17. Turning Customers Into Cultists

In this article, editor Derek Thomspson explores the meaning and use of brands in marketing. He begins by definig what a brand is; "a signal, good or bad, that influences a consumer’s decision to buy a product." He talks about how, with the age of information, informed customers decrease the effect of a brand in infuencing consumption. However, he explains that too much information and choice can be harmful and make buying more difficult. Thus, customers still tend to return to a default brand. Furthermore, brands don't just affect purchase, they communicate identity as well. According to Thompson, religious cults serve as inspiration to many brands who seek to attract customers through identity and community. Research shows that being part of a group makes us feel more individual, and that people are motivated by other people, not by companies or corporations themselves. Therefore, this "us against the world" mentality is what grants big brands like Apple their success as compared to brands that are cheaper and even potentially better.

This article is mostly informative in nature, but it does contain some visible elements of rhetoric, as do most articles related to marketing. It adresses the three areas of rhetoric, ethos pathos and logos, though not as much as in a fully persuasive piece. There is obviously plenty of logos, logical data, in examples related to TV and medicine marketing, as well as reliable sources, such as Susan Fournier (a professor at Boston University) and Eileen Barker (a British sociologist). There is ethos, credibility, in real-life evidence of cult-like marketing strategies in companies such as Airbnb and Yelp. The pathos, emotional appeal, is more subtle and found in the wording within the piece, ysing such words as "identity," "individuality," and "us-against-the-world." Right from the start, Thompson makes allusion to the comparison of brand marketing to cults, comparing customers waiting for new Apple products to "Wiccans worshipping before Stonehenge." Also, he uses a
chronological sequential organization, following a thought process to a conclusion, without jumping around between ideas. His organization works very well, and his article overall does a good job of informing, without overwhelming, the reader.

http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/12/turning-customers-into-cultists/382248/