People see commercials every day. While going to their job, they notice banners on the street, while working, they notice ads offering them to create an account in the most trusted online casino or pay for the cheapest VPN subscription. In both people, people believe in the proclamations they see in these ads. And the reason is simple: experts use some tricks to attract their target audience. These are the 3 most common methods you should know about.
Using the Right Characters
Advertising barely manages without people at all, and they are all there for a reason. Here are the most common types.
Celebrities
A popular person tells you that he eats this yogurt, washes his hair with this shampoo, takes these vitamins, feels great, and looks even better. And it seems to the customer that if he buys the advertised product, he can get close to a star. Of course, they don’t perform on the same stage, but they drink the same yogurt. And the vitamins will probably lead to smooth skin and big earnings.
But it’s worth remembering that a particular person appears in commercials because he’s already a star – without all the curds and shampoos.
Ordinary People
Housewives advertise washing powders, elderly people advertise medicines, and ordinary consumers evaluate products and enjoy their purchases. It’s a nice picture that aims to reduce critical attitudes toward the product. Would this nice mother, who has three children who once again soiled the knees of her pants in the grass, be lying? Of course she will, she’s getting paid for it.
Doctors and Experts
A recommendation from a person with a specialized education always sounds powerful. It can be a specific specialist, and the ads will include all his regalia. Or the advice will be hidden behind a general phrase like “Advised by the best ophthalmologists in the world”.
But when it comes to medications, cosmetic procedures, or therapeutic toothpaste, the specialist won’t give advice without seeing you. Besides, the advertising produces one-sided advice, and the product may have many analogues just as good, but cheaper.
Manipulation With Numbers
We are used to trusting the numbers because they are associated with facts that are easy to verify, and experiments that have shown such a result. But it is possible to manipulate numbers so that they mean nothing.
You’ve probably heard something like “Your hair is getting up to 50% stronger” a hundred times. Sounds good, but up to 50% is both 49% and 1%.
But even if the information about the numbers is given as correctly as possible, it’s worth reading the text under the asterisk, which should definitely be on the banner or in the video. Often it turns out that the staggering numbers are not the result of clinical trials at all. The product was simply handed out to a hundred users who thought it strengthened, whitened, nourished and laundered twice as well.
Incorrect Comparisons
“Lots of protein,” “twice as tasty,” “three times as good” – all these comparisons are interpreted unambiguously by buyers: the advertised product is the best in its niche. But once again, it all comes down to a footnote, under which the consumer will find disappointing information. In most cases, the product is compared to another manufacturer’s product.
Another trick is comparing it to the average product. Allegedly, the powder of this brand does a better job than the average one, and the footnote will say that the box without the name is filled with “a popular cheap powder.”
But such advertising says nothing at all: who knows what they are comparing their product to?
And of course, when hearing a comparison of “better” or “tastier,” it is worth remembering that subjective perception depends on the person, not the quality of the product.
