CLEVER TRICKS ADVERTISERS USE

We are constantly bombarded by adverts on a daily basis. It is estimated that a person living in a city 30 years ago saw around 2,000 ad messages a day, and this number is around 5,000 a day today. Advertisers are trying hard to entice us to spend money on their goods and services, and they do this by employing some clever tricks. There’s a battle out there against your wallet, and knowing these clever tricks can help you resist the urge advertisers try to create in you.

(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You probably like to think that you have a character fully developed to resist our basic urges. However, advertisers will create adverts that appeal to all or any of the seven deadly sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. Think about a car advert that suggests your neighbours will die to have your new wheels (envy), restaurant ads that offer you plenty of food for your dollar (gluttony) or perfume and aftershave commercials that promise you will become irresistible with their products.

(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If you find yourself really excited about a product or service, then an advert may have exploited your emotions. Advertisers try to excite your emotions such as hope, trust and pleasure. For instance, beauty brands can play on consumers’ self-consciousness and promise them better looks and better feelings. By using a celebrity in their ads, they earn your confidence in their product and make you want to try it at least once. Also, adverts that show people enjoying their lives because of using a certain product want to ensure that they have won your attention by exploiting your desire to be happier in life.

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This is also called the bandwagon effect. Advertisers know that many people want to do (or at least try) what most people do. That is why they want to make you think you are missing out by not having whatever they are advertising. Adverts like this try to exploit our desire to get accepted by others in society and not stand out in a freaky way. Also, we don’t normally want to look old-fashioned or backward. That is why advertisers try to make us think their new product is popular, hip and a sign of progress.