Psychology of Advertising and the Print Media

Advertising has been a form of glorifying or gaining publicity for goods and merchandise since very early times. In fact, advertising has been around as an informal concept since the beginning of civilizations and former methods were oral advertising or claiming the benefits of products verbally when merchants sold goods to people directly on the streets. However with the advent of paper and writing, advertising took a more formal shape.

With advertising becoming a business in itself, the methods of using advertisements became even more formalized, controlled and systematic and the advertisements for products started appearing as newspaper ads, on billboards, as handbills, leaflets, in magazines, and more recently on the internet.

The principles of advertising are largely based on cognitive psychology and the psychological processes of attention, perception, association and memory to bring out the complete impact or uses of a product or 'brand'.

Psychology is defined as the science of nature, functions and phenomenon of the human mind. The student of marketing must be aware of why people react to different situations and products. Knowing why humans behave in the manner they do, and why helps marketers to prepare effective advertisements.

Human needs fall into two basic categories, real and emotional. A real need is one that affects our actual physical existence, for example food. An emotional need is one that affects how we feel, for example cosmetics.

In a an attempt to relate psychology and human behaviour in the marketplace, Maslow’s hierarchy was developed.

Physiological/Biological Needs: Survival, which includes adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and rest. These needs must be met first before a person becomes interested in satisfying any other level of needs.

Need for Security: Once people have obtained a level of existence, they will seek to ensure the continuance of this existence. For example, fire and police protection and life and home Insurance.

Need to Belong: Once people have achieved a comfortable level of existence and assured that level will continue, they move to the next level of needs – belonging. Belonging and peer acceptance refers to the need to be part of an identifiable group. This could come from wearing the same fashions or possessing the same material goods.

Need for Esteem: Once accepted, most people wish to be noted for achieving something outstanding. Membership in exclusive clubs, owning the most expensive or fastest automobile, or wearing signature fashions

Need for Self-Fulfillment: Once people have satisfied all the previous levels of needs, they then seek to achieve an inner sense of fulfillment. They may join fitness activities or sports teams or enroll in self-interest courses

Every product sold will appeal to one of Maslow’s levels of needs and the advertisers must decide on the level to which it pertains.

The most successful formula in gaining a consumer’s willingness to act is referred to as the AIDA Formula. AIDA Formula A - Attention I - Interest D - Desire A - Action

Attention: The process of turning one’s mind to a particular activity. Unless the attention getting device is effective, the consumer may give scant attention or disregard it entirely.

Interest: Once attention is gained, it must be followed by interest. Interest maintains the focus of the consumer on the ad.

Desire: The ad must convince the consumer that it fulfills a particular need. The want must be changed to a need.

Action: Fulfilling the impulse to buy the product, usually giving you information as to where it is available.

Advertisements must be designed in such a way that effective attention is turned into a sense of interest, which in turn creates desire for the product and then the consumer goes out and purchases it (action). Example: “New Fall Fashions” (Attention) Model wearing the new fashions (Interest) Use of words to make the reader feel a need to physically go see the product (Desire) Logo, trademark, name, address where consumer can actually purchase item (Action)

Forms of Print Media: newspaper magazine flyers outdoor advertising mall posters bus shelters bill boards transit advertising direct mail