Advertising Techniques

Beauty Appeal

Celebrity Endorsement

Escape

It makes the potential customer believe that is they purchase the product then they can be a beautiful, happy and successful as the model or celebrity in the advert.

Celebrities have a fan base of their own who will potentially buy the product to be like their idols. Furthermore, people feel like they know and trust celebrities, so they trust the product by association.

People naturally want to escape from the monotony of their everyday life; some adverts manipulate this desire, and appeal to peoples love the exotic by using imagery of beautiful and exotic locations to advertise their products.

Independence/Individuality

Intelligence

Lifestyle

Adverts like this almost dare the viewer to have the individuality to make a statement by purchasing their product. Adverts like this work because people very often judge each other on the material goods they use, and everyone wants to be noticeable, so they by these products.

Advertisers can make people believe that their product can define you as a person and the way in which you lead your life. Products (like i-phones) are so engrained in peoples everyday lives, that the advertisers can appeal to this and make the viewer believe that they couldn’t be without their product.

Adverts like this point out the ‘smart’ elements of the product to the potential customer, so that they have no doubt in their mind that the product makes sense and will improve their lives. Furthermore, it inflates the would-be customer’s ego that they can see and appreciate the intelligent design features of the product.

Nurture

Peer Approval

Rebel

Adverts like this appeal to a customer’s better nature, often making them feel guilty or obliged to buy the product, or donate to the charity. Most people are more inclined to spend money on something they feel is a good cause.

Adverts like this can make people feel like they are part of an exclusive group if they use the product in question. Adverts can manipulate people’s subconscious ‘mob-mentality, and make them feel like they need to buy the product or they will be ostracized by their peers.

Adverts like this are the opposite of the ‘peer approval’ category; ‘rebel’ adverts dare people to defy normality and be unique. Adverts like this usually appeal to younger people who want to stand out from the crowd, as the product in the advert is being presented as something that is different to the rest: unique.

Rhetorical Question

Scientific / Statistical Claim

Unfinished Comparison / Claim

Rhetorical questions are questions that don’t need answering, because everybody really knows the answer. So, advertisers use them to force people to consider the answer thoroughly, and reflect upon the answer accordingly. Rhetorical questions in adverts are usually there to ‘guilt-trip’ potential customers into parting with their money.

People feel more confident in buying something that has actually been proven to work, so many adverts use positive figures from opinion polls e.g ‘9 out 10 women said they would recommend this product to a friend’. Would-be customers generally have more confidence in adverts that claim that there is a science behind the design of their product, as scientific fact is supposed to be unbiased and true.

Adverts like this rely on the fact that people wont think deeper into the advert, and that they will accept their unproven claims. Instead of solid fact these adverts use implication to make people believe that their products are superior to others, or that life is better for people who use their products.