching consequences in the making all over the world to have almost similar thoughts and behaviors. Krugman (1965) blames the visual media that was brought by television for the significant changes that occurred in mind and behavior of people. He explanation is that visual effects in the media industry are more critical and changing perception and influencing the behaviour of people. Cantril and Alport (1935) share the same ideals as those of Krugman (1935) concerning the impact of visuals on the psychology of the mind. Through their exploration of the history of media, Cantril and Alport (1935) explain the journey of exploration of the best possible way of relaying the media content. This journey begins with the use of print media and images that were so captivating and involving the use of the image and sound together. The use of images incorporated with sound is seen to be the birth of visual media as media industry sought to have moving images with sounds (Cantril & Allport, 1935). This marked the hallmark of mind control and psychological influence by the media industry. The best way to explain this is an observation of how people get engraved each day on the Television screen. Other improvements such as incorporation of colored televisions and three dimension images only made things better for the media industry in controlling the perception (Krugman, 1965).

The work of Chi (2011) gives a modern view of the psychological control of the perception of people in the modern age. While appreciating the advancement from print to audio and later visual media, Chi (2011) gives a current view of the use of media and its influence in the society. The media has always tried to appeal to people with the intention of convincing them to like content provided or for purposes of buying products being advertised. However, each historical society had their perception what appealed to their senses. The technological advancements have changed the focus of media industry to the use of social media in trying to appeal to people. It is evident that all forms of media can be found on the social media sites. That means that social media is one of the best ways of appealing to all senses of people thus controlling their perception and view of issues. Cantril and Allport (1935) appreciated that while spoken word seems to be more potent than printed information, the use of both print and audio creates better appeal as it engages the mind more than if only one form of media was used. This is an appreciation to the work of Chi (2011) in putting together all the forms of media in an interactive public platform to have better appeal to the people and have their minds fixed on the information being passed across.

Chi (2011) clear emphasize the need for coordinating all the information passed through the social media. This means that the information would be packaged in the different form of media but still have the same message. This broadens the audience of the media industry and increases the chances of information appealing to a variety people. Different people could have a preference for different forms of media. Social media provides an opportunity to choose from a variety and therefore suitable for nearly everyone in the society. The power of social media is in the fact that it creates an interactive platform that is important for receiving feedback. The early forms of media do not recognize the fact that appealing to the people is great essential if there is feedback mechanism (Krugman, 1965). The communication process is a loop that requires receipt of feedback to be considered complete. The early forms used by the media industry do not give an opportunity for making the communication process complete. The feedback is useful for understanding the impact of shared information on the psychology of the targeted audience.

Chi (2011) further explains that motivation is essential for the creation of intended appeal to the society. Even though people use and interact with the social media, most people would tend to like content that gives them some form of reward. This reward could be psychological or physical. However, the reward increases the interest that someone would have on particular medi...