Was reading our textbook on hard sell and soft sell ( Chapter 7, page 271 - 276 ) under Heuristic Persuasion. Short definiton on hard sell means an advertising strategy that relies on presenting information about the positive features of a product and soft sell is an advertising strategy that relies on the use of images, emotions, symbols, or values to promote a product.
And my mind came to our television commercials, how their advertisement came to influence us the type of brand of toothbrush we use ( even though there's really no difference in the brands but you use the latest brand due to the television advertisement ) and the brand of digital camera which you may wish to purchase later.
The recent television commercial for Oral-B has been pushing their latest toothbrush which costs $39.90 and they kept stressing how good it was that it cleans your teeth better, with these beautiful people in white lab coats which I take to represent dentists, hard selling us a product under $40. Though the people in the commercial might not be dentists, however, people are still influence to purchase this new toothbrush because the commercial seems "professional" as it is recommended by " dentists" whom we saw on the screen. People would purchase it because it seem rather credible when they shouw the slides of how this new toothbrush will be able to clean all round your tooth.
But seriously, what is wrong with the older version of toothbrush or other brands of toothbrush? They still clean our teeth perfectly well and they are so much cheaper. There are also other brands which are battery operated and the old Oral-B rotating toothbrush was also battery operated. Its selling point was also that it can clean better and the product first came in about 10 years ago. At that time, it was the latest trend for almost everyone of my friend to owe one. It was also priced around $40.
Have you seen the Canon digital commercial on this guy taking photos of his girlfriend who later became his wife and started a family? That is soft selling advertisement.
It makes one want to buy that particular brand of digital camera to obtain what the guy in the commercial had. A girlfriend, a wife and a family. Also because of the numerous times it played, for first time buyers of digital camera, they would also buy this brand as they are familiar with the brand and the representative heuristic it presents.
But does only Canon digital camera brings about all those good feelings? Can Canon bring you a beautiful girlfriend or a wife and can it help you start a family because it helps you to take beautiful photographs?
It is always good to source around and compare if the product is the only brand that can help or provide our needs rather than belief in what we see. Not all expensive product or products with beautiful models means that it is a good product not when a commercial shows "professional" speakers like doctors or research means that it is credible.
4 comments:
That is the way advertisements work. I bet they knew a little about psychology, lol.. they make use of viewer's mindset about feeling good and positive. Its their strategy for making products sellable.
However, it still up to oneself to decide if they really trust the "actors" & "actress" as real dentists or the products are really superb like they decribe or they just want to buy the products because it the new thing.
I just wonder: Is there anything you seen on ad or tv commerical that you ever feel like getting it? E.g. hp, food recommended by tv actors that claims it's good.
i think we do not need toothbrushes. back in the days where no toothbrushes we invented, how did they keep their teeth clean? or do their teeth drop out all the time or are all black and decayed? haha.
Some advertisements are made out to appeal to certain people. no 1 ad will make everything go:"Hmm... this is so nice and so good! i must get 2 today!"
rarely we're being attracted to the products we see on ads, but i guess when we interact with people, with our daily experience, we somehow change our thinking and beliefs that ACTUALLY we need that particular product. so what causes us to change our beliefs in a product? persuasion? conformity?
there can be many explanations to 1 simple question, and there can never be a right or wrong answer. we'll just have to do more research, or pray that someone does it for us. haha!
I guess that advertisements work in this way that they ensure that the product are presented in a positive light.
doubltless, our life is influenced by adverisments a lot. People are more likely influenced by external information, this can be explain in information influence theory, Oral-B is one of examples.
People may also have dissonance when they are not sure to choice which products they need. Oral-B is priced higher, but may good at somewhere. Golgate is relative cheaper, but may not good as Oral-B, therefore, dissonance. But say, " Oral-B is more expensive, but it has efforts more than other products, and all dentists recommend it." Therefore, produce consonant mind.
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