Cristel Russell Describes Why People Believe Entertainment Shows and Movies Foreshadow the Future in The Guardian
People have claimed that television shows and movies have predicted a host of future
events from President Trump’s presidency, to the Fifa corruption scandals and even
Siegfried & Roy’s tiger attack. The article explores why these fictional stories hold
so much sway. Cristel Russell, PhD, professor of marketing at Pepperdine Graziadio
Business School weighs in with her expertise. Russell describes the phenomenon of
“persuasion knowledge,” the ability of someone to know when something is trying to
persuade them. She says: “the beauty of the Hollywood Industry is they have figured
out a very effective way to remove persuasion knowledge, by getting people so immersed
and engrossed in their stories that they don’t see product placements - they don’t
see the messages that may be embedded in there.”
The full article is available on The Guardian here.