Disrupting The Peace

Now is the perfect time for a variety of organizations, more specifically philanthropy organizations. There is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a tsunami occurred in Japan, and Haiti is still recovering. During these times, I see many commercials soliciting for money, and they are doing a great job in presenting the need for people to help. Although, many of these organizations use the disrupt and reframe campaign tactic. They disrupt the message to divert attention from the real cost of the effort involved. “JUST $1 per day”, instead of saying the real cost for the contribution.

Geico

Geico does a great job utilizing the SUCCESs model, particularly the commercial where the mother dropped the pig off at home. The commercial was simple because the message is obviously to choose Geico over its competitors. In addition, the commercial was unexpected because you would not expect for a pig to go to school or irritate the mother that dropped him off. It is concrete because you will understand and remember that the pig saying, “Wee wee” correlates to Geico. Furthermore, Geico is credible because the organization speaks for itself. Geico really did a great job with emotions, because this commercial was extremely funny, and a story was told by the look on the mother’s face while dropping the pig off at home.

Playing With Emotions

The power of emotions is quite crucial in our society today; no matter where we are, someone is trying to play on your emotions. For instance, oil spills have occurred in the U.S. economy in the past couple years. Consequently, marine life and birds have been harmed terribly. So what do we do? Many companies have played on our emotions, showing pictures of helpless animals with a gigantic amount of oil on them, and even dead ones. Tactics such as these are fear appeals; this is what will happen if you don’t do X, Y, or Z. Honestly, these organizations have done a great job at making us feel responsible for the future of the Gulf of Mexico, and the many creatures that live there. We understand the threat, and in this instance, perceived efficacy is most likely high.

Obama or Nobama?

As we, all are aware; a change in the U.S. budget needs to occur. However, whether someone is for or against Obama's suggestions, depends on their attitude, and social norms; Theory of Reasoned Action. There are many ads against President Obama's proposal, but how do people really feel. Will they listen to their loved ones, and those that have the most influence in their life, and will they decide what is best for them and the economy as a whole? In this case, the Theory of Reasoned Action is very concerned with how strong of an attitude someone has for or against the budget cut. In addition, the Theory of Reasoned Action asks the question why someone is doing this particular behavior.

P90X

P90X is becoming a highly popular workout system, even though it is quite intense. Individuals have learned from testimonial ads/commercia exactlyl how well this system works. As a result, utilizing the Social Cognitive Theory, individuals learn from others and dictate whether or not they can complete this task. Self-efficacy plays a strong role in this theory, because the more efficacy an individual has, the more likely they are to make a positive change (i.e. purchase and complete P90X).

Consistency

In our society today, many times we see commercials that appeal to emotions. In such instances, where a national disaster occurs, many organizations ask viewers for donations. Honestly, there are many times when you don't want to help, but you know that you should because you have a social responsiblity; which is where the inconsistency occurs. What do you do? Do you help yourself or do you help others? I believe that this is clever many times, because commercials and ads like these tend to get the recommended actions that is suggested; the donations of money. 

Cognitive Dissonance

While viewing the "Texting While Driving" ad, I must admit that I was moved. Although, I was not moved to the point where I would make a change, which is the ultimate goal of an ad; behavior change. My reasoning lies behind the fact that because I was in a state of dissonance, I was going to do everything in my power to create consonance, or consistency. I recognize that even though this is a powerful ad, I am in denial and I tell myself that this could not happen to me, but only to other people.