Encounter at the Body Shop

OK. A friend and I went to the Body Shop, looking to buy a present for my mother. We went and asked an female employee (mid-20's) what she thought we should get for her. What follows are parts of the conversation we had and my analysis about how well she went about convincing us about her products.

Argument: There were multiple arguments that she made, including what I should get for my mother for her birthday, but I want to focus on the argument she made about why her store was better than the other similar stores in the mall. What are the consequences of shopping at the Body Shop? Shopping at the Body Shop is better than shopping at Bath and Body Works because Bath and Body Works do not have ethical standards.

Audience: My friend and I were the audience. My friend (a female) knew much more about their products than I did, but I was the one there to buy something.

Goal: After I had committed to buy something, the employee continued our conversation by talking about the advantages of shopping at the Body Shop, opposed to shopping at Bath and Body Works. My guess is that she wanted to ensure that we would continue to shop for products at their store in the future.

How? She used a great deal of pathos in her persuasion. She went on about how Bath and Body Works tests their products on animals and described how harmful some of the products are to the environment. Had I been wearing my tie-died t-shirt and been rocking the long hair I could see how she might think that I actually cared about those issues. Her argument was not relevant to me. I went to buy a present for my mother. I had done so and wanted to leave, but she was persistent. She had given me more than I wanted to know. I think she noticed that I was irritated with all the facts when she blamed her "outburst" on the Mountain Dew she had drank earlier. Bad form.

Effective? Obviously, she was successful because I bought something from the store. But, I don't know if she convinced me to ever go back. Especially if I have to go back to smell every smell known to man, while being trounced with unwanted information.