Do You Know When You Are Being Sold To?
Britney Spears has recently caused controversy with suggestions
that the ad campaign for her new fragrance range uses subliminal
or hidden messages in its efforts to convince potential buyers.
Advertisers have long been aware of the power of appealing to
our subsoncious minds, so what methods exactly do they employ,
and how widespread is the practise?
Broadly speaking, there are three methods in common use -
Product Endorsement, Product Placement, and Hidden (Subliminal)
Imagery.
Why do advertisers use these methods?
As consumers, we tend to make buying decisions based on emotion
rather than logic. When see a product, we make up our minds very
quickly about whether we want it or not, based purely on the way
the product is presented to us. Any accompanying sales pitch is
merely there to help us justify the purchase to our more logical
selves. Advertisers know this of course, so they spend huge
amounts of time and money marketing their products in ways that
appeal to our emotions and subconscious mind.
So how do the three methods work?
Taking each in turn:
Product Endorsement
This is possibly the most up-front and honest method. Quite
simply, a product is endorsed by a well known figure