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We are exposed to as many advertisements each day as we are viruses. Luckily most of us have immune systems that fight off the viruses, not so with the barrage of advertisements; alas, there is no commercial vaccine.
Gavan Fitzsimons of Duke University in North Carolina just completed a study on the effects of advertising, and how brands affect our behavior. "Sure, not me," you’re saying. "I’m above it all." Wrong! Fitzsimons conjectures that “every brand comes with associations; when we are exposed to logos, those associations fire automatically, leading us to behave in ways that are consistent with the brand image.” If Fitzsimons’ research is correct, brand images can affect everything we do from being creative to being honest. Still not sold, here’s how those smarty pants PHDs at Duke figured it out. Subjects saw the Apple or IBM logo, subtly displayed. Then they were asked to think of and name as many uses for a brick as they could. Subjects who were exposed to the Apple logo were more creative, and came up with more uses. Still skeptical, subjects exposed to either a Disney or E! Entertainment Network logo, were given a little test...those that saw the Disney logo were more apt to tell the truth (I’m not sure what that says about E!). Is it possible that corporate America is so ingrained in our psyche?
This may not be groundbreaking research, after all Media Theorist Marshall McLuhan achieved instant notoriety for his 1964 quote “The medium is the message,” from “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man,” meaning that the form of a medium imbeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship, by which the medium influences how the message is perceived, creating subtle changes over time.
If all that is true, what do my favorite commercials/advertisements say about me, and what associations do they have that hold sway over my behavior? I stop whatever I’m doing when Nicole Kidman’s ultra-romantic Chanel ad “I want to dance!” plays. I also adore IKEA’s tongue-in-cheek homage to Bonnie & Clyde’s getaway sequence, “Get in the car!” And Baskin Robbins' over-involved soccer mom yelling at a 9-year-old, “In your face!”
What ads do you find yourself fascinated with? What do you think their associations are?
--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger
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