Larry D. Lauer

Why and to whom does Donald Trump appeal? Here is one communicator’s analysis:

Trump begins with a message that targets unconventional and deep emotional thoughts that are held by some people but heretofore have not been widely articulated. He then expresses those thoughts with simple messages presented as dramatically as he can, insuring widespread attention and thereby giving them a measure of “endorsed legitimacy.” These people now feel they are not alone with their feelings, and so they can now “suspend” any fleeting thought they may have about the impracticability of their opinions.

The fact is they are actually having a virtual experience that is much the same as attending a play. A theater audience “suspends its disbelief” in order to believe the dramatic experience they are having is real and possible, and they share that experience as a group until after the play is over!

In today’s digital world the situation is further complicated by the fact that “people always tend to hear what they want to hear,” and by the more recent realization that partial truths (and even lies) begin to take on a ring of credibility when repeated over and over… especially when they are inadequately challenged.

But challenging outrageous claims, partial truths, and lies is complicated in this digital media world. Challenging requires finding a way to target a different and genuine set of emotional concerns that are shared by a good number of important audiences, and then repeating  carefully crafted simple messages over and over again until reality wins the day.

I must add that the more people we have in the world with a fundamental understanding of the psychic and social consequences of 24/7 media revolutions, the more intelligent challenges of outrageous  claims we will also have in the world. And when all is said and done, a media savvy global education will be the best way to broaden that universe of understanding.