The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Captation \Cap*ta`tion\, n. [L. captatio, fr. captare to catch,
   intens. of caper to take: cf. F. captation.]
   A courting of favor or applause, by flattery or address; a
   captivating quality; an attraction. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         Without any of those dresses, or popular captations,
         which some men use in their speeches.    --Eikon
                                                  Basilike.
   [1913 Webster]

Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CAPTATION, French law. The act of one who succeeds in controlling the will
of another, so as to become master of it. It is generally taken in a bad
sense.
     2. Captation takes place by those demonstrations of attachment and
friendship, by those assiduous attentions, by those services and officious
little presents which are usual among friends, and by all those means which
ordinarily render us agreeable to others. When those attentions are
unattended by deceit or fraud, they are perfectly fair, and the captation is
lawful; but if, under the mask of friendship, fraud is the object, and means
are used to deceive the person with whom you are connected, then the
captation is fraudulent, and the acts procured by the captator are void. See
Influence.