Join getAbstract to access the summary!

Cashvertising

Join getAbstract to access the summary!

Cashvertising

How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone

Career Press,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Why some ads make people buy and others don’t: the ad agencies’ best-kept secrets.


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Selling is a basic human interaction. Yet, most professionals in advertising and related fields understand very little about what actually drives people to buy. In this short, punchy book, Drew Eric Whitman lifts the shroud of mystery surrounding consumer behavior by explaining some fundamental psychological principles. His well-researched pointers will help you create ads that appeal to customers’ deepest desires and impulses. Although Whitman’s advice is applicable to all modes of advertising, he focuses on print advertising; thus, some readers might wish for more insights on Web copy or broadcasting. Still, getAbstract strongly recommends Whitman’s compelling delivery of crucial advertising advice.

Summary

What Consumers Want

Effective advertising motivates people to spend money on a product or service. Yet, most advertising professionals lose sight of that objective, aiming instead to be clever or cute, or to win creative awards. Awards may gratify your ego but they don’t boost sales. Why, then, does the ad industry continue to follow this mistaken path? Because advertisers simply don’t know any better.

By using specific techniques, you can influence consumers’ actions. Selling involves persuasion, which requires the strategic use of psychology. This science is crucial to advertising because it explains “what people want, how they feel about what they want and why they act as they do.” It enables advertisers to make better decisions that improve customer satisfaction and increase sales.

Daniel Starch, an early researcher of consumer psychology, found that self-interest is people’s primary motivation to buy. Their attraction to a product corresponds to what it can do for them and how it can improve their lives. All people have eight basic desires. Ads that appeal to these fundamental desires strike a primordial nerve and generate a predictable reaction in people...

About the Author

Drew Eric Whitman has taught the psychology behind the consumer response for more than 23 years. He has worked as a consultant for the American Legion, Amoco, Texaco and many other organizations.


Comment on this summary

More on this topic