SUNY-Oneonta Department of Psychology PSYC 267 Course Outline, Spring 2008
Some Topics for Chapter for "50 Ways that Advertising Works"
1. MERE EXPOSURE: In its simplest form, this idea is: The more you see it the more you like it. There is a great deal of research exploring how mere exposure works, and what the limits of the phenomenon are. There may be some highly relevant literature in the journals devoted specifically to advertising and marketing.
2. SEMANTIC GENERALIZATION IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: You all remember the concept of STIMULUS GENERALIZATION in Classical Conditioning: The closer a stimulus is on some PHYSICAL dimension to a Conditioned Stimulus, the greater will be the Conditioned Response. For example, the closer a melody is to the melody of "your song," the more that melody will make you feel the way "your song" makes you feel. What about stimuli that resemble conditioned stimuli SEMANTICALLY, rather than PHYSICALLY? Will a synonym cause you to feel feelings that the original causes? There is classic research on this question. A little thought reveals intriguing implications for advertising.
3. ZEIGARNIK EFFECT: Tasks that you have not completed are remembered better than tasks you have completed. Classic research shows this in ingenious ways. You would need to explore the phenomenon deeper, and relate it to advertising.
4. MISATTRIBUTION AND EXCITATION TRANSFER: Often, the true cause our experience and behavior is unknown to us. When we try to explain why we are thinking, feeling, or doing "XI' now, we come up with an incorrect explanation--we MISattribute our experience to the wrong cause. Theories and research on this issue are rich and fascinating. Advertisers may want to ENCOURAGE misattribution. When? How? Why?
5. CENTRAL VS. PERIPHERAL ROUTES TO PERSUASION: What's more important: what the "druggist" in a laxative ad says about the laxative, or how much he resembles your "prototype" of the friendly small town druggist). R. Petty & J. Cacioppo have done years of research, establishing this distinction as a key to understanding advertising. You'll need to learn more about their research, and conjure up some interesting advertising examples.
6. IDENTIFICATION AND OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING: We learn a great deal about the consequences of acting and being like others, by observing what happens to those others (observational learning). More mysteriously, we develop special affinities to particular others (identification), who thereby gain the power to affect and persuade us. The theorizing and research in this area are fascinating, and the implications for advertising are legion. You've already read about identification in Unit I, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
7. PSYCHODYNAMIC AND BEHAVIORAL "CONTAGION": This may be a special case of #6 above. A group of boys are walking near the same abandoned factory they pass every day. But today, one boy throws a rock at a window. Suddenly, the rest explode in an orgy of rock throwing. Or a group a SUCO students are milling around downtown when one starts beating up another; the rest explode in an orgy of violence. Why? Fritz Redl and Ladd Wheeler wrote about this phenomenon (you'll be reading some Redl soon). Wouldn't advertisers like some of that contagion action?
8. SIMULATION OF PERSONAL INFLUENCE: A friend urges you to try a product, and you do; an advertiser urges you to try a product and you don't. If only the advertiser could (appear to) be your friend.... You've already read DeFleur, and there is a great deal of social influence literature about how friends influence each other. Do (and how do) advertisers try to simulate these personal influences?
9. MIMICKING OF "FLOW": A Zen paradox: You can't have and know an experience at the same time; stepping back to appreciate, analyze, or judge an experience, destroys it. The experience of total involvement in something (flow) is strongly prized but difficult for most of us to achieve. Advertisers may be in the business of implying that flow can be achieved through consumption. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced "Chick-sent-mehigh") has written brilliantly about this phenomenon, and advertising examples abound.
10. MULTIPLE LEVELS OF PERSPECTIVE: I wrote an article about this several years ago, based on the ideas of R. D. Laing. Advertisers have ideas about consumers and consumers have ideas about advertisers. Advertisers have ideas about consumers' ideas about advertisers, and consumers have ideas about advertisers' ideas about consumers. Advertisers have ideas about consumers' ideas about advertisers' ideas about consumers..... And so on. Who comes out ahead may depend upon who is able to entertain and maintain "higher" levels of perspective about themselves, and the other.
11. HEROISM AND THE DENIAL OF DEATH: What do people REALLY fear and REALLY want? Some theorists suggest that the fear of death--repressed and denied--pervades our psyches, and fuels the desire for heroic transcendence. Ernest Becker deals with this issue in his book, Denial of Death. Later, a number of theorists have applied these ideas to TMT (Terror Management Theory). Of course, the key question for us is "What does all this have to do with advertising?
12. SOCIAL INFLUENCE PERSPECTIVES: The Social Psychology of Persuasion, now called Social Influence, and spurred a tremendous amount of fine research and writing, including nifty books by Cialdini, Perloff and Zimbardo. Any of 50 ideas might be relevant to advertising.
13. PROVIDING MEANING: Existentialism tells us that there is no intrinsic meaning or purpose to human life. But one of the "Prime Directives" that we will discuss in class tells us that finding (or creating) meaning in our lives is a built-in need (that gets stronger as we get older). Further exploration of philosophical and humanistic perspectives would deepen our understanding of this (possible) human imperative. Can (and do) advertisers exploit this need?
14. ADVERTISING AS MODERN MYTHOLOGY: This is related to #13 (above). Anthropologists have shown us that all cultures provide their people with myths that establish what it is important to do, and why. Leymore suggests that in contemporary western culture advertising fulfills this role (for a profit). Does it? How does it?
15. SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL: This is one of several models of persuasion expounded by DeFleur in an influential book, and is related in some ways to #s 6, 7, & 8 above. All of us have a Social as well as a Personal Identity. The power of social identity is evident whenever three people get together and raise a flag! Advertisers are interested in both of your identities! How do they study and exploit them?
16. BRAND LOYALTY AS COMMITMENT: Advertisers want to keep current users loyal to their brand, and to attract new users-which often means breaking their loyalty to a competing brand. In a brilliant book, Philip Brickman explored the dynamics of commitments, large (e.g., marriage) and small. Is brand loyalty an example of a small commitment? How can it be maintained?
17. BELIEF-VALUE DISTINCTION: The CREDIBILITY of a communicator strongly affects his/her persuasiveness. Research has established two dimensions of credibility: expertise and trustworthiness. What does research tell us about the relative importance of both. How do advertisers portray and exploit these two sources of credibility? And if a communicator can't have both, which should he/she have? When? Why?
18. IMPULSIVE (Primary) VS. REALISTIC (Secondary) THINKING: We will discuss in class Fromm's use of Freud's distinction between primary and secondary process thinking. And you will be reading an article by Hilgard on this issue. Delving deeper into these constructs can yield great rewards, and enable a penetrating analysis of the content of much advertising.
19. DIVIDED CONSCIOUSNESS: Divided Consciousness can mean many things. It is the name of a terrific book by Hilgard, that explores hypnosis. Is there a part of the brain/mind that "observes" another part being hypnotized? (The daring may wish to relate this to #10 above.) Divided Consciousness can also refer to the "right brain-left brain" dichotomy that is widely invoked (usually improperly) in teaching and talk shows. Do advertisers understand and use their knowledge of these senses of divided consciousness? How? When?
20. ALIENATED SELF: Is advertising especially effective with people who are unusually vulnerable to social influence (e.g., people with low self-esteem)? One vulnerable group might be people with weak self-concepts. In a powerhouse article that you will be reading, Schachtel describes such people. Does (and if so, how does) advertising exploit people's vulnerabilities?
21. SYMBOLIC EQUATION AND TRANSLOGIC: When I first started teaching this course (in 1976), I came up with the idea of advertising promoting DEDIFFERENTIATION through the SYMBOLIC EQUATION. Later, I learned that theorists who applied the field of SEMEIOTICS to advertising were doing the same thing. And could all of this be related to totemism and sympathetic magic (see #7)? A topic for those with a philosophic bent!
22. ATTRIBUTION VS. PERSUASION TACTICS: The child psychologist, Chiam Ginott, once quipped that you should treat children as if they already are how you want them to be. This might be termed an attribution tactic. Miller, Brickman & Bolen studied this tactic, and advertisers seem to be using it. This idea is related to a number of other topics, including 7, 12, & 15.
23. EQUITY VS. INSUFFICIENT JUSTIFICATION: Equity theory predicts that you will follow the "win-stay-lose-shift" strategy, i.e., if what you are doing isn't working, you'll try something different. Dissonance theory (insufficient justification) predicts that you will follow the "win-stay-lose-stay" strategy, i.e., if what you are doing isn't working, then you'll do it more, harder, better, or redefine what "working" means. Which way would advertisers like you to respond? How can (and do) they try to get you there?
24. NONVERBAL EXPRESSIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS: Much of what you come to know and feel about people is due to their nonverbal expressions and communications. There is a wealth of theory and research on this--both in and cut of the advertising world. When 200 models are auditioned for a. bit part in a commercial, there must be something about nonverbal behavior that advertisers think important!
25. LOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FALLACIES: Logicians have established the laws of logical reasoning, and psychologists have discovered our propensity for reasoning fallaciously. What are these tendencies toward fallacious thinking (remember Prime Directives #2 and #3?), and how, do advertisers exploit them?
26. SYMBOLISM AND METAPHOR: In the 1950s and 60s some advertisers were very impressed with Ernest Dichter, who proposed that "Freudian" symbols, inserted into advertising, could have a powerful effect on consumers. This theme was taken up in the 70s and 80s by Wilson Bryan Key. Responsible theorists and researchers are more cautious, but continue to believe that symbolism is a strong force in advertising. Is it? Show us!
27. LANGUAGE MANIPULATION AND CLAIMS: Advertising has developed a language of its own, employing words and phrases that may cause listeners to believe X, without advertisers (having to take responsibility for) actually claiming X. Writers like Harris, Postman and Wrighter (alias Stevens)--some of whose works appear on your reading list--have explicated these techniques. Can you find them in contemporary advertising?
28. SERIAL POSITION EFFECT: Researchers in the area of learning showed long ago that material appearing in the middle of a series is learned and remembered less well than material at the beginning and at the end. This fact clearly has implications for advertising. Herbert Krugman found a different, and very clever use of the Serial Position Effect for testing the effectiveness of advertising. You can explore both.
29. PSYCHOGRAPHICS AND TARGETING: Two decades ago, a target audience was determined on the basis of demographic variables, such as age, income, or race. Today, advertisers have much more sophisticated tools for targeting available to them --psychographic analyses of consumer values and lifestyles, centered around particular product classes. How widely are these tools used, and how successful are they at predicting which consumers will respond positively to which advertising messages?
30. MISATTRIBUTION AND MISPARTIONING OF VARIANCE: Topic #4 deals with misattribution from one perspective; here it is dealt with from another. Statisticians speak of "partitioning of variance" as a way to determine what potential causes actually are acting on a particular effect (e.g., if you studied hard for an easy test and did well, how much of your good grade is due to the unusual easiness of the test vs. the extra hours of study you put in). Advertisers have a stake in inducing you to "partition" your explanations for your happiness (or depression) in some ways, and not others. Can you "deconstruct" advertisements and commercials from this perspective?
31. SOCIAL POWER: How do some people (or institutions) gain the power to cause other people to comply with suggestions and obey orders? One classic analysis asserts that there are six basic sources of social power. A fascinating analysis of contemporary advertising can employ these sources.
32. TECHNIQUES IN INSTITUTIONAL ADVERTISING: In the early 1950s, Pearlin & Rosenberg wrote a classic article in which they analyzed persuasive techniques used in image advertising of large corporations (this article appears on your reading list). Fifty years later, corporations continue to mount advertising campaigns designed to nurture particular attitudes about their activities. Applying the techniques described in their article to modern image advertising might be an eye opener.
33. DYER & LEISS: In previous years I have assigned one of two texts, instead of the series of articles that currently are reading. These texts contain chapters on the history of advertising, social criticism and defense of advertising, language, rhetoric, symbolism, meaning, structure, and other fascinating topics. Most of the chapters can stand on their own, and point you toward contemporary advertising examples. Here are the texts:
Dyer, G. (1982). Advertising as communication. New York: Methuen.
Leiss,, W., Kline, S., & Jbally, S. (1986). Social communication in advertising: Persons. products,
and images of well-being. New York: Methuen.
34. EPISODIC AND PROCEDURAL MEMORY: It Appears that memories of our personal history (episodic) and memories of how to do things (procedural) operate and are stored differently. Would an experience containing elements of both systems be easier to remember and harder to forget? Can advertisers use this idea? How? Show us!
35. SELF MONITORING: People differ considerably in the degree to which they are conscious of the impressions they make on other people--how publicly self-conscious they are. These differences have implications for how persuasible people are, and the kinds of appeals that might work best. Researchers like Wicklund and Snyder have looked deeply into this issue. so can you.
36. SEX, GENDER, AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE: Is there a fundamental or intrinsic difference between men and women (and in "masculine" vs. "feminine" people) in how influential, and how easily influenced they are? Alice Eagly explored this issue in a 1983 American Psychologist article; much work preceded and followed it. The implications for advertising are significant.
37. NEED FOR COGNITION: People differ greatly in their need for cognition--how much they like to think! What does the research say about this, and how might advertisers exploit these differences?
38. SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION: in 1957 James Vicary purported to show that the subliminal message "eat popcorn" shown during a movie increased the sale of popcorn. What does contemporary theory and research reveal about the potential of subliminal messages to affect behavior? And do advertisers use this technique?
39. ETHICAL ISSUES IN ADVERTISING: Since its inception, people have objected to advertising on moral and ethical grounds, especially when advertising is directed at children or vulnerable groups. What are these objections? How do advertisers answer these objections? Langhan, Leiss (see Topic 33), and many others have explored these issues. So can you.
40. POLITICAL ADVERTISING: Is political advertising just like other advertising, or are there special considerations and techniques? This is an election year and if you're quick, you can videotape a bunch of political commercials for analysis.
41. ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN: In some countries, advertising to children is banned. Not here. There are a plethora of perspectives on this issue, including content analyses for sexism (and we can add racism and classism), ethical issues, and special techniques. And, of course, advertising examples abound.
42. RACISM, SEXISM AND CLASSISM ADVERTISING: Since the 1950s, social critics have attacked advertising as a regressive influence that reinforces the values of the dominant cultural groups, and solidifies their position of power. A great deal of empirical research has explored sexism in advertising; racism has received less attention, and classism virtually none. Mow it's your turn to explore these issues, and offer contemporary advertising examples.
43. BEAUTY AS HYPERAVERAGE: Sophisticated research during the past decade has established that a single face produced by amalgamating of a set of individual faces, if viewed as more attractive than any of the individual faces! Hmmmmm.