Advertisers use various psychological techniques to manipulate consumers into buying products, from appealing to emotions to exploiting vulnerabilities. They seek to elicit automatic reactions by targeting what elicits responses in consumers, and aim to prevent critical thinking about ads. Common strategies include pulling at heartstrings with emotional appeals, planting seeds of fear or insecurity, using humor and amusement, targeting specific audiences like teens and children, and exploiting senses like sight and smell. The goal is to form positive associations with products without consumers realizing they are being influenced.

1. How Advertising Manipulates Us
From pulling at our heart strings to seducing our brains
cc: brighter than sunshine - h0ps://www.flickr.com/photos/94321631@N00
By: Felicia Sauve

2. We all wonder how they get us so easily
Its by knowing
what will elicit a
reaction out of
consumers, that
advertisers can
target these
areas and get us
to buy their
product.
CC: Pixabay- Barnimages

3. Advertisers want us to not think
cc: falequin - h0ps://www.flickr.com/photos/61314442@N03
Advertisers know that if we aren't
prepared to think, like we often
aren't when reading a magazine
or watchingTV, we will accept any
suggestions offered to us. (4)

4. Advertising Strategies
CC: Flickr- Half an hour of web ads- Daniel Oines 94e122d7333da36bc8f2af34ad336507
How do all of these ads affect us?

5. cc: judy_and_ed - h0ps://www.flickr.com/photos/65924740
Pulling at
our heart
strings
Playing with our emotions
by showing us cute animals,
babies, children, or anything
that gives you the “aww”
reaction.

6. cc: HumongoNaLonphotogallery - h0ps://www.flickr.com/photos/9382228@N08
Appearing In-Stream
(Native Advertising)
Making the ad so subtle that we don't even notice they are trying to
sell us something.
However, secretive native advertising is negatively accepted by
consumers! (1)

7. CC:Wikimedia
Oreo on social media- No secrecy Native Advertising
With the daily twist series (100 pieces of creative Oreo
related content generated to celebrate their 100th
anniversary)- this led to Oreo having the 4th largest
fanbase on Facebook! (1)
HOW?
Sparked curiosity in consumers to see the next
creation

8. Planting a
seed of fear
or insecurity
in our minds
CC:Wikimedia- Antismoking PSA-Truth Campaign
Notice they are targeting teens!

9. Companies also use health scares to sell their products.
Lysol stated, during the swine flu scare, that their products “when
used for proper hygiene can help prevent the spread of illness”.
However, these products (hand sanitizers) have been shown to have
nothing to do with preventing against this flu (it is spread by tiny
droplets in the air that are passed from the infected person to
another). (8)
CC:Wikimedia

10. cc: Marianne O'Leary - h0ps://www.flickr.com/photos/27298961@N00
Advertising for a Cause
Makes the ad seem more human and caring
BUT are often less generous than they seem… Only 8% of the
NFL’s pink merchandise sales were going to fund breast cancer
research, the main purpose of the advertising. (6)

11. Content Marketing (makes you want to use their product)
CC:Wikimedia

12. Content that is too
brand or product
oriented does not do
well on the internet, but
if the content entertains,
tells a story or teaches
the user something then
it will be shared
amongst consumers. (3)

13. Following Trends
and Using Social
Media
CC: Pixabay- Pixelkult
Another well played advertising strategy by Oreo, was using Twitter to
advertise during the Super Bowl blackout, stating “Power out? No problem,
you can still dunk in the dark”. (2)

14. Using Humour and Amusement
CC: Pexels
Everyone loves a good laugh, which is why it works well to get
our attention.
Junk foods and
alcohol use this
technique often
to hide the fact
that their
products are
very unhealthy
for us.

15. General Mills, Kellogg’s and Post use games on their websites to push
their least nutritious cereals, by adding an entertainment aspect to the
brand. (6)
Amusement!

16. cc: TheNickster - h0ps://www.flickr.com/photos/49503073847@N01
Use of colours to make us feel a certain way
Use of scents to lure us in, our bodies create strong emotional ties to
certain satisfactory scents.
Axe body spray: “Scent is the strongest sense tied to memory”. (6)
Playing on
our senses

17. CC:Wikimedia Commons- Heilongleimai
Sex Sells
When seeing someone
attractive, our bodies
release a hormone that we
link as a positive feeling
with the product (7)
This is the most
used strategy for
advertisements!

18. Since 1983, % of ads using
sex to sell products
increased from 15% -27%
by 2003. (7)
Mainly used to sell
alcohol, entertainment
and beauty supplies
(But- also food products
too!)
CC: Flickr- See-ming Lee- Luxury Fragrance
Advertising / SML.20121214.SC.Gucci.Guilty.Ads
CC: Flickr- Absurd Burger King Ad-Mike Lewis

19. Target Audiences
CC: Flickr- joethegoatfarmer.com/bigger-audience-and-more-readers/
Teenagers:The most manipulative advertisements are aimed directly
at teenage girls rather than boys, as they are more likely to be
potential customers and more easily manipulated. (5)
Children: Use other children so they can relate easily and will want
what other children their age have.

20. Babies in the womb?
A study from Queen’s University found that babies will react to
theme songs that their pregnant mothers listened to often. (8)
Target Audiences
This gives advertising a whole new level- with the possibility
of reaching more than one generation at the same time!

21. Works Cited:
1. Campbell, C. & Marks, L. (2015). Good native advertising isn’t a
secret. Sciencedirect.com.proxy.queensu.ca. Retrieved 20
October 2016, from http://
www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.queensu.ca/science/article/pii/
S0007681315000841
2. Krashinsky, S. (2014). Super Bowl advertising won’t wait for
commercial breaks.The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 21 October
2016, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
industry-news/marketing/super-bowl-advertising-wont-wait-for-
commercial-breaks/article16614167/
3. Toole, C. Brands as publishers: Inside the content marketing
trend. Curve.gettyimages.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016, from
http://curve.gettyimages.com/article/brands-as-publishers-inside-
the-content-marketing-trend
Course Readings

22. Works Cited:
4. Dachis,A. (2011). How Advertising ManipulatesYour Choices and Spending Habits
(and What to Do About It) Retrieved 18 October 2016, from http://lifehacker.com/
5824328/how-advertising-manipulates-your-choices-and-spending-habits-and-
what-to-do-about-it
5. Diaz, M. (2011). Manipulation ofTeenagersThrough Advertising:A Critical
Discourse Approach. Retrieved 19 October 2016, from http://file:///Users/
MacOwner/Downloads/Dialnet-
ManipulationOfTeenagersThroughAdvertising-4779360.pdf
6. Florence, N. (2014). Advertising Strategy: Most Effective Advertising Strategies
Retrieved 18 October 2016, from https://blog.udemy.com/advertising-strategy/
7. Pappas, S. (2012). Sexy Advertising On the Rise. Live Science. Retrieved 18
October 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/20773-sexy-advertising-
increasing.html
8. Tartakovsky, M. How Marketers Manipulate Us to Buy, Buy, Buy.World of
Psychology. Retrieved 20 October 2016, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/
archives/2011/11/07/how-marketers-manipulate-us-to-buy-buy-buy/
External Sources