Manded altercasting is the act of telling someone who they are or supposed to be through the use of an example. For example, "You, being a Democrat, should support abortion rights across the board."
Here, a role is assigned -- a Democrat -- and with it comes the strong social expectation that the person being assigned this role will act 'like a Democrat' and support all levels of abortion rights. This form of altercasting is particularly effective when a disparity of authority exists between the agent and the recipient.
Tact altercasting occurs when we take on the role of 'sender' to evoke the counter-role in the other person. The duality creates an implied position for the reciever and can be a very powerful tool of control and persuasion. Tact altercasting pairs include, expert-ignorant, helper-dependent, sane-insane, and scapegoat-sinner.
Altercasting is a huge driver behind much of advertising, especially health-related advertising.
Altercasting works because;