I have a consumer psychology exam this Wednesday, and we were given an advert to analyze as practice. Since we live in the world of information abundance, nothing more is scared. Therefore, I have chosen to share my practice answer. And constructive critiques are warmly welcomed.
This advert plays with the representation of strength through a puzzling illusion that captures attention and is thought provoking. The advertisement is trying to build upon the representations of strength in the viewers mind. The intent is that they will consider the worth and implications of healthy teeth. The image and feelings associated with the strength used to rip apart the metal frame become part of the brands mental representation. It has a semantic meaning which it is hoped will create a more durable memory trace for the brand and product.
Considering the way in which strength is portrayed, the advert is targeted at a young to middle aged male audience. The surprising novelty of the advert will capture attention through its interesting and entertaining form. It will draw its audience to fixate on it, as they try to figure out what the illusion is and how it works.
In considering strength, the peripheral mental processes will be trying to frame the consumer’s opinion against ideals and intentions. They will be mindful of the costs of bad teeth, both financial and social. They may feel that with bad teeth they violate norms and fail to meet up to ideals. All these thoughts should shape their intentions to buy a relatively cheap tube of toothpaste, which will yield the dividends of social acceptance and reduced dental bills.
It is important, however, to be aware that the brand name doesn’t diffuse the same image as the poster content. This will likely weaken the memory trace to the brand and hinder recollection. Another weakness is that people seeing it (this happened with me for sure) is that they may get side-tracked picking apart how the illusion was constructed. This may evoke semantic elaboration and a durable memory, however not for the product or cause of improved dental hygiene.
Improved congruence between the brands word and image representations would make for better future recognition and recall. However, the illusion portraying super strong teeth is thought provoking. If the consumer is not distracted by the sundry matters of the bill board’s construction, they will be nudged to evaluate their behaviour against ideals and potential negative consequences. If the brand identity was more related to the imagery of strength, then better connections would be made in the consumers memory relative to the semantics of the product, even if this processing only takes place in the periphery of the consumers mind.