Module 12 Lesson 2.
Social Influences
Has this Ever Happened to You?
Has this ever happened to you? You are watching t.v. and a commercial comes on with an attractive spokesperson or celebrity and by the time they are done making their pitch you feel the need to purchase the product? For example, Samuel L. Jackson is pretty convincing when he asks, “What’s in your wallet?” as if to infer that in order to be a smart consumer you must have a Capital One card just like Mr. Jackson. The purpose of many commercials or advertisements is to convince you to buy their product, because everyone else has it or it is the cool thing to do or you need it in order to be productive, attractive, etc...
Assignment
For this assignment find two commercials or advertisements that each reflect a different concept from the list below. For example, if you find a tv commercial that reflects groupthink the second commercial or advertisement you pick must reflect a different concept from the list.
List: conformity, compliance, groupthink, deindividuation, obedience, stereotype
Your product:
- Using either t.v. commercials and/or ads you find in a magazine, newspaper, or online, provide an image of or a detailed description of the two that you picked
- For each of the ads and/or commercials answer the following questions
- Explain in detail how the ad/commercial reflects conformity, compliance, groupthink, deindividuation, stereotype, or obedience.
- In this lesson you learned about central & peripheral routes of persuasion. Advertisers use these techniques to get you to purchase products. Which one do you see reflected in your ad. Explain.
- What other kinds of techniques do advertising agencies use to get people to purchase products? (think audience, stereotypes, attractiveness, reliability of spokesperson, etc…)
- How easy was it to find these two ads? How prevalent is this type of advertising?
Advertisement 1: Kia Niro
Kia Niro / Hero’s Journey (United States)
Groupthink
In this commercial Melissa McCarthy is portrayed as a hero as she tries to save the environment at different levels. She is portrayed at a "Eco Warrier" and the message that is portrayed is that all Eco Warriors should drive the Kia Nio because it is eco friendly. This ad is an example of Peripheral persuasion because is a subtle way of convincing you to buy the car. There was not a lot of studies and facts used about the car. It uses comedy and a celebrity to convince you to buy the car. Many other adds use sex appeal to sell products. This is a common type of advertising.
Advertisement 2: DOPE Clothing
DOPE CLOTHING - SS//16 - Lookbook
Conformity
In this commercial many young teens who appear to be adventurous are wearing DOPE clothing. This is conforming the buyer to believe that buying and wearing DOPE clothing will make you cool and that this is the popular style of clothing. It also shows attractive people and suggests that if you wear these cloths then you can be attractive as well. This add also used Peripheral Persuasion. This add used beautiful people, sexy talking, and an emotional feeling of freedom and exploration. This is the most prevalent type of advertisement. Other types of advertisements would be playing on your emotions using cute babies or cute animals.