How does advertising work?

Ah! It looks like Michael has paused on an ad for a new camping stove! New BlazeCraze camping stove: durable — made of aluminium alloy; lightweight — just 75 grams; powerful — boils one litre of water in three minutes. Michael’s thinking about all the ways this stove is better than the one he already has... He’s off to the camping store to check it out!

How did the ad convince Michael to think about buying that stove? How exactly does advertising work? The ad gives Michael information about the product it is trying to sell. It includes facts that tell us what makes this stove so great — for example, its durability, weight, and power. Facts are one key way that ads convince us to buy things.

There are other ways, too. Ah! Was that Michael’s phone? He has an email… It’s his favourite outdoor brand. They have a sale on hiking boots!

Sale! MountainWear all-weather hiking boot, now only forty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. Save twenty dollars. Wow! Michael will be interested in that deal!

But why? This ad doesn’t give very much information about the boots it’s selling... No, instead, it tells us how much the boots cost. Price is another key way ads try to persuade us to buy things. Ads might tell us, like this one does, that the price is cheaper than it used to be.

Or they might tell us a product is cheaper than other similar products, or simply that this is a good price for the amount or quality of the product. There’s one other main way that ads work... While he’s on his phone, Michael checks his social media. There’s a new video from Trail Blaze! Cool video!

Those mountains are stunning, and those two adventurers have no trouble putting up their pop-up tent. They look so relaxed with sodas in hand, watching the sunset! But wait… this is just a video of two people camping. It doesn’t look like an ad. There aren’t even any words!

And yet… it’s making Michael reeeally want to take a camping trip soon. Maybe with one of those awesome pop-up tents! Aha! This video is playing on Michael’s emotions. It sends the message that camping in the wilderness will make you feel happy and carefree.

And it makes people associate these good feelings with Trail Blaze and their products. Using facts, price, and emotion, are all advertising tactics that can be very effective in making us buy things. So it’s important to learn to be aware when we are being advertised to. That way, we can make an informed decision whether or not to spend our money. Can’t decide on that camping stove, Michael?

Why not take some time to think? That way, you can judge carefully whether you need it. You won’t be taken in by advertising.