Imagery and advertising

Alan Branthwaite

Chartered psychologist Alan Branthwaite, Ignition Marketing Research, takes a detailed look at the role of the unconscious in how advertisements work.

Imagery and advertising

Alan Branthwaite

It is now widely recognised that advertising involves the communication of feelings just as much as reasons, if not more so; and that much of the influence of advertising on perceptions, feelings and attitudes to brands is unconscious. Ads do not require conscious attention or awareness to have an impact, and to be effective it is not essential that the content of advertising is explicitly remembered. This is supported by abundant research on memory, attention, judgment and decision-making.

Much of this is fortunate, as ads frequently do not receive focused attention in modern life, but...

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