Think Like a Consumer Psychologist: Analyze an Advertisement This is a "Think Like a Social Psychol ...
Think Like a Consumer Psychologist: Analyze an Advertisement This is a "Think Like a Social Psychologist" activity worth 20 points. Overview: The theories and research from social psychology are often applied in practical ways to inform fields like healthcare, education, business, and policy. One such applied area is consumer psychology. Consumer psychology is the application of psychological theories and research to understand consumer preferences and behaviors. Consumers are humans. As such, everything we've learned about human information processing, cognitive biases, decision-making, and behaviors can be applied to better understand consumers/customers/clients. This activity will invite you to think like a consumer psychologist to analyze an advertisement. Learning Objectives: Application of Social Psychology: Students will gain insight into the factors that impact their own consumer decision-making processes using principles of social psychology. Understanding Attitude Formation and Change: Students will evaluate advertisements to identify how the behavioral-, cognitive-, and affective-routes to attitude formation and change are are implicated in consumer behavior and advertising campaigns. Evaluation of Psychological Techniques: Students will identify and assess psychological techniques used in advertising, such as cognitive dissonance and persuasive strategies. Career Insights: Students will explore career paths in consumer psychology and understand the application of psychological principles in marketing and advertising. To Participate: Prepare by Learning about Consumer Psychology: To perform this activity well, be sure you are familiar with the concepts below. Use all of the links and resources below to explore each concept in more detail than our textbook includes. QUICK LISTEN - How can psychology help understand trends in consumer behaviors? As we've seen throughout the semester, social factors, such as our mood or the number of other people present, can shape our thinking and behavior in ways that we aren't even aware of. Listen to the short (3:29) NPR segment below for an example of consumer psychology research investigating how our attitudes toward our romantic partner can shape our consumer decisions. VISIT, EXPLORE, & THINK - What kinds of careers could you apply your understanding of social psychology toward? People with degrees in social or consumer psychology work in a variety of context. Below are a couple of examples with links to learn more about each. Visit the links & take time to watch the videos (at the top of the page), look at the skills needed, and consider how an understanding of social psychology would be valuable to someone with this job. Public relations managers do for companies what each of us does for our own identity - help to define and maintain an identity that is consistent with our values and how we want to be perceived by others. Market researchers apply the behavioral research skills and statistical analysis training from a psychology degree to research the consumers that make up the market and offering guidance on advertising and campaign strategies. Find an Advertisement to Analyze & Share: Find a print ad or video/commercial to share with the class. Be prepared to analyze the ad using the prompts provided below (review them in advance of selecting your ad). As an example, I've provided a Febreeze ad below. Note how the ad attempts to create uncertainty (i.e., cognitive dissonance) in the potential consumer about the smell of their own home. They then suggest their product as a means of reducing that uncertainty/dissonance. By doing so, they appear to be using the cognitive-route to attitude formation. They are trying to get the consumer to hold the belief that their home may have bad smells that the resident is unaware of and to hold the belief that their product, Febreeze, will effectively remedy the problem. Explain the psychological mechanisms at work in the advertising strategy. Participate in Discussion Board: Share Your Post (Worth 10 points): Share the advertisement in a way that will allow classmates to view it without navigating away from the discussion thread. Embed the video/commercial or upload the print advertisement directly into your post to our discussion thread. Analyze the advertisement using the prompts below. Reply to both prompts in your initial discussion thread post. Prompt 1: Analyze whether the advertisement is attempting to influence attitudes through the behavioral-, cognitive-, or affective-route to attitude formation and change. Explain your choice and provide specific evidence. Prompt 2: Identify and comment on a specific psychological aspect of the advertisement, considering questions such as: Does it seek to create or help reduce cognitive dissonance in the potential consumer? Does it seek to create a social comparison for the consumer? If so, what kind and what is the goal? Does it make use of the foot-in-the-door or door-in-the-face technique? Is it an example of propaganda? View & Comment on TWO Classmates' Posts (Worth 10 points): View and comment on at least two classmates' posts. Your comment should meaningfully extend the discussion about the post. For example, you could comment on another psychological aspect of the ad, or you could comment on similarities between the ad they shared and one shared by another classmate. Go beyond simply indicating liking or agreement. Note, if you're one of the first to participate, you may have to return later once others have posted.
