Fear Over 'Hidden Persuaders' Is Exaggerated, Bauer Declares

The air of "hysteria about what can be done in the field of psychological persuasion" ought to be dispelled along with the apprehension of a "1984 society twenty years early," Raymond A. Bauer, Ford Foundation Visiting Professor in the Graduate School of Business Administration, said last night.

In an address to the Social Relations Society, Bauer stated that this concern has its roots in "the perpetual hope and horror that man will invent means of controlling and manipulating man." Even in the thirties psychologists and psychiatrists were taking the place of witches and devils in demonology."

Vance Packard's The Hidden Persuaders, which 'pictures the consumer as powerless to resist motivational advertising," is indicative of the widespread uneasiness, Bauer asserted, and worry about conformity is on its way to becoming more of a problem than conformity itself.

One reason for calm, Bauer maintained, is that the emphasis on motivational research has resulted in knowledge that has benefited the persuaded as well as the persuader. "It can be argued that the consumer is now harder to reach than ever," he said.

Few Remain Unconscious

Many so-called "unconscious and irrational" motives are really quite the opposite, Bauer went on. "I don't see why a man is more rational to buy a car for transportation than for status, for instance. Use of appeals to this type of motive have, moreover, brought them to the center of consciousness," Bauer argued.

Furthermore, appeals to the real unconscious will usually stimulate strong defensive reactions, Bauer said. Brain-washing which uses these appeals may work when brought to bear on one person by many, but it will probably be impossible in the opposite situation, he concluded.