Hey you, right there! I have a question for you. Don't you at all think it's a little wrong that advertising companies like to play with our minds. They place us all into a different category based on our income, social values, likes, dislikes, our age, our ethnicity and our gender. Advertisers have a certain way to play with our minds. They infuse with targeted messages in their commercials and adds to make us buy their products. They do this in surprisingly simple manner with colour theory, advertising techniques and lets not forget the oh so powerful
VALS. They do serve a great purpose in advertising, but shouldn't they try to get us to purchase without all the mind games? What happened to truth in advertising? I am going to talk about a few different techniques they use to captivate us during their adds.
VALS
Here we go, first up are VALS. They set adults into eight distinct groups "using a specific set of psychological traits and key demographics that drive consumer behaviour .... The combination of motivations and resources determines how a person will express himself or herself in the marketplace as a consumer."
This is the basic "US" Framework for the VALS. Those are the eight categories; Innovators, Thinkers, Believers, Achievers, Strivers, Experiencers, Makers and last but not least Survivors. In each of these categories are certain things each group of people would prefer. May it be wine over bear or even a hybrid car over a Luxes How morally wrong is this? You shouldn't have to have a certain target group. You should make your product appealing to everyone. Money has corrupted us, but that's a whole different subject.
Check the VALS out for yourself:
COLOUR THEORY
All the colours of the rainbow are very pleasing to the eye, especially in television and magazine advertisements. I have recently discovered in class that each colour has a certain effect on you, your mind, and what you purchase. This is another way advertisers achieve the ultimate number of customers. They use the right colour set in the adds that they produce to give the proper effect on our minds. They trick us with colour. Each colour has a certain "target audience" and meaning.
The colours they use:
Red: Symbolises energy, power, vitality and vigour. Its effect is that it increases your heart rate and breathing. It is known to cause hunger. The target audience is everyone.
Green: Symbolises health, well being and environmental friendliness. Its effect is that it makes you feel nurtured and tranquil. The target audience is also everyone.
Blue: Symbolises formality and elegance in products. Its effect is that it increases the concentration ability. The target audience is again everyone.
Yellow: Symbolises happiness, energy, and rejuvenation. It is eye catching but sometimes fatiguing to the eye. The target audience is children.
Purple: Symbolises elegance. Its effect is that it gives quality to a cheaper product. The target audience is women and bargain hunters.
Orange: Symbolises "shoddy cheapness" in a product. Its effect is that it stimulates appetite. The target audience is everyone.
Pink: Symbolises sweetness and angelic cherubs. It has a calming effect. The target audience is girls. (Men often find pink an irritating reminder of the female existence) :P
Black: Symbolises shiny expensive formality. The target audience is everyone.
White: Symbolises purity and cleanliness. Its effect is that it gives a calm look to anything. It is used a lot with cleaning products. The target audience is everyone.
Here are some sites that explain a little more about colour theory in advertising:
