VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:

WHY YOU BUY - HOW ADS PERSUADE

SIX WAYS ADS PERSUADE

1. TECHNIQUES OF INVOLVEMENT

Openings - the first five seconds of TV commercials often contain an involvement "hook". Common techniques include fast editing to catch the eye, strong colors or visual images, sexy images, and high impact audio or music.

Direct mail advertising relies on involvement techniques. Examples include cut outs, stickers and stamps and sweepstakes.  Tactics designed to encourage reading the message include "teaser windows" that appear to cover a check made out to you, plain brown envelopes that appear to be an official government communication, notification of prizes you have won and need only call to claim

envelopes with no return address, and envelopes that appear to be business communication rather than a sales effort.

A verbal sales pitch will often try to put you in the "yes saying mode" with a series of questions designed to coax a string of "yes responses" A common telephone opening question  is, "can you hear me all right?"

2.  EMOTIONAL NEEDS

Advertisers often present their product as a means to satisfy basic emotional needs. Ads show that using product can make you feel part of a community, loved, successful, admired, confident, unique and different, or a member of the "in" group.  Ads can sell variety, excitement, or adventure.

3.  BUZZ WORDS

Certain words are used often in print advertising because they stop the eye.  Popular "buzz words" include new, free, save, real, homemade, sale, easy, taste, hurry, simply, improved, more, best, and better.  Another "buzzword" of sort is the exclamation point. It sells!!!

4.  ASSOCIATION

             Advertisers hire celebrities and/or famous athletes in the hopes that their fame will "rub" off on the product. It is similar to the strategy called "basking in reflected glory" where people will often try to associate themselves with the most popular person in school, the best golfer in town, the lead singer in a rock group, in order to enhance heir own person self-esteem.  Advertisers show product in luxurious settings, being used by beautiful people, by successful people, or by powerful people.  The purpose is to associate the product with the desired traits. It is a dominant identity management strategy in the which the message designer tries to link product identity with the identity of the person advocating use of the product.

             Logically, we know that fame, success, wealth and achievement are not magical qualities. Most of us would agree that they are earned by hard work and perhaps some luck.  But in practice, we believe that if we are close to the famous, if we use the things they use, if we can touch or get close to wealth some of its "aura" rubs off on us.  So advertisers go to great lengths to associate their product with fame, success, wealth, or other desirable traits.

5.  POSITIONING AND MARKET SEGMENTATION

     Advertisers position a product for certain segments of the population. for example, let's say research shows that some people use toothpaste mainly to prevent tooth decay while others use it mainly to keep teeth looking white.  Instead of making one brand to try to satisfy everyone, some companies will make two and position one for those who fear tooth decay and the other for those more interested in a beautiful smile.

General Motors is a basic example of market positioning with its Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Pontiac brands each appealing to different tastes and market segments.

A research tool used by some advertisers is "Values and Lifestyle Segmentation" (VALS) that identifies segments such as achievers, belongers, and emulators.

6.  FEAR

    Fear can be a powerful persuasive force and is often used for personal care products or public service ads.  Some advertisers appeal to the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of bad breath, underarm odor, or dozens of other real or imagined social disgraces.

Although the research on fear appeals in persuasion are not definitive, research does suggest that fear can be an effective basic of persuasion, however, if one induces so much fear in a message that anxiety is induced, than persuasive effectiveness tends to diminish.