“Smart, the less polluting car of the world” - re-analysis

Last year, this poster was analysed as using ‘selective use of information’ and ‘imagination’ as the two persuasive techniques. I agree, nevertheless, I think contrast is the overarching technique used here. The poster displays two different landscapes (one showing polluted air and factory on the horizon and second showings beautiful, fresh and green nature).  In this context, the polluted landscape seems even more horrid than it would usually seem like and the beautiful natured seems somehow more greener and fresher. The contrast technique influences individual’s perception of two different products so the qualities are enhanced and the weaknesses are emphasized (e.g. Cantrill & Seibold, 1986; Pratkanis, 2007).

I do not want to push my luck here, but I think there are another two closely connected techniques used. These are association and metaphor. 

We enjoy fresh air and beautiful nature; furthermore contrasting it to polluted air and ugly factory increases our liking of nature. Smart car represent an eco-friendly car. Because the picture of nature represents the Smart car our liking of nature is thus transferred onto the car. The use of association is supported by Krishnan (1996).

Moreover, all of this yields one big metaphor. This metaphor emphasizes the state of the planet Earth and thus implying that our conscious will be “clean, pure and fresh” if we buy a Smart car but it will be “polluted and dirty” if we buy any other car.  Both Mitchell and Olson (1981) and Se-Hoon Jeong (2008) suggested that using metaphor in advertisements may be more persuasive compared to advertisements that use non-metaphorical verbal arguments. Petty and Cacioppo (1986) and Eagly and Chaiken (1993) explained this success by the degree of cognitive involvement we dedicate to the ad; the greater the involvement, the greater the persuasive strength. Furthermore, people are more likely to adopt something if they figured it out by themselves (Messaris, 1997).

So what it is going to be, clean conscious or polluted one?

Cantrill, J. G. and Seibold, D. R. (1986), The Perceptual Contrast Explanation of Sequential Request Strategy Effectiveness. Human Communication Research, 13: 253–267.

Eagly, A. H. & Chaiken, S. (1993) Psychology of Attitudes (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, Brace,

Jovanovich).

Krishnan, H.S.(1996) Characteristics of memory associations: A consumer-based brand equity perspective, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 13(4), 389-405.

Messaris, P. (1997) Visual Persuasion: The Role of Images in Advertising (Thousand Oaks: Sage).

Mitchell, A. A. & Olson, J. C. (1981) Are product attribute beliefs the only mediator of advertising effects on brand attitude?, Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), pp. 318–332.

Petty, R. E. & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986) Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes t to Attitude Change (New York: Springer-Verlag).

Pratkanis, A. R. (2007). Social influence analysis: An index of tactics. The science of social influence: Advances and future progress, 17-82.

Se‐Hoon Jeong (2008) Visual Metaphor in Advertising: Is the Persuasive Effect Attributable to Visual Argumentation or Metaphorical Rhetoric?, Journal of Marketing

Communications, 14:1, 59-73.

A blog by Bebe

(Alzbeta Husakova)

J-Lo. She’s got it, yeah baby she’s got it... Have you?

Some may say this ad has the full package; a catchy song, empowering words and an adorable family scene on the beach, naw.  Oh, and we should mention that it features the super-sexy, super-famous J-Lo with her convincing speech about how we can all be just like her, a goddess. We see the star in concert, rehearsing and playing with her children, it’s a miracle she fits it all in. It’s a miracle how any woman fits it all in; upholding a successful career and being a mother surely requires super-human qualities, ‘an inner goddess’. According to J-Lo we all have one and she demands that we reveal it (and if J-Lo tells you to do something, you do it), but how? By using a Venus razor from Gillette. Venus-smooth legs are all you need to “reveal your inner goddess”, and better yet, to be just like J-Lo. Brb, just popping to the shops.

Jennifer Lopez’s celebrity status is crucial to the persuasiveness of this advert. By using her to communicate the advert’s message a high-status and physically attractive-admirer altercast is generated. This technique induces the viewer to admire the pretty and famous to the extent that we ‘want to be part of their world’ (Pratkanis, 2007, p. 33). J-Lo’s physical attractiveness and high social status means she is perceived to be a credible source (Cialdini, 2001; Lefkowitz et al,. 1955) and thus people believe her attitude is the right attitude. We internalise the attitude she presents because holding a correct attitude is desirable (Pratkanis, 2007). But the admiration for this pop princess doesn’t end there. Not only does she look stunning on the red carpet, but the advert ends with J-Lo on the beach playing with her children. This heart-warming scene presents the viewer with the other, more private side to the star’s life. Not only is she a talented performer (who likes a good strut) but she still manages to spend quality time with her family – the work/life balance any busy parent aspires to achieve. Motherhood is something a vast number of viewers may relate to and similarity is another persuasive advertising technique. One study found that donations to a charity more than doubled when the requester claimed to be similar to them (Aune & Basil, 1954). Additionally, by filming J-Lo actually using the Venus razor herself, the instruction to buy and use the product is further clarified in line with social learning theory (Bandura et al., 1967). When we see a likable and desirable model perform a behaviour and gain positive results we imitate this behaviour so to obtain the same rewards. In sum, the viewer is more likely to comply with the company’s request and buy a Venus razor so to be just like J-Lo. Oh, and to reap the silky-smooth rewards she shows are possible (but that’s just a bonus).

However it isn’t just J-Lo’s looks that help this product sell but her dialogue also, “A feeling of confidence and strength, an inner sparkle and an outer fabulous…you have the power to captivate and radiate”. The language used is empowering and boosts the viewer’s self-esteem. Research demonstrates how making the viewer feel good about themselves can improve liking for the product (Petty et al., 1993) because it taps into our basic desire to believe good things about ourselves (Vonk, 2002). These words are presented visually too so to increase the strength of communication. Thus the company’s message is presented through multiple modalities comparable to the repetition-variation technique (Sawyer, 1981) whereby the same message is conveyed in different ways, thus increasing recall (Adams, 1916) and persuasiveness (Heeler, 1972). “Goddess is where you put your best foot forward followed by your most beautiful leg”, this line illustrates the type of audience the advert wants to attract, busy women who need to work fast but still want to look attractive. J-Lo tells us what we want and then informs us how to get it – by buying a Venus razor. Moreover, the use of ‘Let’s’ in “Let’s get your goddess showing” conveys the idea that J-Lo is going through this experience with us. Thus applying social pressure to comply to the request, as if by not purchasing the razor we would be letting her and her goddess down. Even the product’s name ‘Venus’ has connotations, this is also the name of the Roman God of Love and Beauty and we therefore associate these appealing qualities with the product itself (Strick et al., 2009). Strick et al. found that evaluations of a product were more positive if accompanied by a humorous advert than a non-humorous one because the products became associated with the humor and its positive affect. Thus individuals associate the romantic and powerful qualities of the God Venus with the razor.

The heavenly combination of these techniques come together to create an advert that really does make Venus your fire and your desire.

Alice Goodman

References

Adams, H.F., (1916). Advertising and Its Mental Laws, New York: Macmillian.Pratkanis, A. R. (2007). The Science of Social Influence. New York: Psychology Press.

Aune, R. K. & Basil, M. D. (1994). A relational obligations explanation for the foot-in-the-mouth effect. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24, 546-556.

Bandura, A., & Perloff, B. (1967). Relative efficacy of self-monitored and externally imposed reinforcement systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7, 111-116.

Cialdini, R. B., (2001). Influence. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Heeler, R.M., (1972). A laboratory investigation of inter-related effects of mixed media, multiple copy, and multiple insertions in advertising campaigns. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University. 

Lefkowitz, M., Blake, R. R., & Mouton, J. S. (1955). Status factors in pedestrian violation of traffic signals. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51, 704-706. 

Petty, R. E., Schumann, D.W., Richman, S. A., & Strathman, A. (1993). Positive mood and persuasion: Different roles for affect under high- and low-elaboration conditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,64, 5-20. 

Sawyer, A., (1981). Repetition, Cognitive Responses, and Persuasion.  Cognitive Responses in Persuasion, eds.  Petty, R. E., Ostrom, T. M., & Brock, T. C., Hillsdale, IL: Erlbaum, 237-262.

Strick, M., van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., & van Knippenberg, A. (2009). Humor in advertisements enhances product liking by mere association. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 15, 35.

Vonk, R., (2002). Self-Serving Interpretations of Flattery: Why Ingratiation Works. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82 (4), 515-26.

ONE ADVICE: TAKE AN ESTRELLA DAMM!

This advertisement tells the story of a man on holiday in Serra Tramuntana (Mallorca, Spain). Throughout the advert, he travels to idyllic places, meeting friends and experiencing new things; most importantly though, an Estrella Damm beer can always be seen in hand.

We always associate attractive people with good characters and positive property traits such as kindness, talent and intelligence. Advertisers use this technique in order to make people feel more comfortable and confident, as well as increase their propensity to buy the product that they are promoting.

However, Baker and Churchill (1977) and Petroshius and Crocker (1989) show that physical attractiveness can lead people to believe a product is more interesting or attractive, however belief of effectiveness or trustworthiness cannot be so easily induced.

Kamins (1990) shows that physical attractiveness does not affect the most important objectives of advertising effectiveness, such as attitude towards the brand, credibility of the advertisement and intention of purchase.

The music in these types of advertisements also plays a very important role; advertisers facilitate the recovery and storage of thoughts and feelings about the product they are trying to advertise. (Zaltman 2003: p166).

Marketing researchers have demonstrated that unconscious reactions to marketing stimuli are more precise indicators of real thought than conscious reactions, so image does not help unconscious learning in a proper way, in the same way as music does not explicitly help with learning and increased attention.

‘Music can accentuate various qualities of visual activities and thereby enhance their perceptual salience.’ (Boltz et al, 1991: p594) so we can conclude that the relationship between music and image is important and enables us to remember the product more easily.

In the research of Alexomanolaki and company, students were divided into two groups according to whether they studied music or not, and each group was shown an episode of “Friends”. The viewing consisted of an advert break, during which four adverts were shown (two familiar, two non-familiar). The target stimulus was a Nescafe advert with four different audio versions: the original jingle which was in English (the universal version); instrumental music known only in Greece (similar to the original, where the music fits the image); instrumental music and voice over (female voice chosen in order to minimize differences in the stimulation of attention, same words as original voiceover); and finally the sound-effect and voice version, in which the backing track is almost the same as the previous version however the music is no longer present.

They measured how memory is affected by a test consisting of three sections: the first measured the overall explicit memory for the episode, the second measured implicit memory, and the third measured explicit memory. In general, they succeed in showing that differences in performance are negligible between the two different groups of participants. They do however highlight that in the music and voiceover version, the group of musicians were better in the implicit memory performance component. In the other versions, there were not substantial differences between groups. The musical reinforcement of the advert influenced the memory performance. They conclude that music is important in emphasizing the perception of the information of the advert in an unconscious way.

REFERENCES

Anne M. Brumbaugh (1993) ,"Physical Attractiveness and Personality in Advertising: More Than Just a Pretty Face?", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 20, eds. Leigh McAlister and Michael L. Rothschild, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 159-164.

Alexomanolaki, M., Loveday, C. & Kennett, C. (2006). Music and Memory in advertising; Music as a device of implicit learning and recall, pp. 1190-1198.   

Gemma Fernández Álvarez

"I want to be just like Daddy"

The above is an advert by NAPCAN that was aired few years ago in Australia. This advert portrays an array of negative behaviours elicited by parents, such as smoking, domestic violence and other ill-mannered behaviours that are frowned upon by society. It then goes on to show the children of these individuals imitating these behaviours, some of which can be quite distressing to see. The aim of the advert was to create awareness within parents and influence how they behave around their children; they do this using range of persuasive techniques.

One of the techniques used is the shock appeal. The images portrayed in the advert of children engaging in harmful behaviours are shocking and distressing to the audience. For example, a child is seen smoking a cigarette before putting it out on the floor, this is not the kind of behaviour that any parent would want to see their child engaging in and the idea that it could be their fault can also come as a shock to them. This could therefore lead to them wanting to change their behaviour in order to prevent the outcomes portrayed by the adverts. Research has found that using shocking content in an advertisement significantly increases attention, benefits memory, and positively influences behaviour (Dahl, Frankenberger & Manchanda, 2003). Thus, the advert uses this technique with the intention of getting parents to implement the take home message “make your influence positive”.

Similar to the use of shock appeal, fear appeal is also applied within the advert. Strong fear appeals have been seen to produce the greatest behaviour changes and promote message acceptance (Witte & Allen, 2000). Advertisers use this knowledge to their advantage in order to get their audience to comply with the message they are conveying. For most parents, the idea of their children engaging in the behaviours portrayed in the advert would create an element of fear within them, as most would not want their children to suffer the consequences that arise from such behaviours and thus would want to take the relevant precautions to prevent it from happening.

The creators of this advert have also utilised the inverted consequences template (Goldenberg, Mazursky & Solomon, 1999) within the advert.  This template involves showing the negative consequences that will occur if the audience do not follow the advice given by the advert. In the above advert, the audience is advised to “make your influence positive” and their children exhibiting socially undesirable and harmful behaviours so demonstrate the consequences of not doing. This technique has been established as quite a powerful form of persuasion, with the ability to influence individual’s attitudes and change their behaviour in accordance with the message being portrayed by the advertisement (Goldenberg, Mazurky & Solomon, 1999).

A series of strong persuasive techniques are used in this advert in an attempt to prevent parents from eliciting negative behaviours around their children and to persuade them behave in an appropriate and positive manner instead. Although we might like to believe that most parents would already take the correct precautions to ensure that they only elicit a positive influence on their children, in truth, there are many out there who do not. Therefore, we can only hope that adverts such as this have a strong enough persuasive message to help open people’s eyes to the issue presented.

References

Dahl, D.W., Frankenberger, K.D., & Manchanda, R.V. (2003) Does it pay to shock? Reactions to shocking and non-shocking advertising content among university students. Journal of Advertising Research, 43(3), 268-280.

Goldenberg, J., Mazursky, D., & Solomon, S. (1999). The fundamental templates of quality ads. Marketing Science, 18, 333-351.

Witte, K., & Allen, M. (2000) A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective public health campaigns. Health, Education and Behaviour, 27 (5), 591-615.

Natasha Foxon.

The Chase

 As the previous explanation states the advert explicitly demonstrates the benefits of Intel Core i5 processor. It shows ease and availability in using multiple applications at once; allowing the consumer to multi-task. Through Goldenberg et al’s (1999) “Interactive experiment template” it is explained how the consumer becomes aware of the benefits by interacting with the advert.

However it appears that this explanation lacks analysis of how the advert portrays a relatively “boring” product as one of excitement. The benefits of the product are emphasized through telling a story. The advert tells a story of a chase, in which each scene is cleverly portrayed by a different computer application. Pennington (1992) found that jurors were more likely to have a verdict if the case was described in a story format, rather than as a list of facts. For this reason the story telling technique implies that the exposure to the variety of applications available, and speed to which they can interchange will appear more effective to the consumer, as it has been portrayed in a story format.  

Could the gold envelope be a representative of the Intel Core i5 processor?

 YES! Two persuasive mechanisms are used within the chase story. The rule of scarcity states that when objects are rare and in high demand they appear more attractive. For example Worchel et al (1975) found that when participants saw cookies in scarce supply, they were rated as more valuable and delicious, than if there was an abundant supply. The advert shows the gold envelope as an object of scarcity; the “chasers” seem to perceive the envelope as something of very high value, due to the determined efforts they are making to get it. It appears the woman being chased is the only person that has a gold envelope, emphasizing rarity; increasing the chasers desire for the object. 

In conjunction with this, at the start of the advert the men are not as resolute to get the gold envelope as they are at the end of the advert. Throughout the story a lot of obstacles arise that the chasers have to overcome. The more they go through to get the object, the more the object is perceived as one of value; resulting in an increase in determination and desire. This is a technique called effort justification, shown by Mills (1967). Participants that endured severe initiation rituals into a society reported more enjoyment at a society conference, than those that did not experience any rituals; this emphasizes how attitudes can change due to the mere experience of effort.

Both scarcity and effort justification induced the two chasers to fight for the object more than if these mechanisms were not present; to the viewer this enhances the perceived value and desire for the gold envelop; which is transferable to the product

References

Goldenberg, J., Mazursky, D., & Solomon, S. (1999). The fundamental templates of quality ads. Marketing Science, 18(3), 333-351.

Mills, J., & Jellison, J. M. (1967). Effect on opinion change of how desirable the communication is to the audience the communicator addressed. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6(1), 98.

Pennington, N., & Hastie, R. (1992). Explaining the evidence: Tests of the Story Model for juror decision making. Journal of personality and social psychology,62(2), 189.

Worchel, S., Lee, J., & Adewole, A. (1975). Effects of supply and demand on ratings of object value. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(5), 906.

Katie Mullord

Children see. Children do.

The following ad was released in Australia by NAPCAN, it leaves the viewer with a powerful message ‘make your influence positive’ by behaving as a role model as ‘children see.children do’

The previous blog stated that the persuasive technique of anticipatory regret is used to target parents. By eliciting anticipation of negative emotions such as regret, we will attempt to minimize this self-blame by avoiding behavior that would cause regret or carrying out behaviors so we won’t have regret later on. For example, Briggs & Wolfson (2002) found that anticipatory regret can be a motivator for playing the national lottery. Similarly, this ad uses anticipatory regret to provoke a change in parents’ bad habits and motivates them to be a positive role model so that they won’t feel regret but rather a sense of pride in their influence on their child’s positive behavior. This technique is very powerful as Carlsmith & Gross (1969) found that participants who experienced guilt were more likely to comply with a request.

However the previous blog failed to mention the use of music, which is an integral part in the communication of guilt and the message in this ad. Alexomanolaki et al (2006) states music plays many roles in advertising by attracting attention, enhancing the message, creating a mnemonic device and eliciting emotional affect.  In the following ad, a slow, sad soundtrack is used signaling the emotional affects that the viewer must feel. 

Moreover, the sadness of the music resonates with the audience and alerts them that the behavior they are witnessing is wrong. Thus the music not only enhances the viewer’s anticipatory regret but makes them feel sad at the thought of having this influence on their child. Additionally, the use of music promotes learning and recall of the ad. North et al (2006) found that music can prime certain aspects of listeners’ knowledge, whereby hearing this soundtrack again or similar music may lead to the viewer  being reminded of this ad thus creating a lasting impression on them.

Moreover the current ad provides very plausible and real-life examples of parents and their children. At first, the habits mimicked seem innocuous but later become more serious as we see examples of road rage, littering, animal cruelty and drunken behavior. The use of ordinary looking people who look/ seem very similar to us enhances our responsibility and sense of relation to them, prompting change. Therefore by using ordinary everyday people and by highlighting the child’s position of innocence and dependency, the ad underlines that parents/ viewers as responsibility agents. Berkowitz & Daniels (1963) found that when a person was in a position of responsibility towards a dependent they were more protective. Thus, this ad encourages the viewer to change as  their responsibility and sense of obligation towards their child is stressed upon.

Overall this ad is very effective in creating a lasting impression and promoting change in it’s viewers. By having short simple taglines such as ‘children see. children do’ and ‘make your influence positive’ the message of the ad resonates long after viewing it.

References:

Alexomanolaki, M., Loveday, C., & Kennett, C. (2006).  Music and memory in advertising: music as a device of implicit learning and recall, Westminister research.

Berkowitz, L., & Daniels, L. R. (1963). Responsibility and dependency, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 429-438.

Briggs, P., & Woldson, S. (2002). Locked into gambling: Anticipatory regret as a motivator for playing the national lottery, Journal of Gambling Studies, 18, 1-17.

Carlsmith, A.M., & Gross, A.E.(1969) Some effects of guilt on compliance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 11, 232-239.

North, A. C., Mackenzie, L. C., Law, R. M., & Hargreaves, D. J. (2006). The effects of musical and voice ‘fit’ on responses to advertisement, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 1675-1708.

Tashya De Silva- Blog2

Do You Have Real Curves?

Dove has used six happy women to advertise their new line of firming products. To appeal to the specific audience of middle-aged women, the product is seen to benefit a range of women (varied races, ages, heights, weights and body shapes). This provides social proof (Cialdini, 2001) by suggesting that these women are happy with the product so the target audience will be too. The market is saturated with many firming products and so consumers need help to decide. Often, we make decisions about our behaviour according to what others in that situation are doing. Thus, the greater number of people who think a product is good, the more an individual will see it that way (Cialdini, 2009).

Milgram et al (1969) found that simply getting confederates to stop and stare up at a building gathered crowds of people who did the same thing. This infuence of social proof is maximised when the models are similar to us. Observing the behaviour of those we perceive to be similar to us is when social proof operates most powerfully (Cialdini, 2009). 

By emphasising product testing was on these ‘real’ women, the audience feels they can identify with them which increases the impact of social proof. Here, advertising using ‘real curves’ is a lot more effective than using a skinny model due to identification with the models.

The phrase ‘real curves’ plays on the hugely relevant issue of body insecurity. It empowers  the audience by degrading stereotypical models to not being ‘real’ women. Thus the audience is more likely to like these six women and buy the product. This is the social influence of liking (Cialdini, 2001) whereby the more we like people the more likely we are to be influenced by them, in this case into buying Dove’s firming range. Due to association, liking the representatives of a company is enough for us to like the company and product. This is seen by the success of Tupperware Parties (Frenzen and Davis, 1990). The picture of the product range being in a corner and extremely small in comparison to the models ensures that the women are the main focus. Showing the women to be laughing also prevents the development of a negative association with the brand (Strick et al., 2012).

Although these are ‘real’ women, they are still models and thus physically attractive.  Physical attraction plays a major part in not only liking but also influence. Physically attractive people are rated as having more desirable characteristics and success in life (Dion and Berscheid, 1972). The Halo Effect (Thorndike, 1920) plays a part as these attractive ‘real’ women are associated with other good qualities and, by association, so is the company.

Therefore, by using ‘real curves’ to advertise their product, Dove is enhancing the insecurities of their audience to ensure their models are liked more. This way the models’ positive qualities are associated with the brand and so simply liking the representatives will make their target audience more likely to buy the product.

References

Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: science and practice. Boston : Allyn and Bacon.

Dion, K. K., Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285-2-90.

Frenzen, J. K., & Davis, H. L. (1990). Purchasing behaviour in embedded markets. Journal of Consumer Research, 17, 1-12.

Milgram, S., Bickman, L., & Berkowitz, L. (1969) Note on the drawing power of crowds of

different size. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 13, 79–82.

Strick, M., Holland, R. W., van Baaren, R. B., van Knippenberg, A. (2012). Those who laugh are defenseless: how humour breaks resistance to influence. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 213-223.

Thorndike, E. L. (1920). A constant error in psychological ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 4, 25.


Sanaa Kadir (Blog 2)

Look, Look, then Look again

No one wants to be the cause of a serious car incident. By evoking our fears of causing a collision, this advert persuades drivers to look more closely for motorcyclists when pulling out of a junction. The advert uses the ‘inverted consequences' template descried by Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon (1999). This template is used to show the devastating and potentially fatal consequence of not looking for motorcycles while driving. It was found that a high proportion of prize winning adverts use the inverted consequences template which shows that this template is effective at gaining compliance (Goldenber, Mazursky and Solomon, 1999).

This advert evokes many emotions which can be used to persuade the viewer to adhere to the 'Look, Look then Look again' message. The shock factor of seeing the motorcyclist crash into the car at high speed without any warning creates the emotions of fear, surprise and dread in the viewer. Pratkanis (2007) states that inducing fear in the viewer can increase compliance to a message if the advert shows the viewer how to avoid the feared situation. This advert clearly shows that the motorcycle collision could have been avoided if the driver had only looked multiple times before pulling out of the junction. In order to reduce one’s feelings of fear, shock and dread we accept the 'Look, Look then Look again' message. Agreeing to take more care looking for motorcyclists is a way of escaping the adverse emotions the advert creates in the viewer.

This advert also utilises the interactive experiment template detailed by Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon (1999). The advert shows a man driving a car towards a junction, stopping to quickly look right and then pulling out of the junction. As the car pulls out of the junction a motorcyclist crashes into the car at with full force. The viewer watchers this part of the advert as if they were sat in the front passenger seat of the car. This camera perspective makes the viewer feel they are witnessing the collision first hand from inside the car. The interactive nature of this adverts increases the amount of involvement the viewer has in the advert which increases the amount of cognitive effort used to process the advert. Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon (1999) state that this type of template is particularly effective in increasing a behavioural change, therefore, this advert could be very effective at getting the viewer to adhere to the look, look then look again message.

This advert is highly affective as it uses a variety of persuasive techniques to convince drivers to pay more attention to motorcyclists. Clearly showing the viewer the devastating consequences of not looking properly for a motorcyclist increases the likelihood that they will follow to the look, look, then look again message. Creating adverse emotions in the viewer increases compliance to the message as viewers seek to reduce these adverse emotions through agreeing to pay more attention while driving. Finally, making the viewer feel as if they are in the car when the motorcyclist hits increases compliance through increased involvement.

Anna Caswell 

References:

Goldenberg, J., Mazursky, D., & Solomon, S. (1999). The fundamental templates of quality ads. Marketing Science, 18, 333-351.

The science of social influence: Advances and future progress (2007). Psychology Press, New York, NY.