While watching television, I am often aware of the effects it is having on me. It is my belief that television advertising is a form of brain washing. At the times I am aware of this, commercials have very little effect on me because I am actively thinking about the messages they are trying to convey. At other times, when I am just mindlessly watching T.V., commercials have a strong influence on me. Examples of the type of commercial that catches me off guard and influences my purchasing are the Cheetos commercials.

I find the character Chester Cheeto entertaining so it has on occasion slipped past me that he is trying to influence me to buy something. I have enjoyed Cheetos for many years, but I don’t always purchase them when it comes time to buy a bag of chips. After viewing the Cheeto commercials I find myself looking for the Cheetos first in the chip aisle. I don’t always buy them, but I usually look for them first to see if they sound good at the time.

In the article “T.V. Ads: What Are Youngsters Buying?” researcher Don Kauchak states “Television commercials are designed to take a basically passive, inattentive viewer and persuade him or her to attend to, comprehend, and believe a particular message.” (p. 2) I find that this is exactly the case with me. It’s when I’m passive or inattentive that the commercials have the greatest effect on me. Kauchak goes on to say that what helps the commercials be so effective is that they are short in length and they typically contain a lot of movement to attract attention. Short length and movement combined with sound effects and memorable jingles really make commercials memorable and effective on the viewer. One of the things I find funny about the Cheetos commercials is when Chester says “Poppa Chester is proud of you.” Hearing him say that line along with the colorful props used while seeing the commercials over and over really make them sink in to my memory.

While it is difficult to not watch passively sometimes, I feel if I can be more conscious of the fact that advertisers are counting on my passiveness to sell their products, I will have a better chance at rejecting any unwanted influences television commercials have on me. This may be difficult because I watch T.V. to relax sometimes or to help put me to sleep, but since I am even more aware now than I was before taking this class I think I’ll have a better chance of seeing through the commercials than I did previously.

T.V. Ads: What Are Youngsters Buying?
Kauchak, Don
Educational Leadership; Apr78, Vol. 35 Issue 7, p530, 3p
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In the article “Street Smarts,” researcher Norm Brodsky discusses how he started a new business that was going to compete with existing businesses that were already established. Brodsky said he was able to be successful at this by “becoming an agent of change.” (p. 1) While talking about some of the obstacles Brodsky said “Somehow you have to persuade customers to leave their current supplier and sign up with you. Most people will make the switch only if you’re charging less or offering more than your competitors, or both.” (p. 1) In the same way, I had to convince my friends that my new catch phrase was somehow better than other phrases they might be currently using. I proposed doing this mostly by repetition and demonstrating to them how cool I thought this new phrase was. My new phrase was universal and could be used in many types of situations so I thought this might be my edge. I was also hoping they would just appreciate something new.

The first night I started using it was when my girlfriend and I were cooking dinner together. I tasted our creation and I said “THAT is Dolby!” while smiling and then tasting it again. She asked “It’s WHAT?”

“Dolby!” I said

“O-K?” she replied.

I just continued on as though nothing unusual had happened. She seemed a little suspicious and finally asked me where I got that from. I told her I couldn’t remember which one, but I heard some celebrity on TV say it. I wasn’t able to get specific and give a name because she is very into celebrities and would have known I wasn’t being truthful. After I told her that she let it go. I used it again a while later when we were watching TV together and she looked at me and said “You really like that saying, huh?” “Yeah, it’s Dolby!” I replied. She gave me a look like I was starting to lose my mind.

I was able to use my new catch phrase in a very different way the next time I used it. She was getting ready to leave and we were talking about how it would be nice to go hiking the next day, but I had to attend to some family affairs. In sort of a depressed voice I said “Man, that is so Dolby.” This time she just replied with “I know.” I was a little shocked my new phrase seemed to be accepted so easily.

The next evening we hung out with some friends and I thought it would be the perfect time to use my new phrase around different people. Shortly after we arrived at David’s house he said “Hey, check out my new phone!” and handed me his cell phone. I checked it over and said “That is Dolby!”

“It’s pretty tight, huh?” he said.

“Oh yeah!” I replied.

I used my phrase a few other times during the evening and none of our three other friends acted like it was out of the norm at all. I started to think my new phrase wasn’t wild enough. Finally, towards the end of the night we were talking about nice places to visit. I mentioned Hearst Castle was a great place to see. “It’s totally Dolby!” I said. Lisa spoke up and said, “What’s this Dolby stuff?” I told her it was just a phrase I heard on TV. My girlfriend told her “It’s a new saying he’s adopted. He says it all the time now.”

Lisa seemed to think it was fun and inquired about the proper usage of this new saying. I explained some ways it could be used and pretty soon we were all finding ways to use it and it was hilarious! We were all laughing hard, but I was laughing the hardest because of the situation and knowing I had just made up this new saying. They were saying things like “What the Dolby is going on here?” “Who the Dolby knows?” “Pull your head of your Dolby, I’m talking to you!” In addition to using it the way I had initially intended they had taken the word itself and worked it into replacing curse words and nouns as well.

The following day I got a call from David. He was telling me he woke up this morning and thought he lost his phone the night before because he couldn’t find it, but he eventually found it. I said, “Oh, that’s Dolby.” He just said “Yeah, that would have sucked, I just got it and I didn’t get the insurance!”

“Oh that would have been totally Dolby!” I had just used my new phrase to mean two completely different things, but I didn’t really get a reaction from David about it. It wasn’t as funny as it was the night before, but it still seemed as though it was being accepted.

Later that morning my girlfriend and I met up with David, Lisa, and Kendra again. We went for a two mile hike and then went to lunch afterwards. I was able to use my new phrase a number of times. I tried not to blatantly overuse it, but I used it very time it seemed appropriate. It seemed to go well and it appeared my friends were accepting my new phrase. A couple of them did use it a time or two, but they weren’t using it like I had hoped. At least they seemed to be accepting it.

The next day I was able to tell David and my girlfriend about my experiment. My girlfriend immediately said “I wondered what was going on! I knew something was up!” David just kind of chuckled a little and said “Did we pass?” He sort of let on that the only reason they were allowing me to get away with this odd new saying was because they didn’t want me to feel bad.

I feel people tend to attribute the cause of a negative outcome to external sources because they don’t want to be seen as stupid, ignorant, or naïve. People generally want others to have a positive image of them so they try not to let others see anything negative about them. For this reason negative outcomes are typically attributed to state attributions. For the same reason, people tend to attribute positive outcomes of situations to themselves. Trait attributions place them in a positive light to other people and help them feel good about themselves.

Looking back over my life I can think of a couple times when I have been influenced by mass media. For a number of years I thought Bose speakers were the very top of the line when it came to audio. I believe it was mostly due to repetition and seeing ads for it everywhere. There were ads for Bose speakers in magazines, on the radio, and even on T.V. There are even stores today that are dedicated exclusively to selling Bose audio equipment. I knew the cost of Bose equipment was high, but I figured it was the quality for which people were paying.

Looking back and thinking about it now, I understand the reason why there are dedicated Bose stores – this way there are no other brands to which they can be compared! I have done quite a bit if research and have auditioned Bose products myself and have compared them to other products. I have compared them to products of equal price, higher price, and even products that sell for a lower price. What I have found is that Bose speakers aren’t bad per se, but they are significantly over-priced and over-hyped.

The same is true for Monster Cable products. After seeing many advertisements and prominent displays in stores like Circuit City and Best Buy I figured there must be some benefit to them over ordinary audio cables. After all, Monster Cable was charging $80 for something that could be purchased for $10 from another manufacturer. I held the belief that Monster Cable was superior until I read a number of different reports where specialists had conducted tests and had results to back up their claims.

What they found was Monster Cable did indeed produce a good quality product, but unless you were planning on using a 50+ foot length of cable, the difference was negligible. Even at the longer lengths, the difference would likely go unnoticed.

Mainly it seems what the consumer is paying for is marketing for both Bose and Monster Cable products. It’s funny to look back and see how influenced I was by the media and how strongly I felt about those products. At the time I had never seen any tests done on either product nor had any chance to compare them to other products myself so my opinions were based solely on advertising done through mass media.

Street Smarts

Brodsky, Norm

Inc.; Feb2003, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p44, 2p, 1 color

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When I have talked with my friends about this, the first thing another man usually brings up about a woman is her looks. My male friends would also like their ideal mate to have an income level that gives her the ability to sustain her lifestyle, but her looks are often most important. Conversely, my female friends will often speak about what the men do for a living, indicating they are most concerned with the income level of their prospective mate. While they seem to be most concerned with a man’s ability to support them, his looks are also important. I feel the majority of people tend to look for a mate this way and it is likely due to a ‘herd’ mentality caused by what the mass media shows them, but they also still hold some values such as morals and mental stability in high regard. Based on this I contend our mate selection is mainly society driven, but also has some evolutionary drive as well.

As a director I have searched for a mate that will compliment my characteristics that include being very technical, analytical, and straightforward. Over years of movie and television viewing I have gone through different stages of what qualities I thought my mate should have. Way back when I was in school and watching movies like 16 Candles and Wargames I wanted a woman that was not only beautiful, but smart and goal oriented as well. Now that I have gotten older I have narrowed this more to include her morals, religion, and lifestyle. Looks are important, as there has to be some attraction, but other characteristics are more important to me now. I’m certain this is in large part due to the movies and other media I have encountered over the years.

I feel mass media played a significant role in determining the qualities of the mate I was looking for. In the study “Personal Characteristics Important in Mate Preference Among College Students,” researchers Less Hoyt and John Hudson found that the students who were studied tended to be less concerned with chastity and the domestic abilities of their mates and more concerned with education and attractiveness. They contend that mass media, among other things, play a significant part in this. I tend to agree with this, although my list of qualities has changed over the years and has become more defined due to biological nature.

The findings in the article indicate that while qualities such as “dependable character and emotional stability have always been ranked as indispensable traits to look for in a mate,” (p. 95 Hoyt, Hudson) good looks, education, and sociability have been elevated in importance. I attribute the elevation of looks, education, and sociability directly to the dominance of mass media in our culture and feel character and emotional stability have remained important due to our biological nature.

Hoyt, Less Leanne, Hudson, John W. (1981) PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS IMPORTANT IN MATE PREFERENCE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal 1981, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p93 4p. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/ehost/detail?vid=10&hid=120&sid=9c9cced6-3142-40f8-bc32-cdd1a228649b%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JmxvZ2lucGFnZT1Mb2dpbi5hc3Amc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db=s3h&AN=8650351#db=s3h&AN=8650351