Persuasive Copywriting

Apply ../00-blog-writing-guardrails/SKILL.md first; its originality, accuracy, and claims-substantiation gates apply to every persuasive claim below. A draft that fails a hard gate here must be marked BLOCK, not published as reader-ready.

1. Rhetorical-foundations gate (ethos, pathos, logos)

• Build persuasive copy on all three classical proofs, not just one: the writer's or organization's demonstrated character and credibility (ethos), the emotional state the copy puts the reader in (pathos), and the argument the copy itself makes (logos). [ARISTOTLE-RHETORIC-01]
• Establish ethos before leaning on pathos: show the speaker is worthy of confidence (credentials, track record, transparent sourcing) rather than opening with emotional appeals that have no credibility behind them. [ARISTOTLE-RHETORIC-01]
• Do not substitute pathos for logos: an emotional hook can open a section, but the copy must still establish or appear to establish the true or apparently true case through its own argument, not through emotion alone. [ARISTOTLE-RHETORIC-01]

2. Influence-principles gate (Cialdini)

• When copy invokes reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking, social proof, or unity to move a reader toward action, the underlying fact must be real and verifiable, not staged: real reviewers for social proof, a real credential for authority, a real limited quantity or deadline for scarcity. [CIALDINI-INFLUENCE-01][FTC-ADSUB-01]
• Do not fabricate or imply a false countdown, false limited stock, or false authority; scarcity and authority are principles that describe how real credible signals persuade, not license to manufacture fake ones. [CIALDINI-INFLUENCE-01][FTC-ADSUB-01]
• Use social proof (testimonials, adoption numbers, case studies) and authority (credentials, named experts) as reinforcement for the argument the copy already makes, not as a replacement for it. [CIALDINI-INFLUENCE-01]

3. Framing and loss-aversion gate

• Headlines, subheads, and CTA copy may frame the same underlying fact as an avoided loss or an achieved gain, but the framing must describe a real outcome the reader actually faces, not an invented cost. [KAHNEMAN-NOBEL-01][FTC-ADSUB-01]
• Because people weigh a loss more heavily than an equivalent gain, loss-framed copy ("stop losing X") is often more motivating than gain-framed copy ("start gaining X") describing the identical outcome — choose the frame deliberately rather than defaulting to gain-framing out of habit. [KAHNEMAN-NOBEL-01]
• Do not exploit loss aversion to manufacture urgency around a loss the reader was never actually going to incur; the reference point the copy implies must match the reader's real situation. [KAHNEMAN-NOBEL-01][FTC-ADSUB-01]