Rhetorical Analysis - TVs

I was recently at Circuit City buying a new television. Before we went to the store we had done some research about several televisions we were interested in, and picked out two that we were still deciding between. We looked into Vizio, Sony and Sharp. When we got to the store and began looking at televisions, of course, a salesperson was quick to sidle up next to us to “answer any questions we had.” I explained to the salesperson what televisions we had in mind and asked to see them. The salesperson was quick to show us the televisions we wanted and even quicker to give all the specifications of each.

As usual, the salesperson showed us a few other televisions to make sure we saw all of our options. At first I thought this was just a ploy to get me to buy a bigger, more expensive TV. However, he show me a brand, Samsung, which was cheaper and, in many ways, just as good or better than the other TVs we were previously looking at. He had an incredible amount of information on all the TVs in the store and he explained exactly why each price was the way it way. He knew each company’s manufacturing techniques, he explained all the jargon to us and showed us consumer reports. He also provided many demonstrations.

Right away I could tell that his argument was credible. He packed up what he said with relevant, truthful information and he was able to answer any question I had. His argument was very logical and appealed to me, the college student, who didn’t have much money. What worked the best for him, however, were his honest, fact-based opinions of the products in the store. All of his reasoning was based on information that I could look over myself, and he didn’t try to force anything down my throat.

What didn’t work were the other salespeople at the store. They constantly butted into the conversation with “helpful” tidbits that almost made me leave the store. These salespeople constantly tried to appeal to my emotions. They pointed out “cool” features and “rad options” that were coming with the TVs I was looking at. When making a major purchase I think most people like to know that they are spending their money wisely, not just buying the most popular item with the most bodacious features.

I ended up buying the Samsung television mostly because of the salesperson who initially helped me. He balanced all of the elements of a good argument well and he was as truth and transparent in his tactics as possible.