Summary

The economic principle I researched was “People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways.” My overall research question was “How do companies use advertisements to get you to buy their products?” Overall, I found that even though I had known going into it that advertisements often use a peripheral route of persuasion, there are far more techniques than I had expected.

From the content down to the colors, companies use all kinds of interesting techniques to persuade us to buy their product. The red and yellow of the McDonald’s ‘M’ can make you hungry and happy enough to pull over and purchase a Happy Meal. Seeing smiling faces drinking soda can make us buy that soda for ourselves. Receiving a million emails over and over again can both annoy us, but also unconsciously drive us to buy the product. And many more.

Over the course of this research, I learned many things I did not know about subconscious advertising techniques, and it has really given new meaning to the economic principle, “People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways.” Some of the techniques I researched can most certainly get you to do things through incentivization, whether you’re aware of it or not!

There really is not ‘answer’ to my overarching research question, but I hope you all enjoyed learning about a plethora of knowledge I opened up while researching as much as I did!

The Most Successful Ads of All Time

Source: Wikipedia

The economic principle I’m exploring is “People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways.”

My research question to help me study the economic principle is “What are some of the most successful advertising campaigns, and why are they so successful?” 

The article published in BluLeadz titled “20 of the Best Marketing Campaigns of All Time” demonstrates this economic principle by showing that campaigns like Dove Real Beauty, Nike’s “Just Do It”, and De Beers Diamonds were/are incredibly successful, particularly because of the techniques we’ve discussed in previous blog posts.

First, arguably one of the most successful and long-running campaigns of all time is Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign. For those who don;t know, during this campaign Dove advertised its products with a message that people, particularly women, of all shapes, sizes, and colors are beautiful, by showing diverse and happy models in their ads. The author of the article said that Dove began the campaign after they found that “In 2004, Unilever's research found that only 4% of women considered themselves beautiful”, and thus, the Campaign for Real Beauty began. The campaign not only was successful in sales, but the author says that it was successful in getting the world to start talking about beauty standards. “Talk shows, women's magazines, and TV news began discussing modern female beauty standards. The campaign evolved into a series of viral videos, commercials, and print ads that changed how we all look at beauty.” So what advertising technique made this campaign so successful? The answer is emotion. Dove’s ads successfully carried emotional content that the viewer could easily connect to, and as we’ve shown, emotion matters more than content in the success of advertising.

Second, Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign is also up there in the charts of most successful advertising campaign. It also increased the company’s profits exponentially. The author says that In 1988, Nike sales were $800 million. They introduced their iconic “Just Do It” campaign. Within a decade, sales topped $2 billion.” Nowadays, we can look at the iconic “Just Do It.” check mark and immediately know it’s a Nike product. Why? Repetition. The phrase and symbol are used in every one of their ads, commercials, products, etc. The constant repetition of the brand has ingrained it into consumer’s minds, therefore making it one of the most popular and recognizable brands.

Third, DeBeers Diamonds, although likely less widely known due to its age as an advertising campaign, was also incredibly successful. They sold diamond jewelry, particularly engagement rings, with the slogan “A Diamond is Forever.” The author claims that “This campaign created the idea that a diamond is the quintessential token of love and started an industry!” And there is definitely some truth to that. The reason this company was so successful is that through slogans and ads, they created the association between diamonds and everlasting love. So then, when someone sees a DeBeers Diamonds advertisement, they will immediately think of eternal love, thus inciting them to buy their products.

In my next blog post I will wrap up my research on this topic.

Which Groups Do Each Form of Advertising Target?

Source: Wikimedia

The economic principle I’m exploring is “People generally respond to incentives in particular ways.” 

My research question to help me study the economic principle is “In what situations do advertisements in different forms of media have the most power?” 

The article published in marketingcareeredu.org titled “Marketing Mediums” demonstrates this economic principle by showing that different media forms, like in-print, radio, and TV have different effects on different populations.

First, we will address the different populations and audiences that are most affected by print advertisements. In-print ads include media like newspapers, magazines, and billboards. As one may expect, this form of advertising is on the decline, most likely as a result of the rise of online networking and technology. “Many groups of consumers including older, more tradition bound consumers continue to receive their daily news in a printed, hard copy format, but there is no doubt that the trend is for printed papers to reach fewer consumers,” The author explains. As more and more people are switching over to technology, some newspapers and magazines have followed suit, and begun to post their content online as well as in print. But nevertheless, print advertisement will continue to reach the older, traditional populations. However, one form of print advertising is not on the decline. “Billboard marketing has not seen the reduction in effectiveness that other print mediums have, primarily due to their limited marketing function of creating marketing impressions on drivers. This form of marketing has been effective for some types of brand awareness and local event promotion, which should continue in spite of the rising popularity of online marketing platforms,” the author says. So in the future, we will likely see a dropoff of all in print material, except perhaps billboards, interestingly enough.

Second, we must address the form of advertising that is arguably the most popular in this day and age: TV. Television advertising is the most popular, but the most tedious form of advertising. The author states that “Television remains the most powerful form of marketing despite the advent of the internet, with most Americans spending more than four hours a day viewing TV programs,” so there's no doubt that TV ads are reaching a good majority of the public. While TV ads stretch across a broad span of Americans, the author explains that “[TV] is one of the most expensive marketing platforms and requires considerable preparation in researching the peak times for reaching the target consumer.” It is difficult, one can imagine, with so many different groups watching TV, to create an ad that reaches all of them. But nevertheless, it maintains its popularity despite the rise of the Internet.

Third, and lastly, we will discuss how radio ads work. The author argues that this form of advertising is the most targeted and the most specialized, although not to one or two specific groups. The beauty of the radio advertising, the author explains, is that each station can target their advertisements to the exact population or group that listens to that station/genre of music. “Because most radio stations are limited to a particular genre of music like pop, classical, urban or country, their listeners often possess similar characteristics. In combination with accurate marketing research, a radio marketing campaign can communicate a promotional message to a target segment with a high degree of success,” they explain. So the stations you listen to cater ads directly to you and others like you. Cool, huh?

In my next blog post I will research the question: What are some of the most famous and successful advertising campaigns, and why were they successful?

How McDonald's Gets Us to Buy that Burger.

Source: YouTube

The economic principle I’m exploring is “People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways.”

My research question to help me study the economic principle is “How does the imagery of an advertisement get us to buy their product?”

The article published in Visme titled “10 Commonly Used Techniques in Visual Advertising” demonstrates this economic principle by arguing/showing 10 different spatial/visual techniques used in advertising, the most impactful (in my opinion) being color, association, and repetition. The article shows that just the right mix of these elements can lead us consumers to buy a product for reasons we don’t even consciously recognize.

Firstly, the article says that color plays a big role in the effectiveness of an ad. The author says that “Advertisements, posters and billboards use color to captivate the audience’s attention. Different colors evoke different feelings in the viewer.” It’s simple psychology that different colors evoke different emotions in the viewer, and companies definitely use this to their advantage. The article used the example of a McDonald's ad, whose classic colors are red and yellow, and as explained by the author, “red and yellow are used for a specific reason. While red emanates excitement (and can even increase your heart rate), yellow communicates happiness and optimism.” So while you may not be aware of it, even the colors of an ad can influence you.

Secondly, repetition can also play a role in the success of a product, or even a brand. “Repetition can build brand familiarity,” the author explains, “but it can also lead to consumer fatigue. Consumers can become so tired of an ad that they tune it out or actively avoid the product.” Repetition can be a powerful tool, but it can also turn us off from buying the product. How much a company uses repetition can make or break whether we buy a product. A good use of repetition would be the Nike logo; we can see the symbol and immediately know that it’s Nike, whereas a bad use of repetition is those companies who email you spam 6 times a day. Nevertheless, both company/product names are likely forever ingrained in your brain.

Third, association is one of the most powerful techniques in advertising because of the emotional power it holds. When you see a group of celebrities on TV, on the beach, smiling and laughing, all while drinking a certain brand of soda, you’re automatically going to think that if we drink the soda we have a good time, right? This, the author explains, is because “Whenever we see an image of people having a good time, we automatically associate their desirable state with the product they're using.” There can be another side to this as well. Controversial ads can put us off from a product, regardless of if we actually like the product or not (i.e. the Pepsi commercial from last year). Association, when done right, can unconsciously drive us to buy the product in an advertisement in search of a good time, wealth, status, or whatever the advertisement is showing.

In my next blog post I will research the question: In what situations is a TV ad more effective than an in-print ad (and vice versa)?

How Companies Use Our Emotions to Win Us Over.

SOURCE: pinterest.com

The economic principle I’m exploring is “People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways”.

My research question to help me study the economic principle is “Do people generally respond better to positive or negative emotions in advertisements?“

The article published in The Journal of Consumer Research titled “Positive and Negative Messages in Advertising” demonstrates this economic principle by arguing/showing that people respond to emotion regardless of the message, and that positive/negative emotions work best in different situations.

First, Robert Heath from the University of Bath found that the message of an ad is far less important than its emotional appeal. In his experiment, he rated the emotional appeal of 23 different TV commercials and asked 200 people to rate the effectiveness of the ad. He found that ads with high emotional content significantly increased their positive attitude towards the product, which ads with little to no emotional content made no difference in swaying the viewers. The implication of these findings, Dr. Heath states, is that ¨advertisements inducing positive emotional reactions appear to be more effective and may also reduce peoples' awareness of being influenced by marketing.¨ Since the message does not appear to matter as much in consumers decisions to buy a product after viewing an advertisement, Dr. Heath claims that, "it's not what you say, but the way that you say it, that gets results."

Secondly, the researchers found that what makes the difference in effectiveness of positive vs. negative emotional advertisements is time. In an experiment conducted by researchers from Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, and the University of Chicago, participants were supposed to consider purchasing a vacation to Europe either last minute or months in advance. They found that the last-minute trip planners were willing to pay $178 more (on average) when presented with a negative ad (Don't get stuck at home! Don't get ripped off! etc.) versus a positive ad (Get the best deal! Get a memorable vacation! etc.). On the other hand, the people planning the trip months in advance were willing to pay $165 more (on average) when presented with the positive ad versus the negative ad.

The conclusions of this research leave us with two ideas: Emotions in advertising are key in getting people to buy product, and negative ads work better when you're in a time constraint, and positive ads work better when you buy ahead of time.

In my next blog post I will research the question: How does the imagery in an advertisement affect its persuasive ability?

How Companies Get You to Buy Their Product.

SOURCE: bandt.com

Research Topic: What psychological tactics are used in advertisements?

Economic Principle I am Addressing: People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways.

Overarching Question: How do company advertisements get us to buy their product?

Subquestions:

• Do people respond better to positive or negative emotions?
• Psy Articles
• How does the imagery of an advertisement effect how well people respond to an ad?
• Visme
• In what situations do TV/in print ads have the most power?
• Chron Small Business

Next: How do people respond to positive and negative emotional grabs in advertisements?