What makes advertising work?

So, what is it that makes customers respond to advertising?

Four primary things, actually:

1. Perception
2. Vision and hearing
3. Learning
4. Remembering

Advertising psychology is now a 'practical' science in addition to being a 'pure' science. Data is collected from two main sources; field work and statistics.

We can now examine the main headings under which we'll call 'science'.

Perception

Perception, primarily, is a function of the senses - we see, hear, smell and feel that which can be communicated to the brain by sense organs and the nervous system. But, in reality, perception is more than sensual reception, because it is inextricably linked to what we have learned and remembered.

How often do you mis-read a word simply because you have been conditioned to expect certain letters to be used - or you don't notice spelling mistakes. For example;

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae."

It's the same thing with shapes. Some things are easier for our minds to assimilate than others.

Here's another experiment you can try with your friends. Show them this diagram for one second only, and ask them how many dots they saw:

Dots1

Now show them this diagram, also for one second, and ask how many dots there were:

Dots2

What these experiments show is how our minds either scramble or unscramble messages. In other words, how we perceive a message.

This has been studied extensively by the Gestalt psychologists ('gestalt' is German for 'shape' or 'form'), who conclude that patterns or shapes are most readily perceived - thereby making the first impression - which, in advertising terms, means the presentation of the layout could be as important as the words - maybe even more important.

Vision and hearing

The human eye 'photographs' everything it sees and, through a series of filters and processes, 'develops' the picture in the brain. The retina, for example, perceives colours and tones by two types of neurons known as 'rods' and 'cones'. The 'rods' pick up the shades of grey, lightness and darkness, whilst the 'cones' are colour sensitive.

The human eye also perceives dimensions - and, by associated learning and remembering, can 'see' these dimensions without them even being there.

The human ear is sensitive to vibrations which are created in the 'drum' as a result of sound 'waves'. The finite mechanisms behind the drum then collect these vibrations and, having detected and recognised them pass on a nerve current to the brain which receives it as 'sound'.

Like most things, sound is appreciated (or not) at various levels of decibels. When you create advertising using sound, you have to always be careful not to offend your potential customer by being too loud (or too soft). Like Goldilocks, you have to get the heat of the porridge just right.

Learning

Human behaviour is mainly learned behaviour and there are, basically, two types of learning - habit/motor and true/ideational.

Whilst the physiological basis of the principle of association is not fully understood, we do know that, for example, the opening bars of a well-advertised jingle will prompt recall of the entire message and that a fleeting glance of an advertising message will prompt the recall of the product name - even without the name actually being there.

© Vitaly Titov – 123RF.com

Learning is also a form of conditioning - which Pavlov did with his dribbling dog. From this type of discovery, advertising psychologists deduce that, given the habit or true learning process, together with repetition of an advertising message, we will develop conditioned stimulus. For example; see a TV commercial for Coke and suddenly feel thirsty.

Remembering

It is, generally speaking, emotional factors that determine remembering rather than intellectual factors. Furthermore, and very interestingly, remembering is a by-product of the selective process of forgetting (at which I personally am particularly accomplished).

And, of course, following "Remembering" you get into areas like Motive and Action, then Purchase and Evaluation which lead to no re-purchase or (first prize) re-purchase.

Thus we can conclude that consumer motivation is a result (in part) of a series of perception, vision/hearing, learning and remembering.

Finally, it should always be remembered that academics and researchers use different words to say the same thing. So instead of "remembering" they'll speak of "recall" and so on. But the words I've covered here are the nuts and bolts mechanics of the advertising process.

az.oc.srewerb@sirhc

Read my blog (brewersdroop.co.za) or see what other amazing things we do at brewers.co.za

*Note that Bizcommunity staff and management do not necessarily share the views of its contributors - the opinions and statements expressed herein are solely those of the author.*