# Perception Management **Domain:** Information operations / Strategic communication **Doc Type:** Developed Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **Perception management** is the organized effort to shape how selected audiences perceive events, actors, risks, and available choices. Means may include truthful disclosure, selective emphasis, deception, psychological operations, public diplomacy, concealment, and control of timing or context. ## Significance The object is not only belief but decision. A campaign can succeed if a target delays, overreacts, misallocates attention, distrusts an ally, or chooses a predicted option. This makes perception management a bridge between narrative operations and game theory. The term is broad and should not turn every act of persuasion into military action. Analysis should identify the sponsoring actor, intended audience, information channel, desired behavior, evidentiary basis, and whether deception is actually documented. ## Sources - U.S. Department of Defense, [Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms archive](https://irp.fas.org/doddir/dod/jp1_02.pdf) - Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, [National Security Decision Directives](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/reagans/reagan-administration/nsdd-digitized-reference-copies) ## Routes [[wiki/NSDD-77|NSDD-77]] · [[wiki/Reflexive Control|Reflexive Control]] · [[wiki/Firehose of Falsehood|Firehose of Falsehood]] · [[wiki/Cognitive Warfare|Cognitive Warfare]]