Research Paper Sample: The Psychology of Advertising

Introduction

The print and electronic media are often designed to invoke an emotional sense in the listeners and readers. Businesses also construct their advertisements to represent not only some psychological issues in the society but also to challenge them. In a Cadillac commercial shown in an Oscars broadcast, the company decided to confront the discrimination that it perceives to exist in the US. The commercial tactically avoids being political but attacks some of the political ideals without becoming controversial or spurring up intense debates. In the sixty-second ad, it states, “That's what they tell us, right? This chasm between us…” It then advances a positive message that What they don't tell us is that we carry each other forward, no matter who we are, or what we believe, or where we come from (Carry Cadillac 2017).

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Inspiration and Motivation in Advertising

The Cadillac advertising serves multiple roles of inspiring the Americans, blasting the cases of division among its society, and invoking the mentality of all Americans to the possibilities that lie ahead given a commitment to embrace unity (Tartakovsky, 2011). It asserts the position of businesses to engage in the current national conversations within which they operate (Heath, 2012). At the beginning of the commercial, an average person starts by bluntly saying, We are a nation divided (Carry Cadillac 2017). This statement triggers the audience to be attentive to understand the issues that the advertisement considers as wedges that tear America apart.

Psychological Effects of Advertising: Cadillac Advertising Strategy

Though the ad seems to be political, it is psychological in the sense that it influences the civilians to shy away from the divisive state of affairs being promoted by some of the inconsiderate leaders. Therefore, it is transcendent of the political debate rather than getting involved in it. Cadillac is a motor vehicle manufacturing company thus the relevance of its advert that mentions it as carrying leaders, lovers and most importantly ideas (Heath, 2012). In this context, the commercial inspires the need for tolerance and prevention of discrimination, which is a mental construct. By acknowledging the real division, it arouses the people to act on changing the rhetoric and forming a cohesive society that accommodates all and sundry without undue prejudice.

Behavioral Advertising: How It Works

The commercial encapsulated the history of American division, which is not only a current issue but had existed even during its reconstruction, civil war, and civil rights movement. Nonetheless, recollecting these failures in light of the American Dream, Cadillac succeeds in placing its brand at the center of unity for the better. It operates within the concepts of cognitive psychology in which it frames human actions because of what is happening in their minds. For instance, the thoughts of division incline people to disunity while inclusivity leads to joy and unitedness (Tartakovsky, 2011). The behavioral targeted advertising relates with the behavioral theory, which focuses on actions as resulting from learning and reinforcement of the learned behavior. For instance, it views that divisive forces impose on the Americans a mentality of disunity, but then the advert debunks the destructive ideas and focuses on fostering selflessness, and human interactions among the populace.

Conclusion

While the Cadillac commercial reminds the Americans of the divisions that threaten the country, it also shows images that trigger hope and possibility of a united society. As the ad shows images of America gripped in troubling civil strife, it also expresses the incredibility of support in helping one another and overcoming challenges as a returning soldier happily embraces his daughter and the Hurricane Katrina rescue mission. It then summarizes its message by affirming, We may not be the same, but we can be one (Carry Cadillac 2017).

References

Carry Cadillac 2017 Oscars Commercial. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SB4CbFB7OUHeath, R. (2012). Seducing the subconscious: The psychology of emotional influence in advertising. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

Tartakovsky, M. (2011). The Psychology of Advertising. Psychcentral. com. Encontrado en: http://psychcentral. com/blog/archives/2011/02/15/the-psychology-ofadvertising.