The ad shown uses which principle?

Psychology is not only a tool to better understand those around you—it can also lead to increased influence. And while these persuasion skills are typically put toward research or counseling, they can also be useful in fields outside of the direct psychology world, such as marketing and advertising.

Although the methods used in advertising and marketing have changed progressively over the years—from merchants in ancient times screaming in marketplaces to digital marketers buying ads on social media sites—the underlying psychology in marketing and advertising has remained the same.

No matter how complex it may seem, psychology truly is an everyday principle. We use it in our relationships, our communication, and we can learn to use it to improve sales in business.

This article aims to uncover the link between psychology and advertising and how you can use advertising psychology to sell smarter.

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Psychology in Marketing Advertising

According to research, people generally lose concentration within a short period of time— about eight seconds. This is largely due to the constant overload of messaging in today’s society, causing us to become desensitized to a lot of information around us.

Big tech companies have also made the content world messier. Simply scrolling through Facebook or YouTube is enough to expose you to a ton of ads. In fact, it’s estimated that the average person is exposed to more than 10,000 ads every day.

In response, many people have learned to reduce the amount of attention they give to the content they come across, which has hurt many companies’ advertisements.

If you want to win a customer, you must first learn how to grab their attention, even if it is just for a few seconds so that you can get your message across. By employing psychology, you can reach your audiences quicker and more effectively.

7 Examples of Advertising Psychology

Many business owners are highly skilled at providing solutions to problems, but they perform terribly when it comes to selling that message to their target audience.

Brand advertisers and marketers use a lot of psychological tricks and principles to increase their chances of making a sale. Here are just a few of the most common psychological principles used in advertising today:

1. The Reciprocity Principle

This social psychology principle describes the give and take relationship between humans. When you give someone something, you put a burden on them to want to pay you back. For example, a business may provide some free services with the expectation that the consumer will then pay for bigger, more expensive services. Here are a few companies utilizing the Reciprocity Principle:

  • Benihana RestaurantThe Hibachi icon, Benihana, offers a “free” $30 gift card during the month of your birthday. The restaurant mega chain incorporates the Reciprocity Principle here by offering this free gift, knowing the customer will likely spend more once they’re seated for dinner.
  • HuluThe popular streaming service offers its customers a chance to try out the service for free for a set number of days before paying the full monthly fee. The concept of free trials is one of the more popular uses of The Reciprocity Principle in advertising.
    Source: https://www.hulu.com/start/twit


2. Commitment

When businesses can make a customer commit to something small, they can then easily increase their ask to include bigger things. For example, getting individuals to sign up for a free class or webinar may make them more apt to sign up for a cheap paid class down the line. 

SEMRush, a popular software used by digital marketing and advertising professionals, uses the commitment method by offering an array of free tools, like their suite of digital marketing courses. The consumer is more likely to opt into the paid services once they become knowledgeable with the free aspects of the platform.

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3. Consensus

People are more likely to buy from businesses when there is demonstrated proof that other individuals have made purchases and put trust in the company. By simply providing target audiences with reviews or testimonials, advertisers are taking advantage of this psychological principle. It’s no wonder reviews are such an important part of the advertising space, especially considering 93% of consumers say that online reviews influenced their purchase decisions.

4. Authority

People tend to pay more attention if they see that a company is an authority figure in the industry. Here are a few ways advertisers showcase authority to help build trust with consumers:

  • Publish a healthy flow of authoritative, industry-specific content to establish thought-leadership.
  • Visible mentions of awards or badges to tout many years of experience.
  • Trusted team of influencers to showcase a product or service on the company’s behalf. 

5. Liking

It’s easier to get someone to buy from a company if they first like that company. To use this tool, businesses must know their target audience, understand their likes and wants, and reflect those things in their brand messaging.

“We like people who are similar to us, who pay us compliments, and who cooperate with us towards mutual goals.” (source: https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/marketing-psychology-liking/)

6. Scarcity

When things are in short supply, people rush to get them. Limited availability = mass appeal. To use this tool, advertisers may put deadlines for promos and limited quantities for really good deals.

 An easily recognizable example of a scarcity method in advertising is the Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks.  The seasonal beverage sticks around for only a handful of weeks per year yet grosses an estimated $100 million per year.

7. Verbatim Effect

The Verbatim Effect is the idea that people tend to remember the gist of a given written or spoken topic rather than the information in its exact form.

Due to our aforementioned small attention spans, customers aren’t really paying much attention to long, unnecessary advertising content. Plus, people tend to remember general meanings as opposed to specific details. When advertisers break ideas down into simple concepts from the start, customers are more likely to remember a company or product.

Many other psychological principles can affect how prospects respond to advertising, and we use them daily. Advertising companies will then use these automatic responses to advance sales and reach customers.


Are you interested in learning how to use psychology in marketing and advertising? Do you want to use your psychology degree to work in the business world? With a sound foundation in psychological theory, the opportunities for diverse work are wide open.

Explore The Chicago School’s convenient and comprehensive online bachelor’s degree in psychology. The program covers psychological principles such as critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and decision making.

What are the principles of ad?

To help you understand how to accomplish these objectives, there are 7 principles of advertising you should follow to create effective advertisements..
1) VISUAL CONSISTENCY. ... .
2) CAMPAIGN DURATION. ... .
3) REPEATED TAGLINES. ... .
4) CONSISTENT POSITIONING. ... .
5) SIMPLICITY. ... .
6) IDENTIFY A SELLING POINT. ... .
7) CREATE AN EFFECTIVE FLOW..

What are the 4 principles of advertising?

There are four original principles of marketing referred to as 4Ps or 4P marketing Matrix that companies use for their marketing strategy. These four basic marketing principles Product, Price, Place, and Promotion are interconnected and work together; hence, they are also known as Marketing Mix.

What is the principal purpose of advertisement?

The Purpose of Advertising Advertising has three primary objectives: to inform, to persuade, and to remind. Informative Advertising creates awareness of brands, products, services, and ideas. It announces new products and programs and can educate people about the attributes and benefits of new or established products.

What principle of art is displayed most in digital advertisements?

Creative Use of Space Space is the most comprehensive of all artistic elements. It is the synthesis of all other elements in the campaign.