Classical Conditioning Ads

Last Updated on Thu, 02 Jun 2022 | Marketing Communications

Two factors are important for learning to occur through the associative process. The first
is contiguity, which means the unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus must be
close in time and space. In Pavlov's experiment, the dog learns to associate the ringing
of the bell with food because of the contiguous presentation of the two stimuli. The other
important principle is repetition, or the frequency of the association. The more often the
unconditioned and conditioned stimuli occur together, the stronger the association
between them will be.

 The classical conditioning process

Applying Classical Conditioning Learning through classical conditioning plays an

important role in marketing. Buyers can be conditioned to form favorable impressions
and images of various brands through the associative process. Advertisers strive to
associate their products and services with perceptions, images, and emotions known to
evoke positive reactions from consumers. Many products are promoted through image
advertising, in which the brand is shown with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits
pleasant feelings. When the brand is presented simultaneously with this unconditioned
stimulus, the brand itself becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits the same favorable
response.

Notice how this ad associates Lancome with the freshness and moisture of grapes. The
brand's positioning plays off this association.

 Classical conditioning can also associate a product or service with a favorable

emotional state. A study by Gerald Gorn used this approach to examine how
 background music in ads influences product choice. He found that subjects were
more likely to choose a product when it was presented against a background of
music they liked rather than music they disliked. These results suggest the
emotions generated by a commercial are important because they may become
associated with the advertised product through classical conditioning. Kellaris
and colleagues also showed that music that was congruent with the message
enhanced both ad recall and recognition. Richard Yalch also has demonstrated
that music can be used effectively as a mnemonic device to enhance the recall of
advertising slogans. Advertisers often attempt to pair a neutral product or service
stimulus with an event or situation that arouses positive feelings, such as humor,
an exciting sports event, or popular music.
 The brand Temptations created a very funny advert but in the same time captivating for
the audience. They have used the classical conditioning in their advert in almost the
same way as Pavlov did it with his dogs experiment. In the advert is presented a person
that has cat food in his hand, when the person shakes the cat food the noise makes the
cat to rush in the room by making a whole in the wall. The advert suggested that the cat
realizes that is the feeding time every time  she hears the sound of food being shaken.
This funny advert makes the audience think that the taste of the food is unique and they
must purchase that for their pet.

 Another big brand that uses classical conditioning in their adverts is Doritos. In this
specific advert they show a person that is doing different tasks around the house and he
is rewarded with a Doritos every time, in other words he knows that every time he does
something he is rewarded. The aim of this commercial is to convince the audience that
the taste of Doritos is so good that people will be willing to do even embarrassing things
to obtain it.
 A similar strategy is used by corporations that sponsor teams or events.
For instance, if people enjoy watching a college basketball team playing
basketball, and if that team is sponsored by a product, such as Pepsi, then
people may end up experiencing positive feelings when they view a can of
Pepsi. Of course, the sponsor wants to sponsor only good teams and good
athletes because these create more pleasurable responses.
 Another type of ad that is based on principles of 
classical conditioning is one that associates fear with the use of a product or
behavior, such as those that show pictures of deadly automobile accidents to
encourage seatbelt use or images of lung cancer surgery to discourage smoking.
These ads have also been found to be effective (Das, de Wit, & Stroebe, 2003;
Perloff, 2003; Witte & Allen, 2000), due in large part to 
conditioning
. When we see a cigarette and the fear of dying has been associated with it, we
are hopefully less likely to light up.