Art of PersuasionThe Advertising Industry

Role of Advertising in American Society

Consumer drugs

Obesity

Values

Perceptions of self and others

Manipulation

Form of Mass Persuasion

Social impact

Psychological impact

Cultural impact

Various methods to “sell us products, ideas, attitudes, candidates, goals or states of mind.”

-V. Packard, The Hidden Persuaders, 1957

Beyond Surveys…

Freud suggested that material stored in the unconscious elements of our psyches is often responsible for our actions.

Pavlov’s dogs

Neurological studies tell advertisers which parts of the brain are activated by exposure to advertisements.

The Advertising Business

Impact on society is partially the result of how advertising is

developed

Consider the context on cultural impact:

Agency-Client relationship

Conflicts of Interest

Budgets

Dumbed-down final product

Various Agendas

Operating at different levels of management within an agency

Complete objectivity? (the one-campaign practice)

Agency people sell themselves as well as the product

Decisions based on tests

Highly creative solutions can create opposition in all groups (agency, client, consumer)

“1984” by Apple

Conflicted advertising decision that made history

Recall 78%

3.5 million sold within six hours, $155 million over next 100 days