Advertising & Persuasion



Alberto Lopez

Marilyn Hibbert

CIS 1020

[pic]

Every day we are bombarded with advertisements that want to persuade us to do something. Behind all the ads that we see through the many diverse Medias, there lays an elaborate well thought out science to the ads. Ads appeal to our senses, mainly our visual and auditory senses. What gets us to go see that new movie? What gets us to buy those new shoes or try a new restaurant? The answer is; well thought out ads that target our emotions. Our thoughts impact our behavior and our thoughts are influenced by the information we process.

How is Advertising so Effective.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT ADVERTISING THAT MAKES IS SO EFFECTIVE IN INFLUENCING OUR ACTIONS? THEY ARE INCREDIBLY GOOD AT PERSUADING. ADVERTISING IS A SCIENCE; COMPANIES ARE ALWAYS IN CONSTANT COMPETITION FOR THEIR PRODUCTS. IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE THEIR PRODUCT DESIRABLE TO BUYERS THEY NEED NEW CREATIVE WAYS OF RISING ABOVE THE OTHER BRANDS. ROBERT CIALDINI A PROFESSOR AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY AND A LEADING RESEARCHER IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY HAS ESTABLISHED SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE. THOSE PRINCIPLES ARE; RECIPROCITY, SCARCITY, AUTHORITY, CONSISTENCY, SOCIAL PROOF AND LIKING (CIALDINI, MARTIN 4). ALL OF THESE PRINCIPLES ARE COMMONLY APPLIED IN ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES.

Examples of Cialdini’s Principles

RECIPROCITY FREE SAMPLES SCARCITY BUY NOW! LIMITED QUANTITIES AUTHORITY DENTIST RECOMMENDED CONSISTENCY COMMITTING PEOPLE SOCIAL PROOF BANDWAGON EFFECT LIKING PEOPLE SAY “YES” TO PEOPLE THEY LIKE

Classical Conditioning

ANOTHER GREAT TECHNIQUE THAT IS USED TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE IS CLASSICAL CONDITIONING. THIS TECHNIQUE IS ATTRIBUTED TO IVAN PAVLOV A RUSSIAN PSYCHOLOGIST WHO FIRST INTRODUCED THIS MODE OF LEARNING. BY ACCIDENT PAVLOV WAS ABLE TO TRAIN HIS DOG TO SALIVATE WITH THE SOUND OF A BELL.

“Advertisers use classical conditioning techniques when they pair brands with pleasant images to evoke favorable responses or to attach meanings to brands. For example, Snuggles brand of fabric softener uses a teddy bear so that consumers will have positive feelings toward the brand and believe that the product makes clothing soft.” (Till, Priluck, Stimulus Generalization 55)

|Classical Conditioning Examples |

|An event |Action of event |Response to event |Condition response after time |

|Dog hears a bell |Dog gets fed |Salivation |After time the dog salivates when he hears the |

| | | |bell with the absence of food. |

|Some flushes toilet while you are|Shower gets cold. |You jump back to avoid |After time you jump back anytime you hear a |

|in the shower. | |cold water. |shower flush. |

This method of pairing products with objects that produce a pleasant emotion tends to work well. If just logical to assume that if a product brings some sort of pleasurable experience, our likeliness to purchase it will increase. It has been establish that classical conditioning can influence a buyer’s attitude of a product.

It’s true, Sex Sells!

A COMMON THEME IN ADS IS THE USE OF SEXUAL APPEAL. I BELIEVE IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT MOST PEOPLE AGREE THAT SEX SELLS. WEITEN GIVES US AN EXAMPLE OF HOW ADVERTISERS TRY TO CONDITION THEIR PRODUCT TO ELICIT A GOOD PLEASANT RESPONSE FOR THEIR PRODUCT. HE GIVES THE EXAMPLE OF A BUDWEISER BILLBOARD THAT PAIRS THE BEER WITH AN ATTRACTIVE YOUNG LADY WHO APPEARS TO BE HAVING A GREAT TIME AT SOME SORT OF CELEBRATION (WEITEN 200). THIS TYPE OF ADVERTISING, WHERE THE PRODUCT IS PAIRED WITH SOMETHING THAT WILL EVOKE A PLEASANT FEELING TO THE BRAND SO IT WILL CREATE A CONDITIONED RESPONSE IS A COMMON THEME THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY. COMPANIES ARE IN CONSTANT COMPETITION AND TRY AND STAND OUT BY APPEALING TO US IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE.

Be aware of Product Placement.

BRAND EXPOSURE IS THE KEY TO BRAND RECOGNITION. PRODUCTS ARE COMMONLY INSERTED IN MOVIE SCENES AND PLACES IN A VERY SUBTLE WAY, MANY OF THE TIMES THEY WILL GO UNNOTICED. POSITIVE BRAND ATTITUDE OFTEN INCREASES WITH JUST EXPOSURE. SOMETIMES THAT EXPOSURE EVEN GOES UNNOTICED TO THE CONSUMER (COWLEY, BARRON 90) PRODUCT PLACEMENTS TEND TO BE SUBTLE BUT HAVE A POWERFUL EFFECT IN ENGRAINING A PRODUCT IN SOMEONE. THIS TECHNIQUE HAS RECENTLY BEEN SEEN IN MOVIES LIKE TRANSFORMERS WHERE EVERY ROBOT IS ALSO A GM VEHICLE. COCA-COLA GLASSES ARE SEEN ON THE JUDGES TABLE FOR THE POPULAR SHOW ON AMERICAN IDOL. THIS ADVERTISING TECHNIQUE HAS GREAT POWER TO SUBCONSCIOUSLY PERSUADE AND IS NOW A COMMON STAPLE IN ENTERTAINMENT.

Fun Activity:

• Pick any show or Movie

• Watch carefully

• See if you can count all the product placements

• Most will be discreet, but there will be many!

• Good luck!

Do not give in so easily.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

1. Do I really or want this?

2. Do not be afraid to say “No Thanks”

3. Do not commit to something you are unsure of

4. Just because a celebrity or doctor endorses it doesn’t mean it a good product

5. Be careful of “Limited Quantities” sales

6. Sometimes things really are too good to be true.

The art of human manipulation is more complex then I have showed. I want to believe that society is not as gullible as advertisers seem to think. Advertising must be working because it keeps increasing and is not slowing down. Deep down advertising appeals to our emotions. People that are more easily persuade by advertising techniques may also be those not informed on persuasion techniques and more susceptible to being manipulated. Like Weiten says, by being aware of how media sources try to manipulate us, we should be more resistant to their strategies (Weiten 201).

Bibliography

Randi Priluck, Brian D Till Grossman. "The persistence of classically conditioned brand attitudes." Journal of Advertising 27.1 (1998): 23-31.

Robert Caldini, Steve Martin. "The surprising science of influence and persuasion." The Journal of the Institute of Consumer Science 7.2 (2006): 4-9.

Weiten, Wayne. Psychology Themes & Variations. 7. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2008.

Till, Brian D., and Randi Lynn Priluck "Stimulus Generalization in Classical Conditioning: An Initial Investigation and Extension." Psychology & Marketing 17.1 (2000): 55-72. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Nov. 2009.

Cowley, Elizabeth, and Chris Barron "WHEN PRODUCT PLACEMENT GOES WRONG." Journal of Advertising 37.1 (2008): 89-98. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web. 6 Dec. 2009.

-----------------------

Advertising & Persuasion

2011

Alberto Lopez

CIS 1020-107

3/20/2011

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download