How to play with people's minds
It does not take a psychologist to make a memorable television advert. But the combined research since Vance Packard's 1957 book, The Hidden Persuaders, has failed to establish exactly how to change viewers' minds or behaviour. Ironically, known psychological persuasion techniques - as distinct from 'trophy' advertising - tend to be the preserve of smaller brands and enterprising educators.
Why? Because brands with the biggest market share have a vested interest in keeping the commercial status quo, according to Tig Tillinghast, author of The Tactical Guide to Online Marketing. So they tend to carpet bomb for household-name status or have fun making mini-movies that are clever, funny, artful, sexy or shocking - and which earn the company the reflected honour of their agency's 'Clio', the Academy Award of the advertising industry. 'It often comes down to a creative person saying, 'I like this' or, 'I like that', without much reliance on research,' says the American Psychological Association's Monitor on Psychology.
This is how we end up with the mind-numbingly familiar washing powder commercial and the preaching-to-the-converted ad like the one in which a famous model strips as she hurries to her car, finally tossing out her panties as she drives away. Most people who saw the ad remembered it, but mainly established aficionados recalled the brand of the car.
Naturally, sports equipment is advertised during football games. But more subtle matching goes on. Value-based pitches work best spliced into shows that engage ethical concerns; logical ads are more convincing to audiences whose minds have been 'primed' by cognitive programming like debates or analysis. All things being equal, emotional appeals trump logical ones. An ad showing an American Indian with a tear rolling down his cheek beat cognitive appeals to recycle in the US, according to American researcher Curtis Haugtvedt. The peer pressure appeal that 'everyone else is doing it' came second.
The 'tension, then tension-release' ad is another standard. It deliberately arouses, then addresses, fear, emotion or belief. You can get Aids and die, but using condoms will protect you. You are rich while children starve, but through this charity, you can help.
Another technique is to make viewers feel good then zap them with a verbal and/or visual message. A more recent car advert combined this approach with a tension then tension-release narrative. Two men are driving towards a gorgeous girl in hot pants standing on a deserted road with her car bonnet up. They cannot believe their luck. But, at the last minute, the driver accelerates past. The passenger looks at his friend, incredulous. 'It was a trap,' says the driver. 'Have you ever seen a ---- break down?' Cut to the girl peeling off a mask to reveal a toothless thug. The message: men rightly have more confidence in this car than in their own lustful eyes.
However, sex - and violence - can alienate as many viewers as they attract. Consumer markets are hard to separate into tidy categories. But psychologists agree that children aged under eight are too gullible to be left unprotected. An American Psychological Association taskforce concluded that violent ads for films and video games, for instance, desensitise children to real-world aggression - including their own. At the other end, the elderly are particularly persuaded by messages that promise to satisfy emotional goals. Younger adults are, naturally, more focused on the future. Some ads appeal to virtually everyone - what would we do without them for Christmas gift ideas?
Jean Nicol is a psychologist specialising in issues of cultural identity and change in an era of globalisation