Advertising: The Psychological Aspects Of Advertising

Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Advertising has the responsibility to not only sell products, but to do it in an ethical manner in order to influence audiences. While I find all aspects of advertising fascinating and intriguing, those particularly that interest me the most are the pictures, psychological aspect, influence on the public, movie posters, and propaganda.

Pictures and photographs are essential in order to sell a product. Ads nowadays lack detail. Sometimes small details are important and “little things mean a lot”. Many ads today have the product a company is trying to sell and then a simple solid color background. It’s understandable as to why they do this, but it

Color is used to capture our attention. In advertisements, it’s used to do just that all the while conditioning our brains to associate the color they use to their product. The color pink is associated with being romantic and feminine and is used to market products to women and young girls. The color red is associated with energy and creates urgency which is often seen in clearance sales. At some point or another, we’ve all seen something that catches our attention and we begin to ask ourselves the same question from time to time: “Do I need it or do I want it?” Emotional appeal subtly convinces the audience that the item being promoted will make a difference in their lives by either making them happy, giving them status, satisfying a desire or providing security. Psychology in advertisements can be used successfully in order to sell something as well as send a message

Movies have been a fascination of mine for years and one of things that really captures my attention about them is the movie posters. When The Exorcist was released in 1973, it affected many audiences so strongly that at many theaters, paramedics were called to treat people who fainted and others who went into hysterics. Prolific poster artist Bill Gold strikes gold with the instantly famous silhouette on the movie poster. Taken directly from the scene in the film where Max Von Sydow’s Father Merrin first arrives to begin his work, it shows director William Friedkin’s love for German Expression-esque mood lighting and gothic horror – and soon became a favourite in student hall bedrooms. Another movie I’m fond of is Stand By Me. This 1986 movie has its poster showing the movies four young protagonists, formatting the poster to look vintage. This poster serves as such an inspiration that it was replicated for the popular American television show Stranger Things. Richard Amsel was an American illustrator and graphic designer. His career was brief but prolific, including movie posters, album covers, and magazine covers. He serves as an inspiration to me as an artist through the way he is able to perfectly capture the feel of the film he’s drawing for. My favorite piece by him is the artwork he did for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).

Advertising, in all its shapes and forms, is a captivating field and one I’m interested in