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Archive for July, 2013

The implicit power of packaging

July 22, 2013 0 Comments
The implicit power of packaging

I came across an interesting post in ScienceDaily – Consumer Behavior about how people draw inferences from seemingly neutral packaging features.  The referenced article is by two Canadian researchers: Hammond D, & Parkinson C (2009). The impact of cigarette package design on perceptions of risk. Journal of public health (Oxford, England) PMID: 19636066 The ScienceDaily post describes the design, which did not […]

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Priming and the plight of public opinion polling

July 20, 2013 0 Comments
Priming and the plight of public opinion polling

Public opinion polling has, well, issues that it needs to work through. Cengiz Erisen got his PhD in political science at SUNY Stony Brook in 2009.  He recently published an article based on his dissertation in Political Psychology, co-authored with two of his Stony Brook professors, Milton Lodge and Charles Tabor.  Titled “Affective Contagion in Effortful Political […]

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Are nonconscious processes out of control?

July 16, 2013 0 Comments
Are nonconscious processes out of control?

I have written several posts about the the question of whether nonconscious processes need to be “protected” from stimuli that trigger them.  The need for protection is derived from a belief that these processes are somehow more vulnerable than conscious processes, and further, that stimulating them can make us do things (specifically, buy things) that […]

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The Hidden Persuaders: The best book I (n)ever read

July 8, 2013 1 Comment
The Hidden Persuaders: The best book I (n)ever read

In 2007 there were a number of reviews and appreciations of The Hidden Persuaders written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its publication. I just finished reading a very interesting account by Michelle Nelson, called “The Hidden Persuaders, Then and Now,” published in the Journal of Advertising, Spring 2008. Diligent googling might find you a […]

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Bleed-over: Response to ads depends on context

July 1, 2013 0 Comments
Bleed-over: Response to ads depends on context

A clever series of experiments is reported in the Journal of Consumer Research dealing with how people respond to advertising in context.  Researchers Hao Shen, Yuwei Jiang, and Rashmi Adaval had people read pages from a mock magazine that contained articles (movie reviews for a film festival) and an ad (for a watch).  Participants were randomly assigned […]

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