Visual Persuasion

Missouri is nationally known as the "Show-me" state; yet, the "show-me", or convince-me, mentality has been adopted on a much larger scale and for many different reasons. As a matter of fact, many companies have answered the consumer call to “show-me” by using visuals as a means of persuasion. Visuals are indeed an effective means of persuasion because sight draws on the audience’s remaining four of five human senses as reinforcement: taste, touch, sound, and smell.

The fast food industry certainly has this concept down to a science. For instance, the Hardee's fast food chain has a highway billboard that shows an over-sized, succulent-looking, vibrantly-colored burger on a white backdrop with the word “THICK” in bold lettering. As opposed to possibly filling the billboard with small print explaining the process of how they make their burgers delicious, Hardee's marketing strategists chose to exaggerate the size of the sandwich as a means to connect it with the word thick. Hungry consumers translate thick to what they see in the picture as being a high quality meal, which may be an improvement if the last burger they had was flat and distasteful. Furthermore, seeing the burger, with its green crispy lettuce and bacon, soft sesame seed buns, smooth melted cheddar cheese, and a sizzling, savory patty of livestock persuades the driver that he or she will get this same quality when he or she orders at Hardee's. Thus, by using visuals, companies like Hardee's are able to successfully influence their audiences.