THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
The systematic study of mass psychology revealed to students the
potentialities of invisible government of society by manipulation of
the motives which actuate man in the group. Trotter and Le Bon, who
approached the subject in a scientific manner, and Graham Wallas,
Walter Lippmann and others who continued with searching studies of
the group mind, established that the group has mental characteristics
distinct from those of the individual, and is motivated by impulses
and emotions which cannot be explained on the basis of what we know
of individual psychology. So the question naturally arose: If we
understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not
possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will
without their knowing it?
The recent practice of propaganda has proved that it is possible, at
least up to a certain point and within certain limits. Mass psychology
is as yet far from being an exact science and the mysteries of human
motivation are by no means all revealed. But at least theory and
practice have combined with sufficient success to permit us to know
that in certain cases we can effect some change in public opinion
with a fair degree of accuracy by operating a certain mechanism, just
as the motorist can regulate the speed of his car by manipulating
the flow of gasoline. Propaganda is not a science in the laboratory
sense, but it is no longer entirely the empirical affair that it was
before the advent of the study of mass psychology. It is now scientific
in the sense that it seeks to base its operations upon definite
knowledge drawn from direct observation of the group mind, and upon the
application of principles which have been demonstrated to be consistent
and relatively constant.
The modern propagandist studies systematically and objectively the
material with which he is working in the spirit of the laboratory. If
the matter in hand is a nation-wide sales campaign, he studies the
field by means of a clipping service, or of a corps of scouts, or by
personal study at a crucial spot. He determines, for example, which
features of a product are losing their public appeal, and in what new
direction the public taste is veering. He will not fail to investigate
to what extent it is the wife who has the final word in the choice of
her husband’s car, or of his suits and shirts.
Scientific accuracy of results is not to be expected, because many of
the elements of the situation must always be beyond his control. He may
know with a fair degree of certainty that under favorable circumstances
an international flight will produce a spirit of good will, making
possible even the consummation of political programs. But he cannot
be sure that some unexpected event will not overshadow this flight in
the public interest, or that some other aviator may not do something
more spectacular the day before. Even in his restricted field of public
psychology there must always be a wide margin of error. Propaganda,
like economics and sociology, can never be an exact science for the
reason that its subject-matter, like theirs, deals with human beings.
If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their
conscious coöperation, you automatically influence the group which they
sway. But men do not need to be actually gathered together in a public
meeting or in a street riot, to be subject to the influences of mass
psychology. Because man is by nature gregarious he feels himself to be
member of a herd, even when he is alone in his room with the curtains
drawn. His mind retains the patterns which have been stamped on it by
the group influences.
A man sits in his office deciding what stocks to buy. He imagines, no
doubt, that he is planning his purchases according to his own judgment.
In actual fact his judgment is a mélange of impressions stamped on his
mind by outside influences which unconsciously control his thought. He
buys a certain railroad stock because it was in the headlines yesterday
and hence is the one which comes most prominently to his mind;
because he has a pleasant recollection of a good dinner on one of its
fast trains; because it has a liberal labor policy, a reputation for
honesty; because he has been told that J. P. Morgan owns some of its
shares.
Trotter and Le Bon concluded that the group mind does not _think_ in
the strict sense of the word. In place of thoughts it has impulses,
habits and emotions. In making up its mind its first impulse is
usually to follow the example of a trusted leader. This is one of the
most firmly established principles of mass psychology. It operates in
establishing the rising or diminishing prestige of a summer resort, in
causing a run on a bank, or a panic on the stock exchange, in creating
a best seller, or a box-office success.
But when the example of the leader is not at hand and the herd must
think for itself, it does so by means of clichés, pat words or images
which stand for a whole group of ideas or experiences. Not many years
ago, it was only necessary to tag a political candidate with the word
interests to stampede millions of people into voting against him,
because anything associated with “the interests” seemed necessarily
corrupt. Recently the word Bolshevik has performed a similar service
for persons who wished to frighten the public away from a line of
action.
By playing upon an old cliché, or manipulating a new one, the
propagandist can sometimes swing a whole mass of group emotions. In
Great Britain, during the war, the evacuation hospitals came in for
a considerable amount of criticism because of the summary way in
which they handled their wounded. It was assumed by the public that a
hospital gives prolonged and conscientious attention to its patients.
When the name was changed to evacuation posts the critical reaction
vanished. No one expected more than an adequate emergency treatment
from an institution so named. The cliché hospital was indelibly
associated in the public mind with a certain picture. To persuade the
public to discriminate between one type of hospital and another, to
dissociate the cliché from the picture it evoked, would have been an
impossible task. Instead, a new cliché automatically conditioned the
public emotion toward these hospitals.
Men are rarely aware of the real reasons which motivate their actions.
A man may believe that he buys a motor car because, after careful study
of the technical features of all makes on the market, he has concluded
that this is the best. He is almost certainly fooling himself. He
bought it, perhaps, because a friend whose financial acumen he respects
bought one last week; or because his neighbors believed he was not able
to afford a car of that class; or because its colors are those of his
college fraternity.
It is chiefly the psychologists of the school of Freud who have
pointed out that many of man’s thoughts and actions are compensatory
substitutes for desires which he has been obliged to suppress. A thing
may be desired not for its intrinsic worth or usefulness, but because
he has unconsciously come to see in it a symbol of something else, the
desire for which he is ashamed to admit to himself. A man buying a car
may think he wants it for purposes of locomotion, whereas the fact may
be that he would really prefer not to be burdened with it, and would
rather walk for the sake of his health. He may really want it because
it is a symbol of social position, an evidence of his success in
business, or a means of pleasing his wife.
This general principle, that men are very largely actuated by motives
which they conceal from themselves, is as true of mass as of individual
psychology. It is evident that the successful propagandist must
understand the true motives and not be content to accept the reasons
which men give for what they do.
It is not sufficient to understand only the mechanical structure of
society, the groupings and cleavages and loyalties. An engineer may
know all about the cylinders and pistons of a locomotive, but unless
he knows how steam behaves under pressure he cannot make his engine
run. Human desires are the steam which makes the social machine work.
Only by understanding them can the propagandist control that vast,
loose-jointed mechanism which is modern society.
The old propagandist based his work on the mechanistic reaction
psychology then in vogue in our colleges. This assumed that the human
mind was merely an individual machine, a system of nerves and nerve
centers, reacting with mechanical regularity to stimuli, like a
helpless, will-less automaton. It was the special pleader’s function
to provide the stimulus which would cause the desired reaction in the
individual purchaser.
It was one of the doctrines of the reaction psychology that a certain
stimulus often repeated would create a habit, or that the mere
reiteration of an idea would create a conviction. Suppose the old type
of salesmanship, acting for a meat packer, was seeking to increase
the sale of bacon. It would reiterate innumerable times in full-page
advertisements: “Eat more bacon. Eat bacon because it is cheap, because
it is good, because it gives you reserve energy.”
The newer salesmanship, understanding the group structure of society
and the principles of mass psychology, would first ask: “Who is it that
influences the eating habits of the public?” The answer, obviously,
is: “The physicians.” The new salesman will then suggest to physicians
to say publicly that it is wholesome to eat bacon. He knows as a
mathematical certainty, that large numbers of persons will follow the
advice of their doctors, because he understands the psychological
relation of dependence of men upon their physicians.
The old-fashioned propagandist, using almost exclusively the appeal
of the printed word, tried to persuade the individual reader to buy a
definite article, immediately. This approach is exemplified in a type
of advertisement which used to be considered ideal from the point of
view of directness and effectiveness:
“YOU (perhaps with a finger pointing at the reader) _buy O’Leary’s
rubber heels_—NOW.”
The advertiser sought by means of reiteration and emphasis directed
upon the individual, to break down or penetrate sales resistance.
Although the appeal was aimed at fifty million persons, it was aimed at
each as an individual.
The new salesmanship has found it possible, by dealing with men in
the mass through their group formations, to set up psychological and
emotional currents which will work for him. Instead of assaulting
sales resistance by direct attack, he is interested in removing sales
resistance. He creates circumstances which will swing emotional
currents so as to make for purchaser demand.
If, for instance, I want to sell pianos, it is not sufficient to
blanket the country with a direct appeal, such as:
“YOU _buy a Mozart piano now. It is cheap. The best artists use it. It
will last for years._”
The claims may all be true, but they are in direct conflict with the
claims of other piano manufacturers, and in indirect competition with
the claims of a radio or a motor car, each competing for the consumer’s
dollar.
What are the true reasons why the purchaser is planning to spend his
money on a new car instead of on a new piano? Because he has decided
that he wants the commodity called locomotion more than he wants the
commodity called music? Not altogether. He buys a car, because it is at
the moment the group custom to buy cars.
The modern propagandist therefore sets to work to create circumstances
which will modify that custom. He appeals perhaps to the home instinct
which is fundamental. He will endeavor to develop public acceptance of
the idea of a music room in the home. This he may do, for example, by
organizing an exhibition of period music rooms designed by well known
decorators who themselves exert an influence on the buying groups. He
enhances the effectiveness and prestige of these rooms by putting in
them rare and valuable tapestries. Then, in order to create dramatic
interest in the exhibit, he stages an event or ceremony. To this
ceremony key people, persons known to influence the buying habits of
the public, such as a famous violinist, a popular artist, and a society
leader, are invited. These key persons affect other groups, lifting the
idea of the music room to a place in the public consciousness which
it did not have before. The juxtaposition of these leaders, and the
idea which they are dramatizing, are then projected to the wider public
through various publicity channels. Meanwhile, influential architects
have been persuaded to make the music room an integral architectural
part of their plans with perhaps a specially charming niche in one
corner for the piano. Less influential architects will as a matter of
course imitate what is done by the men whom they consider masters of
their profession. They in turn will implant the idea of the music room
in the mind of the general public.
The music room will be accepted because it has been made the thing. And
the man or woman who has a music room, or has arranged a corner of the
parlor as a musical corner, will naturally think of buying a piano. It
will come to him as his own idea.
Under the old salesmanship the manufacturer said to the prospective
purchaser, “Please buy a piano.” The new salesmanship has reversed
the process and caused the prospective purchaser to say to the
manufacturer, “Please sell me a piano.”
The value of the associative processes in propaganda is shown in
connection with a large real estate development. To emphasize that
Jackson Heights was socially desirable every attempt was made to
produce this associative process. A benefit performance of the Jitney
Players was staged for the benefit of earthquake victims of Japan,
under the auspices of Mrs. Astor and others. The social advantages of
the place were projected—a golf course was laid out and a clubhouse
planned. When the post office was opened, the public relations counsel
attempted to use it as a focus for national interest and discovered
that its opening fell coincident with a date important in the annals
of the American Postal Service. This was then made the basis of the
opening.
When an attempt was made to show the public the beauty of the
apartments, a competition was held among interior decorators for the
best furnished apartment in Jackson Heights. An important committee
of judges decided. This competition drew the approval of well known
authorities, as well as the interest of millions, who were made
cognizant of it through newspaper and magazine and other publicity,
with the effect of building up definitely the prestige of the
development.
One of the most effective methods is the utilization of the group
formation of modern society in order to spread ideas. An example of
this is the nation-wide competitions for sculpture in Ivory soap,
open to school children in certain age groups as well as professional
sculptors. A sculptor of national reputation found Ivory soap an
excellent medium for sculpture.
The Procter and Gamble Company offered a series of prizes for the best
sculpture in white soap. The contest was held under the auspices of the
Art Center in New York City, an organization of high standing in the
art world.
School superintendents and teachers throughout the country were glad
to encourage the movement as an educational aid for schools. Practice
among school children as part of their art courses was stimulated.
Contests were held between schools, between school districts and
between cities.
Ivory soap was adaptable for sculpturing in the homes because mothers
saved the shavings and the imperfect efforts for laundry purposes. The
work itself was clean.
The best pieces are selected from the local competitions for entry in
the national contest. This is held annually at an important art gallery
in New York, whose prestige with that of the distinguished judges,
establishes the contest as a serious art event.
In the first of these national competitions about 500 pieces of
sculpture were entered. In the third, 2,500. And in the fourth, more
than 4,000. If the carefully selected pieces were so numerous, it is
evident that a vast number were sculptured during the year, and that a
much greater number must have been made for practice purposes. The good
will was greatly enhanced by the fact that this soap had become not
merely the concern of the housewife but also a matter of personal and
intimate interest to her children.
A number of familiar psychological motives were set in motion in the
carrying out of this campaign. The esthetic, the competitive, the
gregarious (much of the sculpturing was done in school groups), the
snobbish (the impulse to follow the example of a recognized leader),
the exhibitionist, and—last but by no means least—the maternal.
All these motives and group habits were put in concerted motion by the
simple machinery of group leadership and authority. As if actuated by
the pressure of a button, people began working for the client for the
sake of the gratification obtained in the sculpture work itself.
This point is most important in successful propaganda work. The
leaders who lend their authority to any propaganda campaign will do so
only if it can be made to touch their own interests. There must be a
disinterested aspect of the propagandist’s activities. In other words,
it is one of the functions of the public relations counsel to discover
at what points his client’s interests coincide with those of other
individuals or groups.
In the case of the soap sculpture competition, the distinguished
artists and educators who sponsored the idea were glad to lend their
services and their names because the competitions really promoted an
interest which they had at heart—the cultivation of the esthetic
impulse among the younger generation.
Such coincidence and overlapping of interests is as infinite as the
interlacing of group formations themselves. For example, a railway
wishes to develop its business. The counsel on public relations makes
a survey to discover at what points its interests coincide with those
of its prospective customers. The company then establishes relations
with chambers of commerce along its right of way and assists them
in developing their communities. It helps them to secure new plants
and industries for the town. It facilitates business through the
dissemination of technical information. It is not merely a case of
bestowing favors in the hope of receiving favors; these activities of
the railroad, besides creating good will, actually promote growth on
its right of way. The interests of the railroad and the communities
through which it passes mutually interact and feed one another.
In the same way, a bank institutes an investment service for the
benefit of its customers in order that the latter may have more money
to deposit with the bank. Or a jewelry concern develops an insurance
department to insure the jewels it sells, in order to make the
purchaser feel greater security in buying jewels. Or a baking company
establishes an information service suggesting recipes for bread to
encourage new uses for bread in the home.
The ideas of the new propaganda are predicated on sound psychology
based on enlightened self-interest.
* * * * *
I have tried, in these chapters, to explain the place of propaganda
in modern American life and something of the methods by which it
operates—to tell the why, the what, the who and the how of the
invisible government which dictates our thoughts, directs our feelings
and controls our actions. In the following chapters I shall try to show
how propaganda functions in specific departments of group activity, to
suggest some of the further ways in which it may operate.