How Marketers Use Advertising To Manipulate You Pschologically

Why do so many people believe that having more and more stuff - more money, more cars, more televisions, more technology, more clothes, more shoes, more accolades, are going to make them happier?

Marketing and advertising, that's why!

Marketers and advertisers LIE to the public to get them to believe that owning their products will make them happier and more successful.  

Most companies must satisfy their shareholders, and what do shareholders want? They want a higher stock price. And what causes stock prices to rise? Higher revenues and profits (read more sales).

That being the case, here are two of the main methods marketers use to manipulate you emotionally and psychologically and get you to buy their products. 

Why Does McDonald's Still Advertise?

It's a great question to ask because McDonald's is a globally recognized brand and shouldn't need to advertise at all. 

Fact: McDonald's doesn't advertise to inform consumers about the features and benefits of their products. Instead, they advertise to build an opinion and corresponding brand image in your mind. 

Marketers use two main psychological methods in advertising. 

1. Mere Exposure Method. 

2. Classic Conditioning Method.

The next time you go to the supermarket, take note of how products are displayed, and where they are displayed. This is an example of using the "mere exposure" method. 

Proctor & Gamble, the maker of Tide Laundry Detergent, know that by exposing you, over and over again, to their brand, you're going to start feeling like you know it, and then you'll start to trust the brand. 

Exposure = Recognition = Trust = $$$$$$$$.

You'll purchase Tide over the no-name brand, even though Tide is more expensive and may not do any better of a job cleaning your clothes.  

The method works. The fact that Tide is such a well-known brand is proof of the effectiveness of the "mere exposure" method. 

Then there is the "classic conditioning" method, which has its roots in the research done by Ivan Pavlov, who noticed that his dogs would salivate at the mere expectation of receiving food. He had trained his dogs to expect to get food at the sound of a bell. Just hearing the bell ring caused them to salivate. 

Marketers use the same technique in their advertising. Watch the ad below to see how Thai Life Insurance uses the theme of "be good" to move people emotionally and psychologically without telling them anything about their products and services. 

The story told in the ad has nothing to do with Thai Life Insurance's products and services. But the marketers know that by creating a correlation between "be good" and their product in the minds of consumers, they'll sell more life insurance. 

Here is Chevy's "Maddie" ad from 2014 that illustrates this same technique. 

The ad does not inform us about its vehicles. It simply uses the story of a woman and her dog to move the consumer emotionally and psychologically to sell the message "A best friend for life's journey," which you should associate with Chevy vehicles.

Now you understand why you have the opinions, beliefs, and most importantly, feelings that you do about certain brands and their products. 

You and I are being emotionally and psychologically manipulated every day with the intent of getting us to buy things. We've been led to believe that owning a certain brand and a specific product will make our lives better, which in most cases, is a lie. 

In fact, the more things that we own, the less freedom that we have because owning a lot of stuff also requires spending a lot of time to either use it or take care of it, which takes time away from the things and activities that bring real happiness to people and which I'm going to blog about tomorrow. 

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And if you'd like to email me: mikeallisoncoaching@gmail.com is my email address.

Have a great day.