The article by Fowles (1982) targeted 15 specific appeals to the basic human psychology that advertisers have developed to make their products marketable. Fowles (1982) singled out the following appeals making consumers buy things they do not need or can substitute with analogs.
- Sexual motive: a rare but noticeable appeal to people’s wish to have sex, look sexy and arouse desire in others.
- Kinship: positioning of a product as an entry ticket to a specific social group.
- Nurturing: images of kittens and infants arouse consumers’ unconscious, warm parental feelings.
- Guidance/authority: images of older people can remind consumers of their parents or authoritative figures.
- Aggression: many people hide emotions and need an outlet for them.
- Achievement: vanity is embedded in most modern people’s psyches, so associating achievement with some products makes them likable.
- Domination: social hierarchy pushes people into boundaries that they want to break, and some products promise to do that.
- Recognition: some products are marketed as a shortcut to higher social standing.
- Attention-grabbing: appeal to people wishing to be noticed, e.g., cosmetics for women.
- Autonomy: products can be marketed as helping people to stand out from the crowd.
- Escape appeals to people’s wish to stay alone and enjoy an exquisite hassle-free experience.
- Safety: appeals to people’s basic wish to live in safe spaces and avoid dangers.
- Esthetics: use of art or exclusive items to please consumers’ aesthetic tastes.
- Curiosity: use of statistics and visuals to create an illusion of evidence-packed benefits.
- Basic psychological needs: people’s daily needs for eating, drinking, and having a rest.
The implications of these appeals are that people have little free will in decision-making about most of their purchases, as common sense is blurred with marketing appeals. Thus, marketers play the role of puppet masters by manipulating psychology instead of promoting actual, tangible product benefits. I have also become a victim of such tricks many times, buying things that create an illusion of status or belonging or promise peace of mind and safety. Unfortunately, most of these purchases, even if they were not spontaneous, did not deliver on their promise, proving the point of Fowles (1982) about the psychological basis of advertising.
References
Fowles, J. (1982). Advertising’s fifteen basic appeals. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 39(3), 273-290.