Ethos, pathos and logos
Rhetoric dates back around two-and-a-half millennia, and was the method by which the memeplexes of art, democracy, the sciences and civil society spread around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, spawning the Greek and Roman empires along the way.
I am extremely honoured in this section to be standing on the shoulders of Aristotle, whose Art of Rhetoric defines three elements of persuasion, both in written and spoken forms. When all three modes of persuasion are used together, a speaker or writer can create very strong arguments.
The first element is Ethos, which is an appeal based on the authority or character of the speaker. It is a measure of how well the speaker convinces the audience that he is qualified to speak on the subject. Ethos is clearly an attempt to say 'listen to me, I know what I'm talking about', invoking feelings of trust in the recipient and quietening down their amygdala. If the hearers respect or recognise the person spreading the meme, there is a greater chance that they will accept it and if they spread the meme themselves they might gain a little of the elite status of the originator. This 'ethos-borrowing' is why advertisers love celebrity endorsements, and why dress designers clamour to give their frocks to film stars - they know these women define the forthcoming fashions;
Logos is a logical appeal, usually based on factual information. The technique relies on a clear presentation of the 'facts', walking the listener towards the conclusion that the speaker wants. If the speaker can persuade the brain to award the valuable 'true' label, acceptance is guaranteed and it is likely that the meme will be retransmitted. Clearly, the success of the technique will depend on the quality of the information supporting the arguments the ability of the audience to assimilate it, especially in the face of strong emotional arguments.
Finally, Pathos is an appeal to the audience's emotions deeper instincts, bypassing reason altogether. Memes that promise survival, sex or food (or things like 'power' which increase your chances of getting them) are highly effective. Memes to do with nurturing children or which threaten pain or loss also work well. Using logic, emotion and personal credibility are the oldest and most successful ways of getting your message across.
Advertisers use combinations of the three elements, depending on the product and sophistication of the audience. They have been embedding cues to our genetic drives inside their memes for years, particularly in adverts for products bought primarily by one sex rather than the other.
It's rare - at least in the UK - to see adverts aimed at men featuring child raising but relatively common in products primarily selected by women.
Pathos-based adverts are often (at least in Europe) overtly sexualised in nature, with the difference between crude adverts for razors and wispy adverts for perfume reflecting the different nature of sexual stimulation in men and women.
But while pathos is very powerful, it doesn't always work because our reactions to emotional tugs differ between individuals: what induces sympathy in one viewer can have quite a different effect in another. So to stand the best chance of getting your message across, you can't go wrong if you wrap your meme in a mix of ethos, logos and pathos