Current Topic: Advertising

Imagine walking down the cleaning aisle and spotting the newest plug-in room freshener with packaging adorned with scrumptious looking cinnamon rolls. You can almost smell it, right? That’s not just your imagination, it’s a powerful psychological phenomenon at play. 

A recent study by Sharma and Estes (2024) reveals that pictures of scented objects can actually make us "smell" them in our minds, influencing how we evaluate and choose products. Olfactory imagery can play a vital role in consumer decision making.

There’s a heated debate among advertisers about the role of attention in ad effectiveness. More specifically, the interplay between duration and frequency causes quite the controversy.

On the one hand, there’s the faith of ‘Total Time Hypothesis’. Its proponents argue that advertising effectiveness grows linearly with the amount of time devoted to that ad. So the more precious seconds of viewer attention, the better. This resembles the classical view of ad effectiveness, and it favors duration over frequency.

Go back to the last video ad that caught your eye. Was it the creative that stopped you from scrolling? Was it the message? Or perhaps it was the way it made you feel? While you might know why you liked it, your brain and body were telling a different story through subtle signals you weren't even aware of - small expressions on your face and tiny changes in your skin's sweat response.

Think about Netflix’s "Ta-Dum," NBC’s iconic Chimes, McDonald's "I’m Lovin’ It" Jingle, or T-Mobile’s catchy tune at the end of commercials. Chances are, you can hear each of these sounds in your head just by reading their names.  

Consumers are constantly bombarded with ads and cutting through the noise has never been more challenging. But what if the key to cutting through the noise isn’t in what you see, but in what you hear - sound itself? Enter Sonic branding. 

Remember the last time you donated to a preferred charity or cause. Was it because an advert caught your attention and you felt compassion, shame or outrage? Or was it because you know someone affected by the issue presented in the ad? It’s also likely you were aware of the non-profit organization work; you felt you were making a difference by paying attention or donating. Research suggests we make donations according to our personal preference and values, to reflect our own identity. That’s why we choose to give to different causes (Chapman et al., 2022).