IXL | Identify appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos in advertisements

Which rhetorical appeal is primarily used in this ad?

ethos (character)

logos (reason)

pathos (emotion)

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Which rhetorical appeal is primarily used in this ad?

Hospital staff transport a patient down the hall. The text says, "You'll never forget the day you had a heart attack. Reddox can help it never happen again."

ethos (character)

logos (reason)

pathos (emotion)

key idea

The purpose of an advertisement is to persuade people to do something. To accomplish this purpose, advertisements use three types of persuasive strategies, or appeals.

Appeals to ethos, or character, show the writer or speaker as trustworthy, authoritative, or sharing important values with the audience. An ad that appeals to ethos might do one of the following:

say that a brand has been trusted for many years
include an endorsement from a respected organization, such as the American Dental Association
feature a testimonial from a "real person" who shares the audience's values
use an admired celebrity or athlete as a spokesperson

Appeals to logos, or reason, use logic and verifiable evidence. An ad that appeals to logos might do one of the following:

use graphs or charts to display information
cite results of clinical trials or independently conducted studies
explain the science behind a product or service
emphasize that the product is a financially wise choice
anticipate and refute potential counterclaims

Appeals to pathos, or emotion, use feelings rather than facts to persuade the audience. An ad that appeals to pathos might do one of the following:

trigger a fear, such as the fear of embarrassment
appeal to a desire, such as the desire to appear attractive
link the product to a positive feeling, such as adventure, love, or luxury

solution

The ad appeals to pathos, or emotion, by evoking a fear of illness.

$Confetti$

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

hr	min	sec
00	00	06

SmartScore
out of 100
IXL's SmartScore is a dynamic measure of progress towards mastery, rather than a percentage grade. It tracks your skill level as you tackle progressively more difficult questions. Consistently answer questions correctly to reach excellence (90), or conquer the Challenge Zone to achieve mastery (100)! Learn more

Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? This can help:

O.5Identify appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos in advertisements

Excellent! You got that right!

Jumping to level 1 of 1

Excellent!