The Advertised Mind

Emotion is critical to advertising because it helps determine the depth of processing that takes place

Advertising works by establishing feelings, associations and memories in relation to a brand. These associations must come to mind when we think about a brand, ideally when we are considering a purchase, if they are to have any effect on our behaviour.

Emotion, by helping to stimulate and guide attention, helps to create and reinforce the associations created by advertising. This is a learning process, but not the one that we are used to from school. In the context of most advertising, particularly passively consumed media like television and cinema, learning is incidental not deliberate. This is why people tell you they are not influenced by advertising. They are not actively trying to take anything away from the experience, and therefore are not influenced at the time, but the effects will show up later, long after a particular viewing experience is forgotten.

Click on the highlights below to find out more:

• Emotion is critical to advertising because it is critical to all human thought
• Emotion is critical to advertising because it helps determine the depth of processing that takes place
• Depth of processing and repetition combine to establish new memories and feelings about a brand
• Brand equity is the sum of all feelings associations and memories related to the brand
• Brand memories are stored in a way that resembles an untidy overstocked cupboard
• Advertising contributes directly towards a brand’s equity
• Advertising response is the combined effect of creative and media planning
• There is no ‘one size fits all’ media strategy that can meet different advertising needs
• The emotional response to brands and ads can be researched
• The first response is the truest response