1. PERSUASION SOCIAL INFLUENCE & COMPLIANCE GAINING
Robert H. Gass & John S. Seiter

2. Chapter 15
Esoteric Persuasion

3. COLOR AND PERSUASION Color has symbolic meaning
At birth, girls are wrapped in pink blankets, boys in blue
Patriotic colors
Executives wear “power “colors
Fans identify with sports teams through color
Jobs are categorized as “white collar,” “blue collar,” “green collar,” “pink collar,” etc.
Colors have attitudinal associations
In old westerns, good guys wear white hats, bad guys wear black
Brides wear white to symbolize purity
Red is associated with sexiness
Black attire signifies formality
Going “green” is trendy and eco-conscious

4. SEEING RED Attitudinal associations with the color red
A red dress is associated with sexiness
The “red pen” effect in grading papers
Stereotypes about redheads or “gingers”
Red is associated with danger, hazards, warnings
A red cross symbolizes a hospital
Subbotina Anna/Shutterstock.com;
Lamai Prasitsuwan/Shutterstock.com

5. COLOR AND PERSUASION--continued
Color and branding: trademarked colors are associated with specific brands
Mac and white laptops
McDonald’s golden arches
Susan G. Komen foundation pink ribbon
 Jarretera / Shutterstock.com

6. COLOR AND EMOTION We often equate colors with moods seeing red
green with envy
feeling blue
tickled pink
white as a sheet
Ambient colors can affect moods, emotions
Primary colors: bold, lively, energetic
Pastels: calming, relaxing
Warm colors; red, yellow, orange
Cool colors; blue, green, purple
xtock/Shutterstock.com

7. SUBLIMINAL INFLUENCE—historical background
James Vicary claimed to have flashed the words “eat popcorn” and “Drink Coca-Cola” on a movie screen. He claimed popcorn sales increased 58% and Coke sales increased 18%. Vicary’s experiment was never successfully replicated. He later acknowledged the study was a hoax (Advertising Age, 1962).
Drink Coke
Eat popcorn
DR-images/Shutterstock.com

8. SUBLIMINAL INFLUENCE Types of subliminal messages
Embedded images: pictures or words that are hidden or flashed quickly (in 100ths of a second)
Sub-audible messages: sounds or words that are too faint to be heard, or are played at extremely high frequencies
Electronically altered signals: backward masking and other voice alterations

9. METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS
Few if any studies have documented any lasting effects from subliminal stimuli
Evidence to date suggests there is no commercial viability
lack of control groups
lack of double-blind procedures
possibility of bias or cueing
lack of replication
lack of rigorous “blind” review

10. SUBLIMINAL PRIMING
Subliminal priming has been well documented in controlled laboratory settings.
Stimuli can be perceived or processed without conscious awareness.
Priming can produce changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behavior.
Commercial applications of subliminal priming have not been demonstrated.
Flashing “Starbucks” will not make a consumer buy that brand of coffee.

11. SUBLIMINAL PRIMING
Priming occurs when a word is flashed quickly, then masked or covered up.
The primed word is shown too quickly to be consciously recognized.
The mask is removed and subjects see how quickly they recognize the word.
Subjects who are primed recognize the word faster than subjects who are not primed.
Importance of prior need or drive

12. SUBAUDIBLE MESSAGES
There is no proof that subaudible messages (too faint to hear) have any effects on behavior
Claims of weight loss, higher esteem, etc. can be explained by the placebo effect

13. BACKWARD MASKING & REVERSE SPEECH
There is no proof that reversed speech or “backward masked” recordings have any effect on behavior
The mere presence of backward vocals on records does not prove their effectiveness

14. NEUROLINGUISTIC PROCESSING (NLP)
NLP is touted by motivational speakers and self-help books
Proponents claim that certain words possess nearly hypnotic power
People supposedly rely on internal representations which favor one sense over another
Words can appeal to visual, kinesthetic (tactile and visceral), auditory, olfactory, gustatory (taste) senses
Claims made about NLP
Representational systems can be “read” via nonverbal cues or “accessing cues”
A person who looks up is relying on visual processing
A person who looks horizontally is relying on auditory processing

15. NEUROLINGUISTIC PROCESSING (NLP)
There is no evidence that certain words have a hypnotic effect on people
The direction of a person’s gaze is not a reliable sign of his/her thinking process
7 out of 8 studies examining a link between information processing and eye movements found no evidence supporting NLP’s predictions (Witkowski, 2012, p. 36).
“the vast majority of research studies have not supported either the fundamental tenets or the techniques of NLP” (Witkowski, 2012, p. 37)

16. MUSIC AND ITS INFLUENCE
background music can
affect shopping pace
enhance moods
improve task performance
function as both a central and peripheral cue.
Music is widely used in advertising.
The mere exposure effect
Repeated exposure to a novel stimulus, such as a jingle, increases liking for the stimulus.
Music as a mnemonic device
“Like a good neighbor________ is there”
“break me off a piece of that _________ bar”
background music
affects mood, shopping behavior
risk of habituation (desensitization)

17. FRAGRACES AND AMBIENT AROMAS
The fragrance industry is selling romance in a bottle.
Fragrances function as peripheral cues.
Studies on the effectiveness of fragrances are mixed.
Aromas have been shown to:
alter moods
improve task performance
make shoppers linger in stores

18. HUMANS AND SMELL Odor “means” many things. It functions as:
a sexual attractant
a boundary-marker, distance maintainer
a status symbol
a method of identity management
a cultural marker

19. CULTURE AND SMELL
Preferences for smells are highly idiosyncratic, or individualized.
There is probably no universal agreement on what smells good or bad
Americans’ disdain for body odor
cow dung as a hair care product in Africa
Culture and social conditioning teach individuals what smells to like or dislike.

20. BACKGROUND FRAGRANCE AND PERSUASION
Ambient aromas and consumer behavior
(Crow, 1993) Nike shoe study
Helping behavior
Shoppers at a mall were twice as likely to help a stranger in the presence of pleasant odors like roasting coffee or baking cookies.
Driving behavior
A pleasant fragrance significantly reduced aggressive driving behavior compared to no fragrance.
Medical applications of aroma
Pleasant aromas can reduce anxiety and stress associated with medical tests MRIs, CAT scans, etc.)

21. FRAGRACES AND AMBIENT AROMAS
Caveats and cautions
Smell preferences are highly idiosyncratic.
Overreliance on smells could produce desensitization.
Smells may result in counter-conditioning (boomerang effect)
Some people are sensitive to smells (allergies, gag reflexes, etc.)