By
David Morimoto
Evash Beresiwsky
Jenesh Catabun
Derek Wong
Melissa Arriba
Many people would agree that they have experienced or witnessed an infomercial to a new invention or product line. Whether it happened on purpose or whether it happened accidentally, we as consumers have all experienced being “sucked in” into watching an infomercial at one point or another. Even worse, some of us have already experienced persuasion into buying a product. In most instances, products we don’t necessarily need. For some, the commercials are credible and valid. For others, they can be deceiving. But what remains a mystery are the reasons behind a consumer’s compliance to purchase a product at any given moment.
“Why are infomercials so effective in selling their products?” “Is it a person’s internal impulse to buy?” “Or do the infomercials use very effective methods of persuasion?”
In our persuasive campaign, we arranged a combination of persuasive components that will aid us in selling our product to our audience such as, the principle of association, liking/similarity, scarcity, and social judgement theory. We will first look to identify the goals of our campaign. Then we will address research that identifies the components that contribute toward the explanation of persuasive success. Further we will pose an argument as to why our campaign would be effective and implemented.
The
infomercial will be the core of our presentation. We will be selling a machine
that can make anything cold in less than a minute. The machine name is the Cool Aide, and accompanying it will be a
smaller model—for cans only—called the Coolster. Our target audience will be
homemakers, sports fans, and people who entertain guests. These are the people
who are most likely to purchase our product.
The
theories of persuasion that we chose to help sell our product are association,
liking/similarity, scarcity, and social judgment theory. The infomercial will
open with a live commercial. It will start with four guys outside of a house
having a beer. A woman walks in front of them and stops. As they turn their
heads, they realize they all want her. Just as they’re about to offer her a
beer, they notice that they have no cold ones left. Three of the guys fumble
around and look for a cold beer. The fourth pulls out his handy Cool Aide that instantly makes a beer
cold, and offers it to the women. In the meantime, the other guys marvel at
their friend's machine. As the commercial is going, a narrator will be saying,
"they like beer", "she likes beer", "they like cold
beer", "she likes cold beer", "they like her",
"she likes cold beer".
After this,
a jingle done by Ho'onua will be played in to sum up the product information.
After the commercial, there will be an explanation of the product. In this
section the presenter will explain how the product works, and some basic
implementations of the Cool Aide. The
presenter will be the creator of the Cool
Aide. The live demonstration of the Cool
Aide follows. The presenters will first put a warm soda into the machine.
After they make it cold, and show the audience, the presenter will briefly
explain the positive qualities of the product. The next demonstration will be
done with beer, and the same result will occur. Throughout the entire live
demonstration, the presenters will be talking about the efficiency, speed, and
results of the product.
Testimonials
will come right after the live demonstration. The testimonials or promotion of
the product will be done by famous people, and people from our target audience.
The people doing the testimonials are a housewife, Sam Choy, a sports fan, and
Ho’onua. Next the Cool Aide will be
compared to a traditional freezer and a refrigerator. In this section the
presenter will pose certain questions and then answer them. For example,
"Which one is coolest?” or "Which one is faster?" The presenter
will then run small experiments to answer the questions. The presenter will make
comparisons of the speed, efficiency, and size of the Cool Aide compared to a refrigerator or a freezer. One example
given is the ability of the cool aide to make ice extremely fast.
The
presenter will also compare the Cool Aide
to a household microwave. Everyone knows what a microwave is, and how handy it
is to have around. The Cool Aide is
as efficient and useful as the microwave; it just performs the opposite
function. People will associate the convenience of the microwave to the
convenience of the Cool Aide.
Now the
infomercial will have a selling break. The Cool
Aide’s price will drop until its three easy payments of $19.99. Also, as an
added bonus, if viewers call in the next twenty minutes they can get the
Coolster for free. You get the Cool Aide,
the Coolster and an easy-to-read manual for both. Another selling point is that
if you are not satisfied within 90 days, you will receive a full refund of your
money.
Following
the selling break will be multi-vector testing. This part includes the testing
of many different food products. The product will be demonstrated cooling beer,
soda, poke, and shrimp cocktail. This will illustrate the product's
versatility.
The final
part of the Infomercial will pose questions to the audience. Some of the
questions include: "Have you seen this before?" "Would you find
this convenient?" This section will be called the Audience Interaction.
First in this section, we will distribute cool drinks to the audience. Then, we
will ask the audience’s opinion on the temperature of the drinks. Finally, our
jingle will play again to help the audience remember our product. After the
jingle plays, there will be one more selling break. We will reiterate the cost
and repeat the added bonus product, and two free tickets to the next Ho'onua
concert. Then, we will show the price and the money back guarantee once more.
At the end of the infomercial the group will discuss what theories we used, as
well as where in the presentation we used them. Each person will explain the
theory they did research on. We will also explain why our product’s campaign
will be effective.
Amongst the
four theories that we will be using in our campaign, we will first illustrate
the similarity component to persuasion.
In
society today, many people interact with others who share the same
interests. It is true that no matter
what the other person’s status, whether it is a friend or a stranger, a unique
friendship will form. This developed
bond is used as an advantage towards the direction of consumer satisfaction and
sales.
Most
likely, a stranger who develops many similar characteristics to that of a
customer such as, clothing, language, and personality traits, will be given an
opportunity to explain what is being sold.
Sometimes after a few comments and answers, a final sale could take
place because people like people who are similar to them.
Everyday,
people use similarity. It can be used in
many different ways and for many different motives. Some examples where similarity can be
effectively used are when people want discounts from retail stores. It can also be used to pull in strangers
to join a religion or organization. Similarity is not only used in sales, but can
be applied to many different areas. It
is considered to be a very important “secret weapon”.
After
introducing similarity with general examples, let us see the meaning and
understand the term through Cialdini’s expertise. According to Cialdini (2001), similarity
refers to being similar in an area of opinions, personality traits, background,
or lifestyles. The closer you are to
being similar to someone, the more you will be liked and willing to be more
persuasive.
Dressing
styles is a good example of similarity.
An invisible bond between the two is created because they are
comfortable around each other, they have the same taste, and they can depend on
the other person not to be analytical about their opinions. We are more likely to help those who dress or
look like us. Being similar can have
positive outcomes, in which all good things will indeed head in your direction.
According
to our infomercial on the Cool Aide,
we targeted the local people of Hawai’i.
An island flavor was added to our infomercial to enhance
persuasion. The use of local favorite
personality voices such as Sam Choy, Larry Price, and Ho’onua was amongst our
choices to encourage persuasion. For
example, everyone who is familiar with the popular saying of, “Katoosh” will
eventually be attracted to the product he is advertising. Another example would be the ever so popular
local artists of Ho’onua, whose hits have reached the top charts. No local person can resist finding out what
they are “sporting”, also known as advertising.
Just
acting out these famous people is a small portion of our presentation. We have a commercial on Cool Aide that everyone would be interested in. Since the majority of our target audiences
are amongst young college students, what better to do a commercial about a
product than with actual college students such as us?
A product
that can cool down soda, beer, fish, or any meal in just seconds is every
student’s dream. No more waiting for
minutes to pass by for something to cool down and no more spending extra money
on ice. With the assistance of Cool Aide, all that can be accomplished
to perform such a duty. Also, cold beer
is a plus on many college student’s lists.
Since the commercial showed a bunch of college kids presenting cold beer
and actually liking it, a positive attribution will be made towards Cool Aide.
In
our infomercial, we displayed similarity through testimonials from local
housewives, sports fans / couch potatoes, and our local chef, Sam Choy. It takes just one housewife to see what
another housewife thinks about the Cool
Aide. She’ll in turn probably tell
her friends and family about the product.
Also, after games are aired on TV, an infomercial can begin just when
sports fans want to change the channel.
If cold beer, soda, and poke aren’t enough to make them watch, then
hearing Larry Price and Ho’onua will.
Two reasons for this are the person’s personality and the local music.
Similarity is a strategy
that can help anyone become successful socially and economically. According to studies, similarity increases a
person’s likability and persuasiveness (Byrne, 1971; Rokeach, 1960). It’s a strategy that will help us persuade
others to buy our product.
The
next component to persuasion that we will further illustrate would be the
association aspect.
The principle of association is a very powerful tool used in persuasive campaigns. It states that an association with either bad things or good things will influence how people feel about certain related topics (Cialdini, 2001, p. 162). One of the most powerful ways that attitudes are formed is through the association with positive or negative images (Perloff, 1993). In other words, when a person associates a proposed topic to something positive, they will have a positive attribution to that topic, and vice versa. Therefore, the principle of association is an essential element in building a persuasive campaign to change people’s attitudes.
In
our persuasive campaign, we use the principle of association in several
different ways. Mainly we try to use
association to change the attitude of our target market to favor and ultimately
purchase our product, the Cool Aide. We attempt to do this by using certain people
and products that our target market can identify with. By doing so we anticipate that our target
market will be persuaded to purchase our product.
Association
to people. People can
definitely identify with people. Whether
it be people who are similar to them, people who do the same things they do, or
people that are social figures, people can, for the most part, relate something
about themselves to that of another certain individual. In our campaign, we have several different
types of people that give testimonials about our product. They include social figures, a housewife, and
a sports fans (beer drinkers). By using
these certain types of people, we can try to change the attitude of our target
audience by associating these people to them.
In our
campaign, we use several social figures that our target audience can identify
with. Since we are marketing the product
in Hawai’i, we have chosen certain Hawai’i celebrities. Sam Choy for instance, the world-renowned
chef, is one of our social figures.
People can identify with Sam Choy because of his popularity and because
of his expertise in the kitchen.
We also
have the music group Ho’onua. We use
Ho’onua in our jingle as well as having them testify that they use the Cool Aide. By doing this we expect to increase the
persuasion of our campaign because, they are familiar to our target
audience. “If Ho’onua is using it, I
think I might use the Cool Aide
too.”
Also in our testimonials is a housewife. By using a housewife, we can target all those real housewives at home that are most likely to buy the product. Housewives will likely identify themselves with the housewife that is giving the testimonial. In turn, they are more prone to buy our product.
The last of
our testimonials is a sports fan. By
using the sports fan, we not only target people who watch sports but beer
drinkers as well. These people can
identify with the convenience of the Cool
Aide that the sports fan explains.
Association
to products. Products also play
an important role in the use of association in our campaign. People can identify to certain products that
are applicable to the Cool Aide with
products that they use in their own lives.
Beer and soda are excellent examples.
Many people drink beer and soda and want it to be cold or colder. We use beer and soda in our campaign because
many people can identify with the product which makes them more likely to buy
our product.
Another
example of using products that our audience can identify with is in the
housewife testimonial. In the
testimonial, the housewife uses such products as “Jell-O” and “Otter Pops” to
show how well the Cool Aide
works. People that like or use the
products can identify with how well the Cool
Aide works.
The last
way a product is used in association is the Cool
Aide itself. The design of the Cool Aide is very similar to that of a
microwave. Most people are familiar with
microwaves and the convenience of it.
So, because the design of the Cool
Aide is so similar to that of a microwave, people can identify with our
product.
In summary, the principle of association is an essential element in making our persuasive campaign an effective one. By using such things as people and products that our target audience can identify with, we can increase the overall effectiveness of our campaign.
Now we will explain how the scarcity component will effectively be used for the purposes of persuasion in our campaign.
In
infomercials, a common line heard is “for a limited time offer” or “while
supplies last.” These lines and others
similar to it exercise the theory of scarcity.
The principle of scarcity states that as the quantity or availability of
an object decreases, the value increases.
This is generally used to accelerate the pace of the discussion or
prompt a proposal or concession.
Other
examples of scarcity: “You can’t find this offer anywhere else,” “Not available
in any stores,” “For a limited time offer…” “While Supplies last…” “Limited
edition…” “Take all the time you want to
consider, but remember the ice cream is melting” “The more you delay, the more you will pay”
What
scarcity does is simple; it induces a sense of pressure and fear that the item
will no longer be accessible. When the
item is available in large quantities, people will tend to take for granted
that it will always be around.
This can be
demonstrated in natural disasters and emergencies. Living in Hawaii, we are prone to hurricanes,
storm systems, and flooding. People realize that in an emergency if you do not
have the supplies then your chances of surviving and living a “normal” life are
slim. People also realize that when a
natural disaster occurs, the daily supplies and necessities, such as water and
food, will become scarce. When a natural
disaster happens, the water supplies tend to be contaminated, and the food
markets where we normally buy food are shut down, either because the store is
destroyed in the natural disaster or because there is no food or goods to
sell.
When
alerted that a natural disaster is on the way, what do most people do? They go to the stores and stockpile as much
supplies as possible, in the event that the natural disaster does actually
occur. They realize that after the storm
or emergency hits, those supplies will be scarce.
Manufacturers
and sellers can take advantage of this by charging a higher price. The sellers and salespeople realize that when
the demand is strong, the people will be more willing to pay a higher price in
order to get the item. Infomercials tend to take advantage of this by stating
incessantly that the item is “not available in any stores” that their item is
“patented and only available through their exclusive offer,” etc.
Scarcity
can also come in the form of being unique, not just in limited quantity. If the item in question is a “one-of-a-kind”
(and desirable) people will tend to be willing to pay more. A good example of this is in antiques. Many antiques are unique or “last of their
kind” meaning that once its bought or destroyed, there is no others left. This is the reason why collectors are willing
to pay a large amount of money to acquire these rare antiquities.
In our infomercial, Cool Aide is a very unique device that uses scarcity to help persuade people into buying. We are the only company that manufactures our patent “Kooling” technology. This patent says that our product is unique with no other product like it on the market and we, as the patent holders, are the only ones with the legal rights to actually manufacture and sell Cool Aide. Our device is not offered through any other manufacturer or company and is not being sold in any stores, making us the only source for the product and allowing us to raise.
Finally, we will explain how we will use and apply another component, the social judgement theory into the attempt of persuasiveness for our campaign.
Social Judgement Theory.
The Social Judgement Theory is defined as the basic pathological processes underlying the expression of attitudes and their modifiability through communication (Sherif and Hovland, 1961). The process of social judgment provides order amongst the various stimuli that we encounter as we decode various messages from others through verbal and nonverbal communication. In order for this process to me more efficient, we usually group things along a spectrum. These judgments are then processed and are said to have two different distortions-assimilation and contrast. A shift in judgment away from the anchor is referred to as contrast, but a shift toward an anchor would be considered assimilation (Petty and Cacioppo, 1996).
Our presentation used the Social Judgment Theory from the start until the end. In our introductory commercial, the narrator groups ideas or thoughts together and comes to a conclusion. When he makes the final conclusion of, “Since the girl likes cold beer, then she likes me,” he is utilizing social judgment to categorize the stimuli that he is reading about the girl’s attitude, both verbal and nonverbal. In the past, he didn’t know that this girl actually did like cold beer, but as time progressed, it became more evident and his judgment was indeed modified.
Also, we hear actual testimonials from people who used the Cool Aide and found that it was a good machine. The indicator that was used throughout the testimonials was that they ranged from regular, everyday people to famous individuals. As we listen to each of their testimonials, the audience’s opinion about the product is changed because they use their judgment from the good things that they hear. After hearing such positive remarks from the various facets of people, it is instinctive that we immediately group or link the idea in our minds that the Cool Aide actually is a worthwhile product to own. Many infomercials use this technique and it turns out to be quite effective.
Finally, when our infomercial takes a sell break, they repeatedly slash the price of the product making it look much more affordable to the audience. In this aspect, the Social Judgment Theory is put into effect, because people actually believe that they are getting this highly expensive product at a greatly reduced price. This automatically triggers a response in us that group “Cool Aide” and “expensive item for a steal price” into our subconscious, which could lead to impulse buying.
In summary, when you closely analyze any infomercial on television, it is highly suggestive of using the different aspects of the Social Judgment Theory to play on people’s perspectives and tries to change your judgment in a short period of time. In our commercial, we used this technique to be more effective and persuasive as we try to sell the Cool Aide.
Conclusion.
Cool Aide is just a type of product that can demonstrate an effective method of persuasion. Introduced with a creative infomercial approach, many people are familiar with it and can identify with this style of presentation. Other components of persuasion such as association, similarity, scarcity, and social judgement theory used in our campaign can have a profound persuasive result if combined effectively.
Similarity increases a person’s likability and persuasiveness because people can relate to them and people are willing to comply with people who are like them. Association helps people develop positive attributes towards a proposed object or subject that could end in a positive persuasive result. Scarcity encourages people to quickly behave in a certain way that they normally wouldn’t, because of an extraordinary circumstance. Often times resulting in a persuasively favor. Social judgement theory tries to change a person’s perceptions about something in a short period of time with the use of indicators to encourage someone to believe something is good and therefore it is good to buy it.
We combined
and incorporated the use of these components into our campaign to enhance the
likelihood action of persuading them to buy our product. As with any case, and not just in a selling
environment, persuasion is and has been frequently used all over. From getting someone to buy a product from
you to convincing your parents in letting you use their car. If persuasion is used effectively, with the
assistance of several related components, it can have a profound and enduring
result in your favor.
These were
all the strategies that aided us in persuading people to buy our product, Cool Aide.