How Marketing Manipulates Our Preferences

Whether people will indulge or be prudent with their money is not necessarily based on personality type or education, but may be strongly influenced by advertising and other environmental cues, according to two studies recently presented at the Academy of Consumer Research Conference in Pittsburgh.



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 advertisement 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," says Dr. Ein-Gar of Tel-Aviv University. "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 advertisers should determine if their product is "now" or "future" oriented, then position it to fit that mindset. For chocolate, red sports cars or Club Med hedonism vacations, advertisers should appeal to a "being" mindset and suggest immediate gratification. However, products with future benefits like gym memberships, mutual funds or health foods should appeal to the "becoming" mindset, using ads that trigger one's desire for a brighter future.



The study found it is also easy — over the long term and with frequent repetition — for advertisers to shift a mindset radically. Companies can benefit from playing up the difference between a person's current self and who they'd like to become, so consumers should be aware it's not that hard to have their preferences manipulated. That's where advertising is most powerful.



"Manipulating people to maintain an ongoing state of mind is hard to do successfully, but manipulating them into a temporal mindset is easier. Using this approach, companies can be very successful in manipulating you to buy their products, especially in cases where the purchase decision is made spontaneously, like grabbing a snack at the store. Also beware: companies can influence your mindset and affect your pocket book if you're not careful," Dr. Ein-Gar warns.



Conversely, researchers were also able to show that advertising can benefit consumers, especially when it promotes healthy eating or wiser decisions about money. "The U.S. Army used the 'Be All You Can Be' slogan for more than 20 years," Dr. Ein-Gar reminds us. "It induced a 'becoming' mindset that encouraged young people to think of long-range goals as they considered a career in the military."