Science & Advertising: John B. Watson's Influence
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Photo by jingdianjiaju - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/42277175@N02 Created with Haiku Deck Abby Bartholomew, M.A. Frauke Hachtmann, Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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2014 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, Advertising Division, Montréal, Canada Abstract: Behaviorism as defined in 1913 by John B. Watson was a science that used repeated, observable human activity to develop hypotheses that would eventually predict and control responses. Through repeated experiments, Watson developed a thorough knowledge of what he defined as base human reactions. Stanley Resor, then president of J. Walter Thompson Agency, hired Watson to promote a partnership between advertising and science, and the subsequent 15 years of Watson’s career included some notable scientific contributions. This historical study shows that these outcomes set into motion industry-wide change that continued to develop until the present. The study also argues that though behavioristic principles may not have found solid footing in a mass media environment, the current networked communication state provides much more fertile ground for analyzing message receivers and eliciting desired responses.
Transcript of Science & Advertising: John B. Watson's Influence
Photo by jingdianjiaju - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/42277175@N02 Created with Haiku Deck
Abby Bartholomew, M.A. �Frauke Hachtmann, Ph.D.�University of Nebraska-Lincoln�
BEHAVIORISM �
“A science that uses repeated, observable human actvity to develop hypotheses that will eventually
predict and control responses.” �(John B. Watson) �
2014 AEJMC Annual Convention | Montreal, Canada�
PURPOSE �
1. To explore how a scientist started to apply his theories of behaviorism to a growing consumer-driven environment in the early twentieth century.�
2. To compare how the concepts of behaviorism are applied to advertising practice today. �
2014 AEJMC Annual Convention | Montreal, Canada�
SOURCE �
J. Walter Thompson Company Archives �John Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History�Special Collections Library�Duke University�
2014 AEJMC Annual Convention | Montreal, Canada�
THE DEVELOPMENT OF BEHAVIORISM �
• observable activity as predictor of actions�• experiments on infants: Baby Albert �• conditioning and unconditioning �• pragmatic/applied behaviorism�
Photo by jingdianjiaju - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/42277175@N02 Created with Haiku Deck
J. WALTER THOMPSON �
2014 AEJMC Annual Convention | Montreal, Canada�
• Stanley B. Resor, president, believed that human nature is largely predictable�
• Accountability to clients�• Integration of research into advertising best
practices�
�“I began to learn that it can be just as thrilling to watch the growth of a sales curve […] as to watch the learning curve of animals and men.” (John B. Watson) �
J. WALTER THOMPSON �
2014 AEJMC Annual Convention | Montreal, Canada�
• Branded radio broadcasts: toothpaste�• Power of brand loyalty: cigarettes�• Brand impage/personality: coffee�• Fear appeal: toilet paper �
Photo by jingdianjiaju - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/42277175@N02 Created with Haiku Deck
THEN AND NOW �
2014 AEJMC Annual Convention | Montreal, Canada�
• Branding�• Human resources�• Public relations�• Networked communications�• Measurement and analytics�
Photo by jingdianjiaju - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/42277175@N02 Created with Haiku Deck
