After reading The Power Of Advertising bellow, select ONE of the three following scenarios and respond to that Scenario.
*Scenario #1 - You work in a marketing department and your assignment is to market a new candy bar. Which route to persuasion might you use and why? What strategies might you use? What do you think the outcome will be?
* Scenario #2 You work in a marketing department and your assignment is to market a new migraine pill that treats migraines and only needs to be taken once a day (unlike any of the current products). Which route to persuasion might you use and why? What strategies might you use? What do you think the outcome will be?
* Scenario #3 - You work in a marketing department and your assignment is to market a wristwatch. What kinds of things do you want to know about this product in order to determine the most effective marketing strategy? Which route to persuasion might you use and why? What strategies might you use? What do you think the outcome will be?
The Power of Advertising
How does advertising work to change people's attitudes?
Wilson and Brekke (1994) found that most people think advertising works on everybody but themselves.
Contrary to such beliefs, the evidence indicates that advertising works in the sense that sales increase.
The best evidence that advertising works comes from studies using split cable market tests where advertisers work in conjunction with cable companies and stores to show ads to a randomly selected group of people and see whether these people are more likely to buy the product.
Ads work particularly well for new products.
A. How Advertising Works
Advertisers should consider the kind of attitude they are trying to change. If they are trying to change an affectively based attitude, it is best to take an emotional approach (e.g., associate feelings of excitement, energy, and sexual attractiveness with the brand). If they are trying to change a cognitively based attitude, they also need to consider the personal relevance of the attitude.
If a product is personally relevant, the best way to change it is through strong arguments; if a product is not personally relevant, advertising may attempt to make it seem so (e.g., Gerald Lambert created the term "halitosis" to increase sales for Listerine).
Ads also try to make attitudes more affectively based by associating the product with emotions and values.
B. Subliminal Advertising: A Form of Mind Control?
During the 2000 presidential election, an ad criticizing Gore's drug plan briefly (1/13 of a second) showed the word rats and ignited a debate regarding the possible attempt by the Bush campaign to use subliminal messages.
Subliminal messages are words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may influence people's judgments, attitudes, and behaviors.
In the 1950s, J. Vicary convinced a movie theater to flash the subliminal messages "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Eat popcorn" during a movie, and he claimed large increases in sales from this manipulation, provoking a large public outcry. Since then, audiotapes with subliminal messages to help people make personal changes have developed a large market.
1. Debunking the Claims about Subliminal Advertising
Vicary's original demonstration was both unscientific (lacking a control group) and a fraud.
Although most people believe that subliminal messages work, and there have been many popular attempts to indicate that they do, controlled studies do not indicate that they are effective when used in everyday life.
2. Laboratory Evidence for Subliminal Influence
There is some evidence that subliminal messages may be effective in controlled laboratory studies. Murphy and Zajonc (1993) subliminally presented happy or angry faces or blank polygons along with supraliminally presented Chinese ideographs; people's liking of the ideographs was influenced by the subliminally presented faces.
Subliminal effects only occur under very carefully controlled conditions and do not override people's wishes and desires.
C. Advertising, Cultural Stereotypes, and Social Behavior
The hoopla about subliminal ads may obscure the powerful effects of consciously perceived ads.
For example, most families presented in ads are heterosexual and White. Cheerios created controversy when they created an ad with an interracial family.
1. Gender Stereotypes and Expectations
Gender stereotypes are particularly pervasive in advertising imagery. Men are portrayed as doers and women as observers.
These portrayals reflect gender roles, ideas about how men and women are supposed to behave.
Women in ads have become increasingly thin over time and these depictions have been shown to negatively impact women's body images. Men's body images are also influenced by images in magazines.
2. Culture and Advertising
Culture impacts advertising. Ads in collectivistic cultures are more likely to feature themes of interdependence and people with interdependent self-concepts are more likely to be influenced by these types of ads. In constrast, ads in individualistic cultures tend to involve themes of independence and these ads appeal more to people with independent self-concepts. In sum, culture affects what types of ads are most common and how persuasive different types of ads are.