Channeling Aristotle

As nosotros regard the commercial success of high terms together with clinically questionable proton beam machines, femtosecond lasers, together with robotic surgery, nosotros accept come upwardly to suspect that these resultant inwards slap-up stair out from direct-to-consumer marketing yesteryear doctors during vulnerable periods of people's lives.  I late learned of an article inwards Surgical Innovation that confirms these suspicions, precisely helps us sympathise the details a flake better. Oddly, the article too hearkens dorsum to advice from Aristotle.

It's called "The impact of marketing linguistic communication on patient preference for robot-assisted surgery."  Here's the abstract:

Robot-assisted surgical operation is gaining momentum equally a novel tendency inwards minimally invasive surgery. With express prove supporting its utilization inwards house of the far less expensive conventional laparoscopic surgery, it has been suggested that marketing clit per unit of measurement area is partly responsible for its widespread adoption.

The impact of phrases that promote the novelty of robot-assisted surgical operation on patient determination making has non been investigated. We conducted a discrete alternative experiment to elicit preference of partial colectomy technique for a hypothetical diagnosis of colon cancer. A convenience sample of 38 participants inwards an ambulatory full general surgical operation hospital consented to participate. Each player made 2 handling decisions betwixt robot-assisted surgical operation together with conventional laparoscopic surgery, amongst robot-assisted surgical operation described equally "innovative" together with "state-of-the-art" inwards 1 of the decisions (marketing frame), together with yesteryear a disclosure of the doubt of available prove inwards the other (evidence-based frame).

The magnitude of the framing outcome was large amongst 12 of 38 subjects (31.6%, P = .005) selecting robot-assisted surgical operation inwards the marketing frame together with non the evidence-based frame. This is the kickoff report to our cognition to demonstrate that words that highlight novelty accept an of import influence on patient preference for robot-assisted surgical operation together with that utilization of to a greater extent than neutral linguistic communication tin mitigate this effect. 

It was Aristotle who long agone posited that sentiment is accomplished solely inwards purpose yesteryear logical arguments (logos). Part of a persusaive appeal is relies on ethos, the trustworthiness together with credibility of the somebody making the argument. In this case, that somebody would hold upwardly the respected physician.  Another chemical factor of sentiment is pathos, an appeal to the audience's sympathies or imagination, oft accomplished yesteryear a flush that creates an emotional connectedness betwixt the presenter together with the listener.  Here, that flush is delivered yesteryear a salesperson inwards terms of character of life, drawing on anecdotes (not scientific findings) nearly patients who accept been treated successfully.

As noted inwards this presentation from a college course (at Durham Technical Community College):

We tin await at texts ranging from classic essays to contemporary advertisements to run into how pathos, emotional appeals, are used to persuade. Language alternative affects the audience's emotional response, together with emotional appeal tin effectively hold upwardly used to heighten an argument. 

Thanks to authors Dixon, Grant, Urbach for confirming Aristotle's wisdom inwards the representative of these novel medical technologies.

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