Story of Psychology - Morton Hunt [418]
Some other laboratory findings that have recently been put to use in product advertising and propaganda:
—In an experiment based on classical conditioning theory, subjects saw pens of one color while hearing pleasant background music, and pens of another color while hearing unpleasant background music. Later, when offered a choice of pens, they tended to pick the color that had been paired with pleasant music. The principle, widely used in TV commercials, sounds innocuous, but it induces people to make a choice without an awareness of why they choose as they do.65
—In contrast to this short-term conditioning effect, a long-term “sleeper effect” has been experimentally demonstrated. Over a period of time, the emotional response created by an ad is dissociated from the product name, even though the emotion causes the name to be remembered. Thus, an ad that commands attention by creating unpleasant emotions—a recent TV commercial for a laxative shows a man grimacing while a deep male voice groans in discomfort—can be productive rather than counterproductive.66 Viewers may think it stupid of the advertiser to use an irritating or annoying commercial, but in the long run they remember the product, not the disagreeable reaction. —More generally, if the message is presented in ways that arouse fear, it is more likely to work than would factual or rational argument. The method is often used in public service messages that portray the dire consequences of certain kinds of behavior, and in commercials for fire or flood insurance, pest control, air bags, and the like.67
—Various characteristics of the person delivering the message can have a significant covert persuasive influence. Fast speakers are generally more persuasive than slow speakers.68 Handsome, beautiful, sexy presenters, and celebrities in general, are believed by advertisers to exert important covert influence. Clothing can have a similar effect; for years, though less often now, advice about medications or diet was usually delivered by an actor wearing a white lab coat.
—A particularly subtle technique, in selling political positions, is for the speaker to present both sides of the argument, particularly when likely to be heard by people opposed to his or her own view. A presenter who does not seem to be obviously trying to persuade listeners to change their attitude is often, paradoxically, more effective than one clearly seeking to do so.69
—An experiment conducted by Leon Festinger and Elaine Walster many years ago showed that overheard discussions are more likely to change a hearer’s mind than those in which the hearer knows the speakers are aware of his or her presence. Unconsciously, we are more swayed by a communication not intended to persuade us than by one intended to do so. A commercial for a well-known brokerage firm used to show all the people in a room falling silent and straining to overhear a person privately giving his companion a piece of that firm’s advice. The same principle underlies the many “candid camera” commercials in which a person, unaware of being filmed, testifies to the virtues of some product.70
—A team of social psychologists conducted an experiment to find out the effect of distraction on the person listening to a persuasive message. They discovered that listeners who were distracted during a reasoned argument were more convinced by it than those who were not distracted; the effect was strongest when the argument was weak. The researchers’ explanation: Distraction interferes with the viewer’s or listener