Advertising fundamentals and industry overview

¶ … Advertising Can Influence Memory for Consumer Experience," Kathryn Braun-LaTour, Michael S. LaTour, Jacqueline E. Pickrell, and Elizabeth F. Loftus designed three experiments to measure the impact of advertising on creating false memories. According to past research, advertising can be retroactive; advertisements can influence a consumer's recollection of past experiences with a product. In other words, a bad experience with a certain car can be transformed into a positive memory of the same car, through the use of effective advertising. However, most advertising research focuses on "forward-framing," that is, on influencing the consumers' expected future behavior. The current study focuses on the potential causes of false memory creation as well as its limitations, in order to determine the best conditions under which an advertiser can create ads that affect a consumer's memory of the product. The researchers propose that memory is both reproductive and reconstructive: while many memories are indeed of events that really did happen, a large part of memory retrieval cannot be separated from false constructions triggered by cues. Advertising may be a key means to creating such cues. To measure the causes, effects, and limitations of false memory creation through advertising, the authors designed three separate experiments. The results of these experiments show that the process by which advertising creates false memories is similar to the way genuine memories are created, and that pictorial advertisements are more effective in creating false memories than advertisements containing verbal information only. However, if the false information contained in the ad is detected upon memory encoding, the consumer becomes distracted and less likely to view the advertisement favorably.

2. The results of these experiments have widespread and significant implications for the advertising industry because of the impact memory has on a consumer's perception of a product. Furthermore, most advertising is for products that are already on the market as opposed to new products for which the consumer has no prior experiences. If advertisers focus only on the reproductive aspects of memory, believing that only "real" memories are efficacious, they may "miss out on opportunities to win back customers who had bad experiences with the product," and might also be more susceptible to their competitors' moving in on their target audiences through the creation of new advertising (8). Therefore, advertisers need to incorporate the theories behind reconstructive memory creation and retrieval, and employ the creation of false memory cues into their advertising methods.

However, knowing that advertising can create false memories is not enough to ensure success; advertisers need to know how and when to use false memory cues in their ads, and to whom to address such cues. The researchers propose that knowing exactly how to design an ad in order to trigger false memories, such as by using verbal or pictorial information can be helpful. Also, advertisers need to know which audiences are more likely to notice the false information because those consumers are less likely to be influenced by the ad.

3. The main theoretical assumption behind the research is stated clearly on page 8 of the study: "We believe that when the advertising has become internalized in this manner and becomes part of the consumer's own memory, this represents the ultimate in advertising persuasion -- the construct now owns the advertising material." The research questions included in this study include the following. First, can advertising create false memories in the same ways that false memories are created otherwise -- through verbal and visual cues? What impact, if any, does emotional response have on the creation of false memories? Are verbal or pictorial cues or a combination of both more effective for stimulating false memories in consumers? If the consumer is aware of the false information at the time of memory encoding, that is, at the time of viewing the ad for the first time, will he or she be less likely to respond to the ad and therefore to the product itself?

Content of Article

1. The authors relied on numerous prior research studies and psychological literature for theoretical frameworks, research design, and hypothesis creation. One such study dates back to the 1930s, in which Sir Frederic Bartlett first postulated that memory is in fact reconstructive as well as reproductive: "the memory system mix fact with interpretation in such a way that they become indistinguishable," (8). Although some memories remain veritable and intact from the original experience, many memories are inextricably mixed up with post-analysis and interpretation. Furthermore, the authors examine psychological literature for information on memory processing, noting that false memories and actual reproductive memories activate the same brain regions and are therefore processed similarly. However, research shows that when people recognize the falseness of the memory at the time of encoding, they will process the cues differently. The researchers designed the present study based on these prior researches. Furthermore, the current study hearkens to advertising literature in general, which investigates the impact of ads on consumer behavior. The authors note that the retroactive impact of advertising has been studied far less than the proactive impact of advertising and therefore the present study can fill gaps in the literature and offer impetus for conducting future studies.

2. The psychological concepts discussed center on memory: both the creation of memory and memory retrieval. In particular, the authors investigate the differences between reconstructive and reproductive memory; the differences between verbal and pictorial cues in the triggering of either false or true memories; and the impact that awareness of false cues might have on the processing of memory. The marketing concepts discussed include the relevance of memory on the consumer's perception of a product; the potential of advertising to be retroactive; and altering the consumer's attitudes toward products he or she already had experiences with. Product slippage, brand recognition, and other marketing terms are discussed.

2a. The current study applies directly to real-world concepts and experiences because all persons are exposed to advertising in some form or another. While the current research focuses exclusively on the impact of print advertising on consumer perceptions of products, the study can be extended in the future to examine the impact of television or radio-only advertising. Furthermore, the current research can extend beyond the realm of consumer-related advertising to the world of politics and political propaganda, media literacy, and general concepts related to memory and especially to false memory.

2b. The authors' model for the study include Disney print advertisements. In all three experiments used in the study, respondents viewed a print advertisement purportedly for Disney. The false Disney ads contained Bugs bunny, while the true ones contained Mickey Mouse.