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 Expensive in
Plenty of time to
both time and

deliver the message
Done face to face money
Message can be Labor-
adjusted to fit intensive
how its getting Time
across
consuming
Easy to find
customers
 Non-Personal
Limited in time Message doesnt
and/or space have to be created
Dont know who the on the spot
customer is Extensive research
Dont know how the Far cheaper than
customer is personal selling
reacting
Cant change the
message in mid-
stream
 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
Self- Constructive
preservation ness
Sex Destructiven

Greed ess
Self-esteem Curiosity

Personal Imitation

enjoyment 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