Advertising

Advertising is the
nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas
by
Bovee/Arens, 1992
identified sponsors

nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas by
identified sponsors
through the various

Two kinds of selling

Personal

Plenty of time to
deliver the message

Done

face to face
Message can be
adjusted to fit
how its getting
across
Easy to find
customers

Expensive in
both time and
money
Labor-

intensive
Time
consuming

Non-Personal

Limited in time
and/or space
Dont know who the
customer is
Dont know how the
customer is
reacting
Cant change the
message in midstream

Message doesnt
have to be created
on the spot
Extensive research
Far cheaper than
personal selling

nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas by
identified sponsors
through the various

The Senses
Smell
Touch
Taste
Sound
Sight

Advertising is the
nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas by
identified sponsors
through the various

Affirmative disclosure

"Sometimes the consumer is provided not

with information he wants but only with
the information the seller wants him to
have. Sellers, for instance, are not
inclined to advertise negative aspects of
their products even though those aspects
may be of primary concern to the
consumer, particularly if they involve
considerations of health or safety . . . "
Lewis A. Engman, FTC Chair

Puffery
The

legitimate exaggeration
of advertising claims to
overcome natural consumer
skepticism

Advertising is the
nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas by
identified sponsors
through the various

Advertising is the
nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas by
identified sponsors
through the various

Advertising is the
nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas by
identified sponsors
through the various

The bundle of values

Functional

value
Social value
Psychological value
Economic value
Whatever else the consumer
thinks is important

Three ways to differentiate

products

Perceptible
Actual differences
Easily seen

Imperceptible
Actual differences
Cant be seen

Induced
No actual differences
Parity products

Advertising is the
nonpersonal
communication of
information usually
paid for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products,
services or ideas by
identified sponsors
through the various

Advertising is the
nonpersonal
communication of
information, usually paid
for and usually
persuasive in nature
about products, services
or ideas by identified
sponsors through the
various media

Has been around

for a long time
We still dont know
what the Lascoux
paintings were for

For the first few

thousand years
advertising
promoted
locations, services
and want ads.

Ad written on a Roman
tomb

Weather permitting, 30 pairs of

gladiators, furnished by A. Clodius
Flaccus, together with substitutes in
case any get killed too quickly, will fight
May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the Circus
Maximus. The fights will be followed by
a big wild beast hunt. The famous
gladiator Paris will fight. Hurrah for
Paris! Hurrah for the generous Flaccus,
who is running for Duumvirate.

Under the ad was written:

Marcus wrote this sign by the light of
the moon. If you hire Marcus, hell
work day and night to do a good job.
Daniel Mannix, Those
About to Die

Location

Handbills and fliers to

promote events or to
recruit for the military

Handbill
recruiting
sailors for
USS
Constitution
1798

Ad about runaway slave 1770

Since most products

such as shoes and
clothing were one-of and
made to order you only
needed to advertise
where to order

Service

Industrial Revolution

Early 19th Century

Mass production of products
Led to three stages of marketing:

Production-oriented

Demand far outstripped supply

Could just advertise the existence of
the product and where to get it
Whatever was made was sold
Example: People wanted cars, so
car companies made whatever they
wanted and the cars were sold
before they were built

Sales-oriented

Supply exceeded demand

Companies tried to convince consumers to
buy their products rather than their
competitors
Companies still made whatever they
wanted, counting on their ability to peddle
their products
Example: supply of cars went up, so the
companies made whatever they wanted and
convinced people they wanted that

Marketing-oriented

Supply of products far exceeded demand

More choices than any promotion could
overcome
Resistance to hard-sell

Companies tried to discover what

products consumers wanted before
making them, then advertise they had it
Non-American companies (e.g., VW)
found out what people wanted, then
built cars that had it (e.g., a gas gauge)

Lets take a
example
The American
auto industry

Production-oriented

Sales-oriented

Marketing-oriented

Early sales-oriented ads were

basically caveat emptor (let the
buyer beware)
Producers said whatever they wanted
and thought they could get away with
For example, the Health Jolting Chair

Led to consumer and competitor

anger
1938 Federal Trade Commission
given power to regulate deceptive
and unfair advertising
Advertising could no longer lie, so
new approaches were tried

40s and 50s

Era of the hard-sell

Rosser Reeves irritation school of
advertising
Relied on brain-numbing repetition and
treating the consumer as an idiot
The USP Unique Selling Proposition
It was jack-hammered into consumers
skulls

A Reeves ad

60s

The positioning era

Shift to the soft-sell
Compare your
product to your
competitors
Treat consumers
as intelligent

Appeal to emotion
more than
intellect

General comments on
ads

Advertising is limited in time and/or

space

Breaks the rules of grammar and syntax

Ads contain two elements

Copy
illustrations

Two basic ways of

presenting a sales
message

Intellectually
Usually about the products function
Usually copy heavy and line drawings

Emotionally
Usually not about the products function
Usually copy is light with high connotative
content
Uses photographs or video

Advertising aims at consumers

subconscious minds much more
than their conscious minds
Its all about getting the consumer
to react on a basic, instinctive
level, and not think at all
Its about act now on your basic
desires think only of yourself
Its usually selfish and anti-social

Psychological Appeals
Selfpreservation
Sex
Greed
Self-esteem
Personal
enjoyment

Constructive
ness
Destructiven
ess
Curiosity
Imitation
Altruism

Self-preservation

Listen to me, Ill

keep you alive
Because humans
are so social, we
extend the appeal
to others, like
family, friends,
and social group

Sex Appeal

Listen to me, Ill get you laid

Gender linked because of different goals:

For men its sex with ease and no

complications

In other words, attract more women that

want to have sex with you

For women its attract more men from

which to choose

Select the best among the possible choices,

and the greater the selection, the better the
choice

Sex Appeal

Male and female animals have different

sexual strategies based on the cost of
sex

Males are promiscuous because the cost

is very low
A little time, a little energy, then move on
Criteria are simple she has to be there,
breathing, and impregnable

Females are picky because the cost is so

high
Lots of time, lots of energy
Must select the best possible male, not the
nearest
Criteria can be complex

Non-humans are concerned with

genetics
Males want, on an instinctive level, to
have as many offspring as possible to
ensure genetic success
Females, because of the cost of
reproduction, on an instinctive level
want the best genes in their male

Males compete with other males,

usually physically, to demonstrate
theyre the best choice
Females select the winner because hes
shown hes better than the other males

For most animals, it is the female that

deals with raising offspring (a major
part of the cost of sex)
The male has no place in rearing
offspring (shell even drive him away)
The major exception is birds

Even there, the female will often select

one male as the father, and another
male to help her raise the chicks

Sex appeal in humans

Humans have the most complex social

life on Earth
Instinctive criteria for men are the same
as for any other male animal shes
there
Criteria for women is far more complex:

Not just genetically, but socially:

Be a good father help with raising children
be a good provider have money, social
connections, etc.

Sex appeal for men

Buy the product,

get the woman
Think of all those
Axe commercials

Sex appeal for women

For most female
animals, genetic
quality is the most
important
For women, its a
good provider

The ad shows he has

money, cares about
her as an individual,
and will stick around
Its called romance

The use of sex appeal in

advertising may appear
sexist. Thats because it
is on a social level. But
sex in advertising aims at
instinct, and society is
conscious, not
subconscious.

Advertising often appeals

to one gender at the
social expense of the
other.

Greed

Listen to me, Ill

make you rich
Human social life
requires having
resources,
usually
represented by
money
Instinctively,
greed is good

Self-esteem

Requires a social group

Requires the individual to be able to
make a comparison with other
individuals in the group
Thus, requires a sense of self as a
separate entity from others

Self-esteem

Again, theres an instinctive gender link

For men, its competitive

Demonstrate hes the best male around
Self-esteem comes from a sense of
superiority

For women, its cooperative

Make and maintain as many connections as
possible
Self-esteem comes from a sense of
connection

Self-esteem for men

Demonstration of
superiority
Buy the product,
be the superior
man
Often shows a
loser beating a
winner because
the loser buys
the product

Self-esteem for women

The product
increases the
number and
quality of
connections with
others

Personal Enjoyment

Listen to me, youll

have more fun
Humans, because of
their intelligence, are
often easily bored by
routine
The ad promotes
getting out of the
routine
In other words, have
fun

Constructiveness

Listen to me, Ill

help you improve
things
A desire to build
and improve on
whatever you have

Destructiveness

Listen to me, Ill

tell you how to
destroy things
We all have a desire
to occasionally blow
things up

Just watch The

Mythbusters

There does seem to

be a gender link
men seem to like it
more than women

Curiosity

Listen to me, Ill

answer your
questions
We all want answers
to things its a
survival characteristic
The problem is raising
that curiosity if the
person doesnt care
about the answer, its
a useless appeal

Imitation

Listen to me, Ill

make you just like
someone else
Requires the
person to want to
be like the model
Almost always
linked to one or the
top five appeals

Altruism

Listen to me, youll

give of yourself with
no hope or
expectation of return
Doesnt exist as an
ideal
Reciprocal altruism
does exist

Ill do for you now,

you do for me later

Linked to top five

Tricks of the Trade

Advertising often uses logical

fallacies rather than giving logical
reasons to buy the product
advertised.
You think the ad is saying one thing
when it fact its saying something
else, or saying nothing at all

Black/White

You want it
[whatever it is],
you can only get it
from us.
It leaves out any
other options, e.g.,
love it or leave it.

Buzz Words

Words that seem to

say something, but
what?

Crisp
Natural
Organic

Weasel Words

Words tossed into a sentence that

changes the meaning while leaving
an impression thats different
Examples:

Our [canned] corn is as

good as fresh cooked corn.
Libbys
Vegetables
Note it doesnt say its as good as fresh

corn, but as good as fresh cooked corn.

Cooked corn has had vitamins and
minerals boiled out in the cooking process.
And now you have to heat the corn again,
which takes out even more nutrients.
The weasel is cooked

Our dog food contains as

much meat protein as 10
pounds of sirloin steak.
Alpo dog
food

Targets people who love their dogs

Doesnt contain sirloin steak, only as
much meat protein as sirloin steak

That could be any kind of meat its sure

not sirloin, and may not even come from
a cow

Three out of four doctors

recommend the major
ingredient in Excedrin.

 Some

studies seem to
suggest that eating the major
ingredient in our cereal may
have an effect on certain
kinds of cancer.

If . . .
The ultimate weasel word

Begging the Question

The question contains a statement

that has not been and is never
proven, basically saying that
something is simply because it is.
Example:
Henry Millers filthy books should be
banned.
Contains the unsupported premise that
the books are filthy.

Dangling Comparative

There appears to
be a comparison,
but compared to
what?
It relies on the
consumer filling in
the blank

Complaints about
advertising

It perpetuates stereotypes
Absolutely true
It has to

Makes people buy things they dont

need
Not true
Advertising cant make anybody do
anything