Impression Management
Impression management is defined as:
a goal-directed conscious or unconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of others about a person, object, or event. Impression management is performed by controlling or shaping information in social interactions. It is usually synonymous with self-presentation, in which a person tries to influence how others perceive their image ("Impression Management").
Successful impression management was the key to Mother Jones's success. By utilizing the following strategies in her speeches and appearances, she was able to influence the public's perception of her and eventually win their support.
Casting
Dialogue
Dress
In an attempt to exaggerate her age, Mother Jones dressed in all black, pulled up her white hair and wore eyeglasses (Horsley). Exaggerating her age allowed her to contrast it with her lack of frailty. She used her vigor and vitality in old age to shame younger and supposedly healthier men into joining the movement.
- Identify Antagonist
- Establish Victim
- Present Savior
Dialogue
- Storytelling
- Dialect
Dress
In an attempt to exaggerate her age, Mother Jones dressed in all black, pulled up her white hair and wore eyeglasses (Horsley). Exaggerating her age allowed her to contrast it with her lack of frailty. She used her vigor and vitality in old age to shame younger and supposedly healthier men into joining the movement.
Interestingly, Jones later used her experience with impression management as a tactic for her involvement with the labor movement as a whole. In her thirty-year career, before her death in 1930, image manipulation and spectacle are recurring motifs.