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Welcome to
Psychological Perspectives on Advertising. Get ready! We'll be reading, thinking, and
talking about perspectives, theories, and studies on the psychology of
advertising. In addition, we'll be viewing and analyzing a good
number of print advertisements, radio and television commercials, and
videos about advertising.
Readings
and Tests. There is no assigned textbook. Instead, I have provided a
reading
list that is divided into three units, with approximately 10 readings per
unit. These readings are available through the Milne Library's Electronic
Reserve System (ERS; password: advertising). You are expected to read and study all of
these articles, and to be prepared to talk about them in class.
Plan to read approximately 3 articles for each two classes. There will
be an objective test at the end of each unit on the articles contained in
that unit (as well as all lecture and class discussion material developed
during that unit). There will be no make-up tests. Instead, there
will be an optional final examination divided into three sections,
mirroring the three tests given during the semester. You may choose
to take ONE (and only one) of these three tests. The grade on the
optional final will be the grade that is counted, whether it is
higher or lower than the original test grade. Thus, students
should only take the optional final if they have read and studied the
relevant articles.
Outside
Projects. There are six choices.
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Read and then write a summary and critical review
of a book that strongly relates to advertising psychology. Some good books
dealing with the psychology of advertising are available at the Milne
Library. Books not available in our library can be secured through
the interlibrary loan system, usually within a few days. You
need to show me the book before you begin the project.
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Write a chapter for a hypothetical book entitled 50 Ways That
Advertising Works. Your chapter explores one of those
ways, in depth. This should be a scholarly chapter that references
research literature; it should also be interesting and engaging to the
reader, with multiple advertising examples and illustrations.
Click
here for a list of some of the "ways" that you may explore. This list in no way exhausts the possibilities,
but note: you need permission to depart from it.
Do a traditional research paper in
an area of contemporary concern for psychologists interested in
advertising. These include advertising to children, sexism and
racism in advertising, advertising and health, political advertising, "stealth"
advertising, and internet advertising. I have chosen 98 "propositions"
concerning how advertising works, from several hundred explicated by
psychologist Stuart Henderson Britt in 1978 (Britt, S. H. [1978].
Psychological Principles of Marketing and Consumer Behavior.
Lexington, MA: Lexington Books).
(Hyperlink
to Britt Propositions) The propositions are organized according
to the categories proposed in Chapter 6 of that book (Reading A-2 on
your Reading List), namely: ATTENDING, PERCEIVING, LEARNING &
REMEMBERING, MOTIVATING, AND PERSUADING. Using Britt's text as
your primary reference, choose 15 diverse propositions (with at least
two
coming from each category). Your task is to write a paper in which
you explain and elaborate on the meaning and significance of each
proposition, giving illustrations from contemporary advertising (wherever
possible), and showing how the propositions fit into the model of
advertising communications presented by Britt in Chapter 6 of his
book.
Especially valued are references to Britt's discussion of the propositions
that immediately follow the listing of each in his book. -
Create an advertisement or commercial
that executes an explicit strategy. This should be accompanied by a
paper that explicates principles of advertising psychology developed in
class that are relevant to the advertisement or commercial you have
created, and shows exactly how and why. Those so inclined (and
time permitting) may do a short class presentation, as well.
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Find three important
advertising psychology articles and make a case for why each should be
added to the reading list for this course, or substituted for an article
already on that list. This case will be made in a paper that
includes a thorough summary and review of each article, along with
commentary and integration with other material from the course.
Several web-pages --
Art and Persuasion, Learning
and Behavioral Principles in Advertising, &
Psychology of Media Resources
-- are particularly good sources of quality scholarly
articles. The latter also lists the major journals that carry articles related to the psychology of advertising.
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Advertising exploits the way the human mind bends reality in
the service of avoiding information overload psychic turmoil -- our
cognitive biases. A terrific
Wikipedia article outlines these biases, and would provide a
terrific foundation for a project. In your paper, you would
choose 15 of these biases, describe them, and then show how
advertising exploits them, using illustrations from print,
television, and/or internet advertising.
Attendance. You are expected to come to every
class, having read and studied assigned material. Pro-social
behavior and active participation in class activities and discussion are
assumed (please deactivate all cell phones, pagers, MP3 players, PDAs,
Blackberries, Geiger counters, Tricorders, and Phasers prior to entering
class). Table 3 (below) describes the system I use to consequence
attendance. |
