Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer

Just how does advertising work? This text takes the reader into the mind of the consumer, explaining how and why advertising messages do or do not work. The authors aim to unravel the mysteries that surround the art of advertising by sharing their own commercial insights.

Review published in The Australasian Journal of Psychology

This is how the book was reviewed in TheAustralasian Journal of Psychology Vol.48 No2 1996 pp107 This is not a textbook. but an A5 size paperback. The contents are weighty and important. Yet the writing style is accessible to all, The book is in two parts: Part A - for the interested general public Part B - for advertising and marketing professionals. In Part A. Sutherland looks into the myths and mechanisms of advertising: for example, how advertising uses positively charged features for positioning, and negatively charged features to reposition opposition!

Other mechanisms include; making brands into symbols, badges of identity,communication by association’, learning .without awareness, conformity and the bandwagon effect ads as mini-dramas identifying, with a character immersion and empathy. It seems clear to me that we are dealing with a powerful technology. 1 must, therefore point out the author’s rather disingenuous remarks when he claims that most advertising agencies don’t really understand how ads work or which ads will work..

In a similar vein his disclaimer that advertisements don’t persuade anybody to do anything they merely “influence the order in which we evoke or notice the alternatives we consider.” (p. 19) Part B reviews “What Works, What Doesn’t . and Why.” And it is all solid, practical material for anybody who has the responsibility to spend an advertising dollar effectively. One should learn to ask questions like: Does advertising work in this market’? and What type of advertising’? Maximising ad effectiveness is given a full chapter. “Planning campaign strategies around consumer’s mental filing,, cabinets” merits a chapter. as does the “Measurement of advertising effects in memory.” Other topics of obvious relevance to psychological science: “positioning for cognitive consistency” and “learning to use 15-sccond TV commercials, memory activation vs. new learning.”

For readers interested strictly from the business point of view, there is competent discussion of, what happens when advertising stops. belt-tightening strategies such as ‘drip’ media usage. challenges in advertising durable goods vs. repeat purchase supermarket products. Target Audience Rating Points (TARPS): ad execution and flighting, This is all interesting and solid material, presented by a very experienced professional. Sutherland is the Director of MarketMind Technologies Pty Ltd.; Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Monash University: and a principal of Sutherland Smith Pty Ltd. one of the top ten market research companies in Australia. The concluding chapter is entitled “The Buy-ology of Mind.”

The books conclusion informs us that “when we die we will have spent an estimated 1.5 years, just watching TV commercials.”.(p.225). Sutherland has gone a long way with this volume to demystify the effects of advertising. This was his goal. But the increasing power and persuasiveness, of this applied psychological technology also should be considered from a consumer and societal point of reference. After all. the interests of Coke and British Petroleum are not necessarily incongruent with yours. mine. and the community’s. Guruneel Singh Khalsa Goodman, 3HO Foundation.

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