Can Marketers Really Change Attitudes?

Malls are plastered with advertisements yelling sales, clearance, 50% off, save now, buy now! As overwhelming as these might seem, we've actually become quite used to them. Advertisers are always attempting to change our attitudes about products and brands. I think that even though we have somewhat become numb to these plastered advertisements everywhere, they still work. That's right...the techniques work. Whether it be impulse buys or something else, they work. Here's some examples of how marketers can change our attitudes.

 The words "limited edition" appear on everything from collectible coins to different flavors of Oreos. Although we see a full shelf stocked full of these special lemon Oreos, we often feel like that this is our only chance to buy them. This is an example of a technique called scarcity. Scarcity is when people are more likely to be attracted to items when they aren't readily available (or don't seem readily available). Now, that I think about it, there's probably no regulation on who can put "limited edition" on packages. Marketers are clever people.

Marketers can change our opinions and attitudes when they feature special celebrities, good-looking people, or transformations in commercials. All of these are some of the ways that marketers secretly change our attitudes. Limited Edition makes things seem luxurious. Are Oreos luxurious? To some people they may be, but was that before or after the marketer?