Man Discovered Irrational By Unfriendly Persuaders

The Hidden Persuaders is sensationalistic. It is written to shock and, for the most part, succeeds, as is indicated by the furor raised since its publication. The book is described thus: "What makes us buy, believe, and even vote the way we do. An introduction to the New World of Symbol Manipulation and Motivational Research."

If Packard had stuck to his expressed purpose, there would not have been overly much to complain about in his book. But he did not write only an informative exploration, he made his book a sermon. He appears to be appalled obviously by these discoveries and techniques of the advertising age and seeks to instill this horror in his readers.

The shock is delivered by other means than mere relation of information. One of Packard's favorite stylistic devices is to create an Orwellian world by using "in the 1950's" when describing technique. This is similar to the history written in 1984.

Purchasing and Consumption

The peculiar fascination and shock of this book lie in the fact that it describes the irrational motivations of everyday acts--purchasing and consumption. This is not an account of the mentally ill; it applies to everyone reading the book. The shock for Mr. Packard, however, seems to be the discovery that human beings are not always rational, hardly a very amazing discovery.

One of Packard's major troubles is that he is a journalist, not a social scientist, and cannot evaluate the information he examines. Often, he is overly credulous in believing the effectiveness of the newly discovered techniques and in the incomplete explanations of behavior offered by those engaged in "motivational research." In his desire to sermonize, Packard does not really realize the good done by the motivational research expert, both in finding what people really need and also in broadening knowledge about human behavior.

Moral Questions

But despite all his limitations, Packard has written a fascinating book which raises some valid moral questions. His chapter headings--"The Built-In Seual Overtone,"--"Back to the Breast, and Beyond," Class and Caste in the Sales-room," "Selling Symbols to Upward Strivers," and "The Packaged Soul" indicate the nature of his subject matter. His description of the techniques used to sell Mrs. Middle Majority, "the darling of the advertiser," and those used to revive the cigarette holder, instant coffee, tea, margarine, and prune industries are intensely interesting.

One of Packard's most interesting chapters is that on the motivation research techniques in politics. He examines the 1956 campaign in which the Republicans used these modern techniques much more than their rivals, probably because they had more money.

In addition to the question of political morality, Packard very rightly asks, "What is the morality of manipulating small children--" of developing in the public an attitude of wastefulness toward national resources? of subordinating truth to cheerfulness in keeping the citizen posted on the state of his nation? What does it mean for the national morality to have so many powerfully influential people taking a manipulative attitude toward our society?"

Packard concludes by saying that the manipulative attitude involves an inherent disrespect for human personality. However, this attitude seems unlikely to change in a society with no higher values than those of an expanding economy and increasing consumption.