Remember that commercial for the topical headache product that featured one woman who appeared to be really happy to be rubbing her child's glue stick on her forehead for 30 seconds? Remember how annoying it was?
Just in case.
Well, I was convinced for the longest time that this was the most ineffective advertising strategy in the history of consumerism. However, some recent research and consideration about the function of the human brain has encouraged me to rethink this opinion. Turns out I was wrong! Repetitive slogans, images, jingles and even repeated commercials are effective because the part of the brain that is responsible for repetitive tasks and behaviors and the part of the brain that controls analytical decision making can't seem to operate very well at the same time. One of these faculties will take over while the other pants pathetically in the background. Theories exist stating that this is why professional athletes "choke" when shooting free throws and kicking field goals during big games. The anxiety throws the analytical part of their brain into high gear and even though they've been kicking a ball for years, the simple, repetitive task becomes almost impossible. This is the same reason why it's difficult to give someone detailed directions to a place that you drive to every single day, and why I can operate a cash register just fine unless my boss is watching me. The same is true for the reverse, when you are being barraged with the same repeated phrase over and over, it's difficult for your brain to receive that information while analyzing it and making a decision. So when advertisers use this strategy, they are effectively temporarily blocking the brain function that analyzes information, while stimulating the part of your brain that urges you to apply HeadOn directly to your forehead...and not just because the commercial gives you a headache.
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