Advertising VooDoo is a series of articles that explore neuroscience and psychology of what makes advertising work.
One definition of advertising is “… a form of communication used to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services.”
Advertising is everywhere. Sometimes its recognizable – commercials on TV and radio; ads in magazines; text, banner, and video ads online. Some its less recognizable. Menus, signage, store layout and design, landscaping, location are all advertising in that they communicate information in an attempt to persuade an audience to take an action.
Our culture is so drenched in advertising that it has become invisible to us – like the individual leaves on a tree. We are so habituated to all its elements that advertising has become just another part of the background noise of our everyday lives. But it affects us. Often in profound ways.
Advertising Is A Mind Hack.
Advertising can exert such a fundamental influence on us that it can change behavior, ideology, and beliefs. How/ Why? Because it takes advantage of common, hard-wired psychological mechanisms that have evolved over eons to help our species survive. Successful advertising hacks into these mechanisms, hijacks them, and puts them to use to influence behavior.
The series of posts that will follow will offer insights into how this works. Some of the posts will be more practical, others will be more academic, but all will relate to the psychology and neuroscience of advertising.
Advertising Voodoo Articles
Advertising VooDoo #1: Incongruous Information = Stopping Power
Advertising VooDoo #2: Information Incongruency Applied
Advertising Voodoo #3: The Exposure Effect
Advertising Voodoo #4: Right Isn’t Always Right
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