VANCE PACKARD

Vance Packard

Vance Packard was born in Pennsylvania in 1914 and graduated from the Pennsylvanian university.

He worked as a columnist for the newspapers and associated Press. He later became an editor and writer at “American Magazine”. He wrote a number of books on social issues like ‘The Naked Society’, ‘The Waste Makers’, ‘People Shapers’, ad ‘Hidden Persuaders’ which was his first book. Hidden Persuaders won the National Book Award. Vance Packard also taught creative writing at Columbia and New York University.

In Hidden Persuaders he tries to show how advertisers use motivation research to find out the consumers hidden urges. He writes how advertisers use this data to sell products and services.

Consumers

The consumers are unpredictable, what consumers sat they want does not reflect on what they actually do when buying a product. One cannot assume that people know what they want. One cannot assume that people tell you the truth about their wants and dislikes even if they know them. Vance Packard writes that it is dangerous to assume that people can be trusted to behave in a rational way. People don’t act reasonably but they do act with purpose.

The Rise of Motivation Research

Vance Packard explores the large scale use of psychiatry and social sciences to channel the consumers thinking and purchase decision.

The appeals used a “Hidden”. This in-depth approach is used to affect the consumers’ daily acts of consumption. More than two – thirds of advertising is based on motivation analysis. Motivation research gives starting explanations for so many of our daily habits, why consumers behave the way they do. The hidden weaknesses of consumers are probed and these are manipulated to influence behavior. Advertisers see consumer as a bundle of daydreams, hidden yearnings, guilt complexes, irrational emotional blockages. Advertisers are symbol manipulators and see consumers as docile in responding to this manipulation of symbols and stir consumers into action.

Advertisers are able to manipulate consumer by using psychiatrists and social scientists as consultants and by motivation research. Motivation research seeks to learn what motivates people in making choices. It uses techniques to reach the unconscious or subconscious mind because preferences are determined by factors of which the consumer is not conscious. Housewives buy cosmetics for ‘hope’, consumers buy car for prestige, consumers buy oranges for vitality.

The average consumer has more spending money. People have usable durables. Waiting for these to wear out and be obsolete will lead to unsold stocks. Marketing conventions tried to find out how best to stimulate consumers more and more. Ad men began talking of the desirability of creating psychological obsolescence. So ad men created dissatisfaction with the old and outmoded. Again, what is making ad men to use powerful tools of persuasion (Motivation Research) is increased standardization. Brands are all more or less the same. The differences are trivial or non-existent. This rapid diminishing product difference resulted in more and more penetrating persuasion technique, consumer-catching techniques.

Ad Men Become Depth Men

Ad men wonder why consumers behave the way they do, why they buy or refuse to buy. So advertisers turned to psychological consultants and tried to understand and explore the deep unconscious and subconscious factors that motivate people. Once the real motivation was diagnosed they would use triggers that were needed evoke the desired response.

All of us are creatures of conditioned reflex so the main issue of all persuasion is to develop these conditional reflexes by using trigger words and symbols.

Ad men thus began talking about different levels of human consciousness. The first level is the conscious rational level where people know what is going on and are able to tell why.

The second level is the preconscious and subconscious where a person may know in a vague way what is going on but would not be willing to tell why. This is the level of prejudices, assumptions, fears and so on.

The third level is where we are not only not aware of our feelings and attitudes but we would not discuss them of we could.

Ad men increasingly began exploring the possibilities of marketing research. Hundreds of social scientists began depth studies for marketers. The most famed of these depth probes was Dr. Ernest Dichter. He claims any product must not only be good must appeal to our feelings deep into the psychological recesses of the mind.

Moulder of Images

One way of hooking customers was moulding of images i.e. the creation of distinctive, highly appealing personalities for products that were essentially, undistinctive. The aim was to build images that would arise before our ‘Inner Eye’ at the mention of the products name. If people could not discriminate reasonably, they should be helped in discriminating unreasonably in some easy, warm, emotional way. To create this illogical loyalty it was necessary to create some differentiation in the mind and some individualization.

David Ogilvy’s advertising form devised successful non rational symbol for an obscure of a shirt, a moustached man with a black eye patch, a Hathaway shirt. To show how powerful this imagery can be he did not have any copy. All that was shown was a picture of a man, standing by an observatory telescope taking notes. He had a moustache and a black eye patch. The sales of Hathaway soared.

Thus the image builders started studying the types of images that would have the strongest appeal to the greatest number of people.

The most spectacular successful image building has been done are not just a mere means of conveyance. The car tells who we are and what we think we want to be. Buick suggested this in their ad “It makes you feel like the man you are.”

Ad men thus made a comprehensive personality profile for each major brand.

Conflict between Pleasure and Pain

Advertisers felt they had to successfully manipulate the consumers’ guilt feelings, fear, and inner tensions. Every time a self indulgent product was advertised ad men needed to lessen the guilt feelings and offer approval. E.g.: many people continue to smoke despite their guilt feelings about the habit; they smoke to relieve tension, to express sociability, as a reward for effort, as a proof of daring and so on. Many enter a room full of people with a cigarette in their fingers as it makes them seem less nervous and more sophisticated. People also smoke to prove they are virile and mature. Young people smoke trying to be older and older people smoke trying to be younger.

Housewives resent appliances as a threat to their creativeness and usefulness so ad men emphasize that appliances free the housewives to have more time with the children and to be a better mother.

The consumers’ fears and anxieties like their guilt feelings offered many openings for the advertisers to draw up successful ad campaigns. Motivation analysts find ways to bypass the consumers’ fears.

Hidden Needs

Motivation research gives clues to the advertiser by studying the consumers’ subconscious needs, yearnings and cravings. Once the needs were identified the necessary appeals could be built into the advertising campaign.

Eight hidden needs were identified:

1.      Emotional Security:

Home freezers did not make sense economically (the cost of electricity, the leftovers that are thrown out). A motivation study revealed that the freezer represented that there is always food in the house and food represents security, warmth and safety. People feel insecure and want food around them. Dr. Dichter advised advertisers to sell gadgets with the security theme.

 

2.      Selling Reassurance of worth:

Advertisers show no awareness that women have any other motive for using washing products than to be clean, to protect their hands and to keep objects clean. Ad men should realize that it is necessary to enhance the housewife’s feeling of worth and esteem, a feeling of being important.

 

3.      Selling Ego Gratification:

This is similar to selling reassurance of worth. E.g.: A machine to lift great loads very efficiently but the product did not sell. Depth studies revealed that the ad put all the glory on the machine. The operator was not visible at all. The ad was changed and the new ad showed that the operator was the complete master of the machine.

 

4.      Selling Creative Outlets:

Gardening is described as a pregnancy activity. Gardening gives older women a chance to keep on growing things after they have passed the child growing age. The food mixes aroused feelings of guilt feelings. Housewives fait that if they used ready to eat food it showed that they were inferior housewives. So depth studies advised manufacturers to leave housewives something to do. Cake mixers then had the housewife add eggs and milk.

 

5.      Selling Love Objects:

When advertising for a Pianist Liberance the target audience was women past the child bearing age, a picture of his mom was shown smiling in her rocking chair while her son performs. The wide, trustful child like smile persists on the singer.

 

6.      Selling Sense of Power:

Consumers show a fascination for products that offer a personal extension of power. E.g.: cars give the owner a renewed sense of power and masculinity, an emotional need. This need for a sense of power particularly in men is very thoroughly exploited by advertisers.

 

7.      Selling a Sense of Roots:

Consumers seek a sense of the good old days and homely associations. Campaigns show mother and home themes “Grandma used to make.”

 

8.      Selling Immortality:

One of the problems in selling insurance to women is how to do it without reminding them they are getting older. Life insurance to males who are bread winners and whose life is to be insured show the comfortable life led by survivors thanks to insurance. The real appeal is to assure the buyer the prospect of immortality in order to control his family after death; emotional problems should be stressed rather than comfort of surviving family.

Sexual Overtones

Sexual images were used as eye stoppers. The depth approach introduced sex subtleties and penetration to deeper levels of consciousness. More subtle and passive sex symbols (fantasy, poetry, etc.) were adopted.

Get your man themes were outdated. Women want something more to be accepted and respected by men as partners. Tenderness is introduced in lingerie and hair preparations. Products have fundamental difference of meaning for men and women. E.g.: in buying a home men see homes as symbolic mother, a calm place for refuge, solace and comfort. Women on the other hand see a home as an expression of herself and an extension of her own personality.

Labels, rectangular in shape are now rounded to make it more feminine. Manufacturers are changing packaging labels, ad strategies, to come up with reassuring symbols.

1.      Motivational Analysis on Food

Motivational studies on the hidden meanings on milk, milk products liquids and softer foods revealed that milk, psychically loaded food at the subconscious level is a reward or punishment by the housewife. She conveys affection and warmth is she serves fruit salad, ice-cream or chocolate milk she uses food as a weapon a technique to punish or encourage.

                According to Dr. Dichter ice-cream symbolizes, to many of us, uninhibited over indulgence. So ice-cream makers should show lavish portions, overflowing, inviting viewers to sink their mouth right into it. Soup is unconsciously associated with man’s deepest need for nourishment and reassurances.

 

2.      Impulse Buying

It has been reported that seven out of ten purchases are decided in the store on impulse. Psychologists and advertisers persuade the consumer to buy products they may not need or want till they see the product presented to them. Package designing makes or breaks the impulse sale. A good package design can hypnotize woman.

 

3.      Social Status

Persuasive appeals vary for the various social layers. The motivation forces are social mobility, the aspiration drive, the achievement drive, the translation of economic goods into socially approved symbols.

For some items like silver ware, snob appeal is the basic motivation. Consumers however talk about durability, craftsmanship, but actually they want it for prestige and show off value. Manufacturers could sell products as status symbols through the price tag.

4.      Hidden Aversions

Many of the consumers developed hidden resistance based on seemingly unreasoned prejudice. Motivation research can help bring out the cause of these hidden fears. Vance Packard writes about the negative image of pruners. It conveyed “Direct up and old”, it was associated with a laxative and constipation. After marketing research, prunes were presented as a “new Wonder fruit”. The ad showed a cute figure skater saying, ‘when you feel good, good things happen to you. So start eating prunes today till you have energy to spare.’

Again when first the lung cancer scare started, cigarette manufacturers promoted the use of holder’s to trap tars with their filter. But smokers thought people would laugh at them if they used it and smokers thought it would be too feminine.

Dr. Dichter created a new personality for ‘holder’. A rugged sturdy holder was created in masculine brown and blacks. Red, blue and white were for women. Instant coffee was seen as not used by a good housewife. So guests were not offered instant coffee. Later the ad campaigns built emotional overtones and social status into their products.

Another ad showed men at a baseball game happily puffing on their hollered cigarettes. The ad showed one man smoking a plain cigarette and another using a holder. The copy read ‘Can you see the difference.’

Advertising and Children

Vance Packard characterized children as ‘consumer trainees’. Eager minds could be moulded to want your products. The potency of television in conditioning youngsters to be loyal enthusiasts of a product began in the 1950. Ads aimed at children not only, as future consumers, but as ones who lead their parents into the salesroom.

Motivational analysts were called by ad men to provide insights on the most effective way to achieve as assured strong impact with children. Guide posts given by social research was that a show can appeal to a child without offering the child amusement or pleasure. It will appeal is it helps him express his inner tensions and fantasies in a manageable way, if it offers the child a way to get rid of his fear, anger or befuddlement, the basic pattern of good guys versus bad men. The good guys were all young men and villains were old men who might be ‘symbolic or father figures.’ To children adults are a ruling class against which they cannot successfully revolt.

The Question of Validity

Probing and manipulating of consumers is based on the findings of motivation analysts. How valid are their methods? Alfred Politz said depth probing is okay but what is more important is to interpret the findings.

Critics feel that motivation research use interviews not trained in scientific methods. The motivation researchers oversell themselves. Other feel that those who attacked motivation research as fake were just as wrong as those who claimed it worked miracles. Motivation research must be approached with care. Critics say:

·         It is not correct to assume there is any single or major reason why people buy or not buy. A lot of other factors enter into decision making. Motivation researchers point out that the intensity of our subconscious motivational influences has a clear bearing on the usefulness of a subconscious factor to a manipulator.

 

·         Motivation research is not the whole answer.

 

·         It is still not an exact science.

 

·         Motivation research is still far from an exact science.

 

·         Motivation analysts have taken tools from clinical psychiatry and applied them to mass behavior.

 

·         Conclusions drawn about mass behavior on the basis of a small sampling of test results is likely to be erroneous.

 

·         The results depend too much on the intuitiveness and brilliance of the practitioner.

 

·         Projective tests are not subject to statistical proof.

 

·         Each research expert can look at the same projective test result and come up with different interpretations.

However believers in motivation research say it is most useful as a starting point. It has an important place at idea-gathering or hypothesis stage. Even if it sparks one good idea it is worth it.

The Question of Morality

What does this manipulative attitude do to our society? The users feel if it is good for them, it is good for nation.

Some say it does not matter because the public has become so skeptical of advertising appeals that its psyche is not damaged by these manipulative appeals. Also some constructive results have come from explorations into human behavior from motivation research.

Those against it ask - where is the morality in making housewives non-rational and impulsive? Where is the morality of playing upon hidden weakness and frailties? Where is the morality of manipulating small children before they are legally responsible? What is the morality of developing an attitude of wastefulness of natural resources?

To take to such manipulation shows disrespect for the individual personality.

It is conceded however that of we are to have an expanding economy based on mass consumption / production (we cannot deny the need for mass consumption) and for this advertising is obviously essential.

A strong defense is available against such persuaders. We can choose not to be persuaded.