A Consumer Vulnerability Perspective on State-Sponsored Propaganda

Abstract

As technology and interconnectivity increase globally, the opportunity to wage irregular warfare (competition) has become low-cost-low-risk, simple to wage, challenging to detect, and more difficult to deter and defend. Propaganda is the most common method of covert or overt influence operations used by state actors today and often employs the same technologies, channels, and market communication techniques that firms use in more benign pursuits. We propose a framework based on Consumer Vulnerability Theory to explain the effects of state-sponsored propaganda on citizens’ propensity to become vulnerable consumers by manipulating beliefs about the availability and control of government-provided resources. Vulnerability leads citizens to employ coping strategies that help achieve the propagandist’s goals. This perspective may inform policy and public education campaigns to deter and attenuate the harmful effects of state-sponsored propaganda on citizens. Research on moderators and mediators that reduce influence now become more salient.