In the yesteryears, the area of advertising has rarely been studied within the psychological context of psychodynamics. The principle of Triple Appeal has never been researched as a complete factor influencing the effectiveness of advertisement.
The Triple Appeal Principle evoked from the Freudian Theory or Psychoanalytic Theory – which states that the behavior of Homo sapiens is influenced by their Psyche (ID, Ego and Superego) which is present in the preconscious and unconscious state of mind. The human psyche is also known as the Triple Appeal. The Psychoanalytic Theory states that the preconscious and unconscious needs or drives are at the heart of human motivation and personality. Triple appeal –appeals to the Id, but also include a disguised appeal to the superego, which comes out in a condition the ego can resolve.
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Advertising effectiveness relates to how well a brand’s advertising achieves the intended. Companies use many different statistics to measure their advertising effectiveness. These measurements can be used for all types of advertising, including television, radio, print, direct mail, Internet and outdoor advertising. An advertisement of a brand is considered effective when the consumers are influenced to buy the product after getting exposed to the advertisement. A company’s advertising effectiveness usually increases over time with many messages or exposures.
1.2. Problem statement:
This research studies the impact of triple appeal (Id, Ego, and Superego) on advertising effectiveness. The research will focus on advertisements which have triple appeal content in them and relate their effect on consumer behavior.
1.3. Hypotheses:
There is a relationship between triple appeal and advertising effectiveness.
1.4. Outline of the study:
The paper is organized in five sections. The first section is the introduction of the research. It provides the overview of the study and the hypotheses which are to be tested for the research. The second section presents the literature review. The third section tells about the research methods used in the study. The fourth section provides the results and outcomes of the research. And finally, the fifth section provides discussions, implications and conclusion of the research. The purpose of the research was to analyze whether Freud’s psychoanalytic theory (Triple Appeal) — applied in advertisements, leave an impact on consumers or not.
1.5. Definitions:
The independent variable studied in this research is Triple Appeal. Triple Appeal consists of three interacting forces: Id, Ego and Superego. These forces are explicated below.
1.5.1. Triple Appeal (Freudian Theory)
Triple Appeal is a theory of motivation and personality that postulates that unconscious needs and drives (particularly sexual and other biological drives) are the basis of human motivation and personality.
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality is the cornerstone of modern psychology. This theory was built on the ground that unconscious needs, especially sexual and other biological drives, are at the core of human motivation and personality. Freud constructed this theory on the basis of patients’ recollections of early childhood experiences, analysis of their dreams, and the specific nature of their mental and physical adjustment problems.
1.5.2. Triple Appeal Advertisements:
Triple Appeal advertisements contain contents which stimulate the drives of sex, hunger and thirst – which is Id. Such advertisements also contain superego which is disguised. The conflict of Id and Superego is shown to be balanced by the Ego. Usually a sensual and sexy model is used in the advertisement to trigger the Id appeal. Tempting food shots and eating demeanors are portrayed to stimulate the three appeals.
1.5.3. Id, Ego & Superego:
Based on his analysis, Freud proposed that the human personality consists of three interacting systems: the id, the superego and the ego. The id was conceptualized as a “warehouse” of primitive and impulsive drives – basic physiological needs such as thirst, hunger and sex – for which the individual seeks immediate satisfaction without concern for the specific means of satisfaction.
In contrast to the id, the superego is conceptualized as the individual’s internal expression of society’s moral and ethical codes of conduct. The superego’s role is to see that the individual satisfies needs in a socially acceptable fashion. Thus, the superego is a kind of “brake” that restrains or inhibits the impulsive forces of the Id.
Finally, the ego is the individual’s conscious control. It functions as an internal monitor that attempts to balance the impulsive demands of the Id and the sociocultural constraints of the superego.
1.5.4 ID
It is the initial state of mind in a human’s personality. The other states are developed later. The unconscious mind (ID) contains two biological instincts: Eros and Thanatos. Eros means life instinct, sex drive and libido (primitive urges for sex) and Thanatos is the aggressive drive and death instinct (Ehrenzwei, 1965; Mcleod, 2009).Our unconscious mind has all the repressed information and desires which are either disturbing or unethical. This information is so significant and powerful that it is kept suppressed in the unconscious mind. This information exerts a significant influence. According to Freud, the impulses of the subconscious and unconscious reveal themselves in several ways (such as in dreams).
ID has been a source of considerable frustration because it has been tested alone by researchers, and it defied objective description as it is extremely difficult to objectively test or measure the influence of unconscious mind (Mcleod, 2009). The ID seeks immediate gratification, which happens when we experience pleasure. ID is also called the Pleasure Principle – which demands instant satisfaction, nevertheless of the consequences. (Grey, 1980; Mcleod, 2008).In 1993, Chaudhri researched to see whether or not pleasure principle is the primary source of motivation in choosing product and brand. Two dimensions (Hedonic and Analytic) of products were compared to gauge the impact of pleasure principle.
1.5.5. Ego
According to Freud, ID is the horse and Ego is its rider. Ego controls the unrealistic demands of ID and acts in accordance with the appropriateness of the external world (Mcleod, 2008). Ego operates on the Reality Principle. Ego and Superego are parts of the Conscious, Preconscious, and unconscious states of the mind. Ego operates rationally and devises realistic stratagems to obtain pleasure. ID shows Ego the right direction to seek satisfaction which is not harmful to itself or the ID (Mcleod, 2008; Rook, 1987).
Rook (1987) stated that if high impulsions of ID are not repressed, then it leads to severe psychosocial problems. Anticipated pleasurable experiences are difficult to resist, because they are brought about by the impulses of ID. The Ego pursues long-term and goal-oriented gratification, which encourages ID to control its impulses.
1.5.6. Superego
Superego is the conscience which is the part of the unconscious mind. Superego is a force that defends people from uncontrolled behaviour by giving them an internalization of all environmental inhibitions, particularly those of the parents. It fills a person with guilt when they deviate from the moral standards and values of the society. It’s a kind of parent, formed of response developments to unconscious sexual wishes; obeying it results in the secondary egotism of pride, a belief of being loved by a parent figure, and violating it creates guilt.
1.5.7. Advertising Effectiveness
CHAPTER 2:
LITERATURE REVIEW
ID
In 1992, Moore stated that subliminal stimulation triggers the unconscious mind and activates the instincts of ID. Penn (2008) researched in neuroscience and stated that unconscious and conscious thoughts are influenced by our emotions and physical responses. He also argued that we cannot measure engagement in brands and ads unless we get to know the unconscious response – because it occurs below the conscious level. Many techniques and procedures have been delved to find out the rationale behind the factors that influence the operations of ID (Penn, 2008).
TamaÅŸ and DumitraÅŸcu (2009) explored the Eros aspect in advertisements, which uses sexual arousal in order to access the unconscious mind of humans to convey their messages. This sexual influence changes the attitude of a person. The information buried in the ID surfaces transfers to the conscious mind, which acts upon the decision taken by the ID. During thirst, the ID instantly decides the drink the person should take, depending on the messages imbued earlier from the advertisements. No logic is used, as the ID is incapable of this. All this helps to shape up the attitudes of consumers as well as their thoughts and actions (TamaÅŸ & DumitraÅŸcu, 2009).
According to Freud, ID is the horse and Ego is its rider. Ego controls the unrealistic demands of ID and acts in accordance with the appropriateness of the external world (Mcleod, 2008). Ego operates on the Reality Principle. Ego and Superego are parts of the Conscious, Preconscious, and unconscious states of the mind. Ego operates rationally and devises realistic stratagems to obtain pleasure. ID shows Ego the right direction to seek satisfaction which is not harmful to itself or the ID (Mcleod, 2008; Rook, 1987).
Rook (1987) stated that if high impulsions of ID are not repressed, then it leads to severe psychosocial problems. Anticipated pleasurable experiences are difficult to resist, because they are brought about by the impulses of ID. The Ego pursues long-term and goal-oriented gratification, which encourages ID to control its impulses.
Freud stated that ego, super-ego, and id contribute to the perception of vivid imagery. This activity relates to a weakened ego. He stated that, if a person has a weak ego, he/she is likely to represses a particular behavior – which in turn results in vivid imagery (Bergan, 1965).
By contrast, the experiential view emphasizes the importance of primary process thinking in accord with the pleasure principle. Primary process thinking involves a task definition oriented toward hedonic response and is “primary” in the sense that it hearkens back to the way a baby pursues immediate pleasure or gratification. This type of consumption seeks fun, amusement, fantasy, arousal, sensory stimulation, and enjoyment. Indeed, the evidence suggests that consumers typically spend the majority of their lives eating, sleeping, chatting with friends, making love and watching television. Surely, any meaningful attempt to model such relatively pleasure-oriented consumption must pay attention to its hedonic components.
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Few consumer researchers have followed this lead, although the study of product usage and related activities is clearly a requisite cornerstone to the development of the experiential model. The importance of such study is reinforced by the emphasis on entertainment – arts, and leisure-related offerings, which often depend more on the allocation of time than money. Given the operation of the pleasure principle in multisensory gratification, exciting fantasies, and cathected emotions, one’s purchase decision is obviously only a small component in the constellation of events involved in the overall consumption experience. Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982
Chaudhuri (1993) made a case for ID – the pleasure principle as the prime source of inspiration in the choice of product and brand. The study attempted to reproduce the findings of the FCB grid by categorizing seventy six products using diverse dimensions – hedonic and analytic value, which were operationalized as the degree of pleasure and the amount of apparent differences between brands. In the speculation of psycho-analysis there is no hesitation in assuming that the course taken by mental is invariably set in motion by an unpleasurable stress, and that it takes a direction coincides with a lowering of that tension – that is, with a prevention of unpleasure or a creation of pleasure (Chaudhuri, 1993).
Moore (1992) stated that the Psychodynamic theorists use the term unconscious as a noun with a capital U, to refer to, for lack of a better term, the id-“a cauldron full of seething excitations,” as Freud expressed it. Because semantic activation without conscious awareness can be demonstrated, some observers have jumped to the conclusion that subliminal stimulation provides relatively direct access to the ID.
This paper proposes that elements of the tobacco industry, having long recognised the power of sexuality in advertising, have now tapped into the lure of Freud’s counterpoint to Eros – the death instinct, or “Thanatos.” Whether this happens consciously or unconsciously is of little consequence since the culture from which such advertising derives may be impaired in its capacity to be life-affirming and thus finds violation to be a source of entertainment. The issue therefore opens into questions of wider cultural psychopathology ranging from tobacco addiction to consumer addiction and the world ecological crisis. Psychological and spiritual mechanisms by which violative advertising might trigger deep necrophilic and sexually abusive motivations are discussed, as are the implications for therapeutic work at both individual and cultural levels, in political leadership and for health education. These include the need to sensitise people to the significance of violative imagery in advertising and its role in psychospiritual exploitation. (McIntosh, 1996)
EGO
Venger (2008) compared cigarette advertising across several cultures by using the technique of text analysis. His study examined the message stratagems and the ideological viewpoints in cigarette advertising in American and Ukrainian magazines within the framework of their different authoritarian environments. Venger (2008) wanted to gauge whether or not the two nations differed in their use of creativity in terms of ID, Ego and Superego. He also gauged their level of obedience to regulations. His objective was to show how cigarette advertisements attempt to bond with consumers by portraying culturally appropriate messages that strengthen the ideology, all within a greatly examined regulatory environment. The messages across the two nations differed in their use of creativity appeals to ego, social needs, and sensory pleasure and also their obedience to regulation. He first compared the two nations from economic, cultural, and regulatory viewpoints and then analyzed the strategies of cigarette advertising in Ukraine and the United States.
According to Epstein (1994), Freud’s psychodynamic theory stated that we are not in control of our own minds. A person can only think rationally when the unconscious turns to conscious level – done through psychoanalysis. He regarded Ego (conscious thinking) as the tip of an iceberg. All our mental activity is operated by the Ego. Thus, several advertising agencies pay millions of dollars for cigarette advertisements which appeal to the Ego of a person. Epstein (1994) stated that in cigarette ads the visual appeal of the messages will overcome the verbal message of the surgeon who says “smoking can endanger one’s life” — an appeal aimed at the rational system. Epstein (1994) tested whether or not a surgeon’s message in a pictorial graphic form would leave an impact on consumers.
Sigmund Freud (1954) made a great contribution to Psychoanalysis with his concept of the super ego which was referenced as primitive and unconscious aggregate of values and psychoanalysis in form by contemporary authors. Still, he is often credited with having revealed the irrational content of consumer psychology and thus undermined traditional ideas of human rationality as it relates to ethnic groups. Therefore, psychoanalysis also questions traditional ideas of irrationality. It shows that human tastes, preferences and other apparently irrational psychological consumers marketing decisions have a meaning and it is rational. Even though, most theorists argue that there is continuity between rationality and irrationality.
Freud (1954) portrays the human being as a creature dominated by unconscious instincts, by infantile desires and primitive drives. He shows how consciousness and rationality is only one, relatively minor, facet of our psychology. He demonstrates how even the most apparently “rational” and conscious activities and experiences are influenced by unconscious wishes and fantasies, which operate in ways which do not apply to the principles of reason and logic. The “reasons” that we believe we have for our thoughts and actions are revealed as mere “rationalizations”, which cloak and deny their real, unconscious motives. As a result of existing controversy between Freudian theories and other recent theorists in the field of Psychoanalytic theories, we might not be able to reach satisfactory marketing applications to effective consumption. At best, we will have a fulfillment and understanding of rational buying behavior and similarity of consumption among ethnic groups (U. Elimimian, 2007).
Psychoanalytic psychology also depicts impulse control as socially necessary. Freud (1911/1956) claims that human civilization is based on individuals’ development of internalized impulse controls. He interprets impulses as products of two competing forces: The pleasure principle and the reality principle. The pleasure principle encourages immediate gratification but is compromised insofar as a person responds to the reality principle’s tendency toward rational deliberation. These two forces often compete, because impulses encourage action without careful consideration about the objective environment, and with little or no regard for potential realistic consequences. If an individual lacks sufficient impulse control, it represents a defect of repression that may lead to severe psychosocial problems. Impulses may be difficult to resist because they often involve anticipated pleasurable experiences. The reality principle ultimately pursues personal gratification; the crucial difference is that the reality principle’s orientation is more long-term and goal-oriented, which tends to encourage delayed over immediate gratification. In human development, the transition in dominance from the pleasure principle to reality principle is one of the most important advances in the development of the ego (Freud 1920/1949). (Rook, 1987)
In his book, The Interpretation of Dreams (1), Freud suggests that vivid imagery arises as a result of regression. He considered imagistic thought to be part of the primitive aggregation of behaviors characteristic of the preverbal life of the child. As one aspect of the lack of rationality found in the child’s thought, Freud postulated an inability to distinguish between internally and externally originated perceptions. Stated in terms of his three part system, ego, super-ego, and id, the perception of vivid imagery is an activity related to the processes of a weakened ego.
It was Freud’s view that whenever regression occurred it was disruptive and damaging in its influence on the efficient operation of the ego. Topographically ego regression (primitivization of ego functions) occurs not only when the ego is weak-in sleep, in falling asleep, in fantasy, in intoxication, and in the psychoses-but also during many types of creative processes. This suggested to me years ago that the ego may use the primary process, and not be only overwhelmed by it…. The general assumption is that under certain conditions the ego regulates regression, and that the integrative functions of the ego include voluntary and temporary withdrawal of cathex is from one area or another to regain improved control. (Bergan, 1965)
SUPEREGO
Sigmund Freud (1954) made a great contribution to Psychoanalysis with his concept of the super ego which was referenced as primitive and unconscious aggregate of values and psychoanalysis in form by contemporary authors. Still, he is often credited with having revealed the irrational content of consumer psychology and thus undermined traditional ideas of human rationality as it relates to ethnic groups. Therefore, psychoanalysis also questions traditional ideas of irrationality. It shows that human tastes, preferences and other apparently irrational psychological consumers marketing decisions have a meaning and it is rational. Even though, most theorists argue that there is continuity between rationality and irrationality.
Freud (1954) portrays the human being as a creature dominated by unconscious instincts, by infantile desires and primitive drives. He shows how consciousness and rationality is only one, relatively minor, facet of our psychology. He demonstrates how even the most apparently “rational” and conscious activities and experiences are influenced by unconscious wishes and fantasies, which operate in ways which do not apply to the principles of reason and logic. The “reasons” that we believe we have for our thoughts and actions are revealed as mere “rationalizations”, which cloak and deny their real, unconscious motives. As a result of existing controversy between Freudian theories and other recent theorists in the field of Psychoanalytic theories, we might not be able to reach satisfactory marketing applications to effective consumption. At best, we will have a fulfillment and understanding of rational buying behavior and similarity of consumption among ethnic groups. (U. Elimimian, 2007)
The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learnt from one’s parents and others. It develops around the age of 4 – 5 during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. The superego’s function is to control the id’s impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression. It also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection.
The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self. The conscience can punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt. For example, if the ego gives in to id demands, the superego may make the person feel bad though guilt. The ideal self (or ego-ideal) is an imaginary picture of how you ought to be, and represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behaviour as a member of society.
Behaviour which falls short of the ideal self may be punished by the superego through guilt. The super-ego can also reward us through the ideal self when we behave ‘properly’ by making us feel proud. If a person’s ideal self is too high a standard, then whatever the person does will represent failure. The ideal self and conscience are largely determined in childhood from parental values and you were brought up. (Mcleod, 2008)
Dr. Dichter claims that practically all of it is hit-or-miss stuff, and that he is the first to apply to advertising really scientific psychology. That includes psychoanalysis-probing into the subconscious. Dr. Dichter scoffs at advertising which tries to reason with potential customers, to scare them or lecture them on their shortcomings. He believes in tapping hidden desires and urges. This examination explores advertising’s effects on the individual through the critical lenses of ideology and psychoanalysis, concluding that although ideology is a relevant methodology, it remains incomplete. Psychoanalytic theory, on the other hand, provides multiple avenues of interpreting how advertising addresses both the conscious and the unconscious mind, and offers a potential methodology for personal resistance and social change. To this point, I have demonstrated only that dream-theory can offer an interpretation of an advertising text. Now I must come to the crux of my exploration: Is there any meaningful association between this dream-informed reading and the way the advertisement appeals to its audience or even its effectiveness at inducing purchase? Remember that Freud in Interpretation of Dreams stated .Every dream reveals itself as a psychical structure which has a meaning and which can be inserted at an assignable point in the mental activities of waking life. Can fantasy-based advertising operate like dream, and be inserted at an assignable point in the mental activities of waking life? (Bellinson, 2006)
The relations of superego and ego ideal to id and ego, so crucial in this context for the development of our sense of justice and of its emanations in moral (“justness”) judgments and law, are highly complex and, though probably holding the clue to final answers, still controversial in the detail of the history of the individual. We may begin with the pleasure principle which, ruling the subconscious “Id,” makes us aim for pleasure in a shifting and still obscure response to both Eros, the Life Instinct, and Thanatos, the Death Drive. (EHRENZWEI, 1965)
TRIPLE APPEAL
Penn (2008) stated that Cognitive scientists acknowledged the significance of unconscious mechanisms, particularly in the area of recall, but the role of sentiment was never seen as particularly significant. Thus, in much 20th century advertising theory, emotion was something of an afterthought; a means of facilitating consideration to communication (because we will probably pay more attention to advertising that we like). He suggested that thinking and feeling are not separate from the brain, but neutrally personified in it. Our feelings, reasoning, conscious and unconscious thoughts are surrounded by our emotions and bodily reactions.
TamaÅŸ and DumitraÅŸcu (2009) studied the different characteristics that differentiate conscious from unconscious perception which influence our reactions to stimuli. The messages in advertisements constantly tell us that one product is better than the rest. Our minds capture the message and goes with it. Another technique used by the advertisers is sexual arousal. Advertisers know that sexual desire is the most influential of human desires. They embed sexual appeals in their advertising messages, by means of pictures, sounds and terms. These messages are not obvious. These embedded messages are hidden, so they appear ordinary. It is only our unconscious mind that is proficient of identifying and accumulating these messages where they lie hidden, un-criticized, not judged and unknown to the individual until the time of purchase, when decision is made. The hidden and buried information then floats up and is moved to the conscious mind, which operates upon it. For example, if one is thirsty, the unconscious mind straight away chooses the type of drink the person has to take, depending on the messages implanted previously from the advertisements. No reasoning or logic is used, because the ID (unconscious mind) is not capable of this. All this helps in moulding the attitudes of people, then their thoughts, and lastly their actions.
This study underscores the complementary roles of the cognitive (perceptive) and psychodynamic (projective) approaches to the study of responses to advertisements. Effectiveness reflected influences of ads on subjective responses such as liking and fantasy, as well as on judgments of an ad’s quality and intention to buy the product. This study compared cognitive and psychodynamic perspectives on responses to simple and complex advertisements for perfume and liquor products.
(Cupchik, Leonard and Irvine-Kopteski, 1998)
This dissertation examines the representations of youth identity in print advertisements found in Y Magazine and SL Magazine. The researcher uses Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse the identities that are constructed in four fashion brands. The print advertisements are also interpreted by young people from Grade 11 classes in two Johannesburg high schools. Learners completed survey questionnaires and participated in focus group discussions. My interpretation of the advertisements reveals three over sexualized identities in the Soviet, Guess and Diesel advertisements. The learners’ responses are varied; some identify with the brands and accept the subject positions that are offered by the advertisements and others critique the sexuality that pervades the majority of the advertisements. Learners’ interpretations also reflect different reading positions, as well as unclear gendered target audiences. I conclude that media representations provide a range of powerful resources, which young people draw on in constructing their identities. (Clifford, 2006)
One of the now-conventional accounts for why we exclude sex from the public sphere is attributable to Sigmund Freud, who maintained that repression of the libido is essential to civiliza-tion.182 In Freudian theory, everyone’s first love object is his or her opposite-sex parent, and both development of the personality and maintenance of the family require repression of these incestu-ous desires.183 From a societal standpoint, Freud thought the repression of sexual drives necessary to redirect human energy into more socially productive endeavors. Absent repression, the theory goes, we would be even more obsessed with sex than we already are, and no one would bother making the trains run on time.’84 Freud also considered sexual repression essential to social bonding. But one need only open one’s eyes to see the extent to which a pornographic conception of sex, obsessed with the erotics of transgressing taboos, dominates our culture. Pornographic maga-zines and videos do a thriving business. Even in more mainstream culture, sexual taboos and their transgression sell everything from movies to magazines to records to clothes to television shows to perfume. We are obsessed with those who dare to approach, play with, and transgress the rules: Calvin Klein advertisements, Madonna videos, Prince songs, NYPD Blue, Cosmopolitan advice columns on adding spice to your sexual life, and daytime talk shows featuring those who have broken the rules and lived to tell their story on national television. (Cole, 1994)
The unconscious mind contains our biologically based instincts (eros and thanatos) for the primitive urges for sex and aggression. While we are fully aware of what is going on in the conscious mind, we have no idea of what information is stored in the unconscious mind. The unconscious contains all sorts of significant and disturbing material which we need to keep out of awareness because they are too threatening to acknowledge fully. So, the unconscious is not like a dustbin containing unimportant or irrelevant thoughts. Rather, it is precisely because they are so powerful that they are kept buried. Nevertheless, they exert a significant influence (Mcleod, 2009).
The subconscious contains thoughts and feelings that a person is not currently aware of, but which can easily be brought to consciousness. It exists just below the level of consciousness before the unconscious mind. This is what we mean in our everyday usage of the word available memory. For example, you are presently not thinking about your mobile telephone number, but now it is mentioned you can recall it with ease. Mild emotional experiences may be in the subconscious but sometimes traumatic and powerful negative emotions are repressed and hence not available in the subconscious. Our feelings, motives and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences, stored in the subconscious and instincts from the unconscious. Freud applied these three systems to his structure of the personality, or psyche – the id, ego and superego. Here the id is regarded as entirely unconscious whilst the ego and superego have conscious, preconscious, and unconscious aspect. Freud also regarded the mind to be like an iceberg, where the greates
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