Transcript Tobacco, Alcohol, Violence and the Media: The Challenge for

Frogs Sell Beer:
The
Psychology of
Advertising and
the Problem
with Health
Education
Douglas A. Gentile
October 2003
• How many of you think
advertisements affect people a lot?
• How many of you think
advertisements affect YOU a lot?
A True Example
• You’re an advertiser who has been asked to
come up with a campaign for cigarettes
• 5 problems to overcome
Estimated Sales of Camels to
Smokers under 18 Years
$476,000,000
$500,000,000
$450,000,000
$400,000,000
$350,000,000
$300,000,000
$250,000,000
$200,000,000
$150,000,000
$100,000,000
$50,000,000
$6,000,000
$0
Jan. 1988
DiFranza, Richards, Paulman, Wolf-Gillespie, Fletcher, Jaffe, et al (1991)
Year
July 1989
Advertising
• What are ads trying to get us to do?
– To change your behavior, I have to get into your
head and make you want to change your behavior
How many brains
do we each have?
The Triune
Brain
• Stem: Regulates
basic body
functions
• Limbic System:
Emotion center
• Cortex: Complex
thought
Diagram from Carter (1998). Mapping the mind. p. 33
Advertising
• The art and science of values education
• The goal of advertisers is to motivate us to
change our behavior
Advertising
The Four-Step Process
1. Build brand awareness
2. Build brand preference
3. Product purchase/use
4. Build brand loyalty
Psychology of Advertising
• Two categories of psychological “tricks”
advertisers use:
– Emotion
– Unconscious “Shortcuts”
5 Roles Emotion Plays in How Our
Minds Work
• Attention
• Memory
• Attitudes
• Motivation
• Behavior
Unconscious Influence
• Many things that influence us are not at a
conscious level
• Our brains take “shortcuts” to make us
efficient
– Definition of Intelligence
Golden Rule of Influence
The most effective influence is when
you don’t know I’m trying to
influence you.
Four Types of Shortcuts
1. Authority Principle
2. Identification Principle
3. Contrast Principle
4. Humor
Thinking about risk factors:
Why do you get the grades you
do?
Why do you get the grades you do?
All other reasons
14%
Study
30%
Interest
10%
Health
1%
Teacher Quality
10%
Attention
20%
IQ
15%
Risk Factors
50%
30%
Risk Factors
50%
30%
Risk Factors
1%
50%
30%
Risk Factors
1%
50%
30%
Previous Research
• It has been estimated that children view
almost 2,000 beer ads on TV each year (AAP, 1995)
• Research has found a consistent ~.20
correlation between advertising exposure and
intention to drink or actual drinking (e.g., Atkin, Hocking,
& Block, 1984; Strickland, 1983; Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999)
Research Method
• Surveyed 1,588 7th -12th
graders
• 3 junior high schools, 2 high
schools in MN & NY
• Mean age = 15.2 (sd = 1.45,
range 12 - 19)
• Response rate > 90% in all
classrooms
Replicating Previous Findings
• Correlation between intention to drink beer
as an adult and
– Amount of sports programming watched
r = .21, p < .001
– Amount of weekly television viewing
r = .19, p < .001
Step 1: Brand Awareness
• Correlation between Ad Budgets and:
– Unaided Awareness
– Aided Awareness
Top 5 Brands
Budweiser/Bud Light
MGD/Miller Lite
Coors/Coors Light
Corona/Corona Extra
Heineken
r = 0.73
r = 0.71
98-99 Budget
$492,232,000
$262,362,400
$224,239,800
$53,503,100
$49,594,400
% Heard of
99%
97%
90%
65%
79%
Step 2: Brand Preference
• Correlation between Ad Budgets and:
– Personal Brand Preference
– Brand Status/Prestige
Top 5 Brands
Budweiser/Bud Light
MGD/Miller Lite
Coors/Coors Light
Corona/Corona Extra
Heineken
Preference
28%
8%
1%
4%
3%
r = 0.66
r = 0.72
Status
47%
15%
9%
6%
4%
Step 3: Brand Usage
• Correlation between Ad Budgets and
– Brand Usage
Top 5 Brands
Budweiser/Bud Light
MGD/Miller Lite
Coors/Coors Light
Corona/Corona Extra
Heineken
r = 0.79
Personally
Consumed
44%
39%
22%
20%
20%
Step 4: Brand Loyalty
• Correlation between Ad Budgets and
– Brand Loyalty
Top 5 Brands
Budweiser/Bud Light
MGD/Miller Lite
Coors/Coors Light
Corona/Corona Extra
Heineken
r = 0.63
Own
Product
54%
6%
9%
10%
1%
Predictors of Adolescents' Intention to Drink
(N = 1,588)
Positive Drinking
Beliefs 14%
Number of Sports
Programs Watched 1%
Number of Beer Brands
Recalled Unaided 5%
Amount of TV Watched 1%
Number of Beer Brands
Recognized 4%
Unexplained
Variance
52%
Frequency Friends Drink 5%
Friends' Approval 5%
Parents' Approval 1%
Frequency Parents Drink 4%
Negative Drinking Beliefs 3%
Sex 4% Age 1%
Predictors of Adolescents'
Frequency of Drinking
(N = 1,588)
Number of Beer Brands
Recognized 5%
Frequency Friends
Drink 21%
Number of Beer
Brands Recalled
Unaided 5%
Positive Drinking
Beliefs 11%
Friends' Approval 9%
Parents' Approval 4%
Frequency Parents Drink 1%
Negative Drinking Beliefs 1%
Sex 1%
Age 3%
Unexplained
Variance
39%
Risk Factors
1%
50%
30%
Risk Factors
25%
50%
30%
Risk Factors
25%
50%
30%
Three Problems for Health Educators
#1
• By the end of high school, children have
spent twice as much time in front of the
television as in school
• We need to have innovative delivery systems
for health care and health information
Michael Rich, MD, MPH
Three Problems for Health Educators
#2
• Often in the design or delivery of health
education, we do not pay attention to what
captures children’s attention
Some Features That Children Attend To
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Action
Animals
Animation
Edits
Female voices
Funny voices; non-human voices
Humor
Music
Rapid tempo
Transitions (both visual and auditory)
Sound effects
Special effects (e.g., slow motion)
(Bickham, Wright, & Huston, 2001; Calvert, 1999; Grube, 1998)
Three Problems for Health Educators
#3
• Most health education is designed to provide
information
Target Market Anti-Tobacco Campaign
• Amnesty Day Television Ad
• Straight Face Television Ad
• Send it Back Television Ad
“In our lifetimes, we’ll never see
so much value created from a
single idea. It makes Budweiser
a brand for every culture, every
demographic, and every
community. It makes Budweiser
a younger, hipper, more
contemporary brand.”
August Busch IV
Vice President of Marketing
Affecting children’s beer brand
awareness, preferences, and
drinking behavior, that’s
“Whassup”