14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new research, it could be that your behavior in uncommon situations, such as after winning the lottery, is not very much dictated by your own free will as by ads and other external factors. This is the first investigation of this type to analyze the influence of advertisements on personal desires. It was conducted by Tel Aviv University (TAU) Recanati Graduate School of Business Studies expert Dr. Danit Ein-Gar, who collaborated closely with US colleague Dr. Camille Su Lin Johnson. The experts reveal that the answer to the question, “What would you do with a million dollars?” is not as clear-cut as it may seem at first, ScienceDaily informs.
The new investigation was recently presented at the Academy of Consumer Research Conference, held in Pittsburgh, the US. Researchers explained that they divided more than 500 study participants into two “mindset” groups. The individuals from the first were induced into a state of “being,” as in asked to think about the present, by showing them simple slogans along the lines, “Think of what you are right now.” The second group was induced into a “becoming” state of mind, and made to contemplate the future.
People in the first group who were shown ads of chocolate products were more likely to express their desire to purchase them, whereas those in the second group, upon being asked to think about what they would become, were more likely to purchase healthier foods and granola bars. In a related investigation, the participants were told they had just won $1,000. The scientists then looked at what the people did with the money. Those in the “being” group tended to spend it on indulging in products such as better TV sets, whereas those in the “becoming” group showed a tendency to buy more useful and practical things, such as textbooks.
“Sometimes we are goal-driven and sometimes we are self-indulgent. But we've established that simple advertising cues can shift your mindset from one category to the other. It can determine how you shop in the supermarket, choose a snack, evaluate a new car or invest your family's fortune,” Ein-Gar said at the conference. The study seems to suggest new tips for advertisers. Companies would do well to establish the mindset their product fits in at first, and then work on better integrating the two together, experts believe. This could see an increase in their clients' sales revenues.