Researchers unveil psychology of ads that prompt you to buy

WASHINGTON - If you won a million dollars today, what would you do? Say sayonara to your boss and head to Bora Bora, or invest your new found wealth in sound projects?

Your answer may not be so clear-cut, says a new research by Danit Ein-Gar of Tel Aviv University (TAU) Recanati Graduate School of Business Studies.

She and her American colleague Camille Su Lin Johnson found that whether you’ll indulge or be prudent is not necessarily based on your personality type or education, but may be strongly influenced by advertising and other environmental cues.

This research is the first to quantify the effect of advertising on personal desires using these parameters.

In their studies of about 500 participants, the researchers divided consumers into two mindsets.

The being mindset was related to one’s current state in life, while the becoming mindset reflected a desire to think of one’s future goals.

The researchers showed volunteers an ad that induces a being state of mind, using a simple slogan like, Think of who you are right now.

Advertisements with this approach were successful in attracting consumers to products like chocolate.

But those volunteers who read future-oriented ads using a simple slogan like, Think of who you will become in the future,” before embarking on a grocery run, were more likely to choose healthy products, such as fruits and granola bars.

In another study, the subjects were told they had won $1,000. Those identified as having a becoming mindset elected to buy practical products such as textbooks with the money, while those in the being mindset said they’d purchase indulgent products such as a plasma TV.

Sometimes we are goal-driven and sometimes we are self-indulgent, Ein-Gar says of her conclusions.

But we’ve established that simple advertising cues can shift your mindset from one category to the other. It can determine how you shop in the supermarket, choose a snack, evaluate a new car or invest your family’s fortune.

To be most effective, Ein-Gar says advertisers should determine if their product is now or future oriented, then position it to fit that mindset, according to a university release.

These findings were presented at the Academy of Consumer Research Conference in Pittsburgh.