Psychology+Within+the+Field+of+Advertising

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= = = = = = = = =1. Introduction =

Advertising and psychology have always somewhat been interconnected, however in the last decade there has been a resurgence and increase of integrating psychological methods and tactics into advertisement campaigns. This phenomenon has resulted in everyday people being forced to interact with advertisements both in their private and public lives every day. These advertisements have become more and more clever as people are becoming aware of the underlying tactics being used by advertisers. Because of this, advertising campaigns have started integrating psychological techniques much more in recent years. As a result, there has been an increased interest into consumer behavior, causing several effects and ethical issues regarding psychology to start being discussed. =2. Origins =

Despite the significant amount of advancements and improvements that have taken place over the last decade, psychology and advertising have always somewhat been intertwined. With that being said, the techniques used to connect them were much simpler than the ones used today. Psychological experiments involving advertisements first began around the turn of the 20th century. Professor Harlow Gale conducted [|experiments] regarding print advertisements at the University of Minnesota. These experiments focused on the attention span of people when faced with a variety of advertisements from newspapers, magazines, and various other forms of print advertisements. One of the more well-known examples from Gale is an experiment he conducted involving levels of attention and creativity used in advertisements by the Kodak company.  Harlow Gale’s tests marks the first time that a professor of psychology recognized the effects that advertisements can have on the human mind. This laid the groundwork for the next several generations of psychologists to be aware of and focus on the specific methods of psychology integrated into advertisements. However, advertisers also became more aware of the possibility to include psychological tactics in their campaigns, so they too saw an opportunity for progression within their own field.  =3. Methods =

Taking into account that the primary target of an average advertisement is someone who is just an ordinary, every day member of the public. Certainly, there are advertisements that target specific demographics and niche markets, but on the simplest of levels, an advertisement is directed towards and average member of society. So, in order to create a successful advertisement, the advertiser must be aware of how a lay person perceives advertisements and the psychology of persuasion. A study by the Journal of Consumer Research found that consumer researchers and the average consumer hold similar beliefs about the psychology of persuasion, but consumer researchers possess more knowledge regarding persuasion. Given this information, one can infer that consumer researchers have an advantage using persuasion because they are able to integrate persuasion tactics that the average consumer may not possess knowledge about. What this has the potential to lead to is a consumer being subconsciously persuaded into performing an action or even purchasing a product because they are not able to recognize the persuasion tactics that are influencing them. This has caused several strategies and methods to be used my marketers and advertisers that the average consumer is not aware of on the surface.

3a. Reptilian Brain
The reptilian brain is the theory that 95% of human brain activity – our decisions, actions, and behaviors – are programmed within the subconscious mind. Being aware of this, marketers recognize the need to access this “reptilian brain” to successfully appeal to consumers. So, the average consumer is unaware of this huge portion of their brain – practically its entirety – that is influencing decision making practices, without the person even being aware of what is occurring within their inner psyche. 

3b. Left to Right Theory
Accessing the Reptilian brain can be accomplished in something as simple as a print advertisement. A very likely psychological tactic that can be integrated into a print advertisement is what is know as the left to right theory. This is the theory that due to the fact that people in western cultures read from the left to the right side of a page, advertisements should aim to place what is intended to grab consumer attention on the right side of the page. So, things like graphics, photos, and faces, should be placed on the left side of a print ad; where as taglines, slogans, bullet points, and long text strings should be placed on the right side of the print advertisement. According to this theory, this will cause the person viewing their attention to shift their focus towards the message that the advertisement is attempting to get across, which will lead to more conversions and purchases from viewers of the advertisement to actual consumers of the product/service.

3c. Recognizing Faces
<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Another fairly frequent method of integrating psychology into advertisements is being aware of the brain’s tendency to recognize faces, and the potential consequences of that recognition when a face is included in an advertisement. For example, a face within an advertisement that is not directing its gaze towards text, or towards the intended message of the advertisement, will have negative consequences regarding the overall success of the advertisement. The face serves as a distraction to the consumer viewing the advertising, because it draws their attention away from what the advertisement is aiming to accomplish. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">On the contrary, if the face in the advertisement appears to be gazing at the text of the advertisement, or the call to action within the text, then the viewer’s attention is directed toward the intended message of the advertisement, resulting in an overall more successful print advertisement. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The results of this can be seen using the two advertisements below, and tracking eye-movement and attention of people viewing each ad, respectively.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">3d. Color and Color Schemes
<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Marketers are heavily aware of the effects that the color schemes used within advertisements. Certain colors and color schemes can provoke specific reactions and emotions within the human brains. In fact, the color red chemically reshapes the brain in a way that boosts testosterone and can evoke emotions of aggression and arousal. This is why stop signs, fire hydrants and other important traffic signs are marked red because it draws people’s attention rather quickly compared to other colors. Marketers take this information and implement certain color schemes depending on the image or message they are trying to convey within an advertisement or brand strategy. For example, a company or brand that is trying to portray themselves as balanced, calm, or business-like may use neutral colors such as white, black, or grey. These colors interact with the brain causing a person to feel neutral, calm, and other similar emotions. On the contrary, a company attempting to evoke excitement, youthfulness, activity, or energy, may use more bold colors such as shades of orange, red, and/or yellow. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">These three methods are just a sample of the vast amount of tactics and techniques used by advertisers to appeal to the subconscious reactions occurring within consumer’s psyches. The number of techniques continue to evolve and grow, so it is important for consumers to be aware of at least the general idea of the reptilian brain theory and the notion that advertisers are attempting to appeal to this subconscious part of the mind. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The image below shows a plethora of companies’ logos, and the emotions that are associated with their chosen color schemes. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> = =

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">4. Ethical Concerns =

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">With the development of these advertising techniques, a number of ethical concerns/issues have been brought up regarding marketers subconsciously selling to people’s emotions and natural reactions. Two major concerns regarding heavily integrating psychological techniques into advertisements are privacy and unethical persuasion techniques. Some groups of psychologists and consumer researchers argue that subconsciously tapping into a person’s natural psychological reaction processes and emotional responses to stimuli is an invasion of privacy and should not be practiced. Others warn that with the advancement of technology, there soon will come a day where persuasion techniques will become so advanced that people will begin purchasing things that they did not originally intend to, and marketers will be able to sell their products and services without needing the consent of a transaction from consumers. Although this likely would not happen for a considerable amount of time, it cannot be ruled out due to the rapid advancement of technology within our society. Because this is a relatively new advancement, there are no major regulations or policies restricting companies from using invasive, and perhaps unethical tactics, when using psychological methods to advertise towards consumers. It is crucial that there is a discussion regarding these ethical concerns, or else there remains the possibility of these tactics perpetuating down a slippery slope, which will negatively impact consumers. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">5. Conclusion =

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Because advertisers are continuously striving to create new methods of integrating psychological tactics into advertising campaigns, it is somewhat difficult to gauge just how much is known about this field. With that being said, there is a general awareness of the broader categories of these methods, as shown above, which gives people enough of an understanding to allow them to be aware of psychological methods within advertisements. The history of psychology being used in advertising is practically common knowledge, as people know that advertisements are meant to achieve some sort of persuasion, but the more nuanced psychological techniques are far less known to the general public. There still is a need to further investigate the effects that these advertisements have on consumer behavior as well as the personal psychology of consumers. There have been no studies showing the long-term effects of interacting with these smart, sophisticated advertisements on a daily basis on multiple platforms and mediums. =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">References =

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