HOW IS PSYCHOANALYSIS USED WITHIN CONTEMPORARY
ADVERTISING ?
"Studies estimate that, counting all the
logos, labels, and announcements, some 16,000 ads flicker across an individuals
consciousness daily."
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This essay will explore Psychoanalysis, delving into its basis and
creation, exploring how it governs our personality. Using secondary sources
such as; Literature, Documentaries, Interviews & eBooks, the characteristic
nature of my essay has become based around the consumerist ethos in
contemporary consumer culture. Identifying how advertisements have awakened a
keen sense of possession in potential purchasers.
Psychoanalysis refers to a psychological theory conceived in the late
19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. It was an
attempt to understand the unconscious human mind and its mental development, a
way of categorising and understanding desires, motivations and dreams. Freud
believed
"Unconscious wishes
are always active and ready for expression whenever they find an opportunity to unite themselves with an emotion
from conscious life" (Freud, 1913).
Freud was the first person to look at the mind and to develop a theory
about its basis and creation, in effect he established the foundation for our
current thinking about the mind. Freud assumes that adult behaviour reflects
complex interactions between conscious and unconscious forces operating within
the 'psyche'. The key element of Freud's work on Psychoanalysis was his model
on the structure of personality. In Freudian psychoanalysis, the mind, or
psyche, is seen as being governed by three main mental processes - innate
drives, reason and morality. Better known as; The ID, The Ego & The
Superego. It is these three states of mind that determine our personality
and shape our sense of identity.
Dr Warren Procci, Former president of the American Psychoanalytic
Association describes the ID
"as something akin to what Freud would say is the unconscious,
Freud saw sex and aggression as the two fundamental forces that pushed and
motivated individuals" (Procci, 2012).
This part of the psyche is instinctual psychic energy that we are born
with. The most important aspect of this psychic energy is the libido (sexual
energy). The ID operates on the pleasure principle and constantly tries to
gratify these instincts through pleasurable activity.
The Ego: This
part of the psyche represents our conscious self, it tries to balance the
demands for the ID for self-gratification with the moral rules imposed by the
Superego. The Ego operates on the reality principle as it constantly balances
the demands of the real world against the instinctive drives of the ID. Due to
this, it is also referred to as the executive of the personality or as Dr Warren
Procci describes it,
"The executive organ of the mind. Enabling the individual to both
control and contain the impulses of the ID, allowing the individual to have
some form of expression that allows the individual to lead some kind of
reasonably healthy and balanced life" (Procci, 2012).
The Superego: This is
our personal moral authority, or conscience, it develops later in childhood
(around the age of 5 or 6) through identification with one or other parent, at
which point the child internalises the moral rules and social norms of society.
"It's a sense that allows not only people to express various wishes
and impulses, but to express them in a way that’s consistent with societal
laws, so that when they feel the need, wish or desire, they have a sense of what’s
consistent with society and culture around them, and they conduct themselves in
accordance with that"(Procci, 2012).
This is a very important point because it demonstrates how a
contemporary culture saturated in advertising will alter ones interpretation of
stimuli.
If within the psyche, the ego fails to balance the demands of the ID and
the Superego, Intra-psychic conflict may arise and this can result in a person
acting upon their instinctive energy to seek gratification in the form of
pleasure. More specifically if the ID is not kept in check by the ego, then a
person acts on their immediate desires and impulses. This is because the id
contains all of our most basic animal and primitive impulses that demand
satisfaction. Such a theory explains why people get urges, impulses and desires
so strong that they have to satisfy them, for e.g. a new car, sexual desire, a
dream job. It's important to also think about where you'd be without desire?
Your desire pushes you through life. Without it we'd die, so we need to keep in
mind that a large part of personality consists of your desires and your
attempts to satisfy them.
"Advertisers know that the meaning of a stimulus is interpreted by
the individual, who is influenced by his or her unique biases, needs and experiences"
To illustrate this point, Marlboro cigarettes released advertisements
that say smoking Marlboros will make purchasers feel manlier. However, the side
effects of smoking in general are likely to make that person feel less than
manly, yet the message is 'If you buy this product, then you'll obtain the
pinnacle of manliness'. Magically imbuing them with the manliness they feel
they lack. Furthermore, while thirst is
biologically based, we are taught to want Coca-Cola to satisfy that thirst. Rather
than, say goat's milk. Thus the need or desire is already there: Marketers
simply recommend ways to satisfy it, directing your impulses. The 'Diet Coke
break' advertisements are also a strong example of advertisements promoting a
desire to consume, associating their brand with virile sex appeal, the
advertisement features a group of women taking a "Diet Coke break" to
scope out some brawny, good looking, and shirtless gardener, this is a perfect
example of using a masculine image to sell that desire to women.
The theory of psychoanalysis helps us to
understand why things are as they are and what it is to be human; perspectives,
feelings, beliefs and desires. All of these things create our perceived
identities which are subsequently influenced by the moral breakdown of society.
In order to effectively understand how
psychoanalysis is used within contemporary advertising, you need to be aware of
the shift in the consumerist ethos that has led to the present consumer
culture. Before 1900, advertising was mostly informational, Ads described
products and appealed to consumer's logic and judgement. World War 1 and the
1920s saw advertising shift from text to more emotional and image centred
modes
"It was this new approach to advertising which, according to John
Tennant, would 'awaken a keen sense of possession in the potential purchaser.
Compounded by the rise of instinct psychology" (Jobling, Crowley, 1996).
In essence advertising was becoming less
about products and more about the emotional and social lives of the people
buying the products
"Advertising and the role of consumer behaviour became strictly
interrelated as such were regarded as instrumental in determining the success
or failure of any product or service" (Jobling, Crowley, 1996)
Advertising had started to sell values,
images, concepts, teaching us that products can fulfil and meet our deepest
human needs. Thus causing consumerists to interpret an advertisement based on
its meaning in the light of associations we have with these images.
A number of authors have considered the idea
of advertising being the dream life of our culture, reflecting the things we
really want out of life.
Richards, MacRury, Botterill (2000), Judith,
Williamson (1984) and Jobling, Crowley (1996) have all commented upon the fact
that advertisers don't create false needs and wants, instead they take our real
desires and link them with merchandise, for instance Jobling & Crowley when
analysing the work of John Tennant points out that this dynamic of advertising
"Awakens a keen sense of
possession in the potential purchaser".
Richards, MacRury & Botterill support
this argument with an investigation into how
"Each advertisement projects into the space out in front of it an
imaginary person composed in terms of the relationship between the elements
within the advertisement"
You move into this space as you look at the
advertisement, and in doing so become the spectator, you feel that it really
did apply to you in particular. This concept is clearly further supported by
Judith & Williamson in their study of ideology and meaning,
"Advertisements translate 'things' or descriptive statements of
attributes of any particular commodity into human statements so that, for
example, the high mileage per gallon of a car translates into thriftiness or
clever saving. In other words, the image addresses us as a certain sort of
person. Facts are given symbolic exchange values, translated in terms of human
qualities"
These three authors support the idea that
humans are meaning making creatures, always wondering 'Who am I?' and 'Why do
things work the way they do?' After a century of experience, advertisers
understand the power of feelings, beliefs and desires. Creating stimuli to make
individuals salivate, convincing consumers that they 'need' many material goods
and that they will be unhappy and somehow inferior if they do not have these
'necessities'. Since consumers use products to express their social identities,
products are given meanings by their producers and we rely on advertising to
work out what those meanings are.
"A 'need' is a basic biological motive, while a 'want' represents
one way that society has taught us that the need can be satisfied."
(Solomon, 2006).
In light of the ideology that advertisers are
creating stimuli to make individuals salivate, contemporary advertisers have
created products that almost train us to elicit responses, this approach is
prevalent with 'Corona' advertisements, such as those found in my bibliography.
Corona is just any old beer, but every time I drink a Corona, the thought of
relaxing is in mind, why is this? Because they've learned and taught us to
associate the brand with feeling. Subconsciously suggesting that they share
values with us and that they have a similar vantage point on the world,
ultimately they're holding up a mirror and stating that they're just like me
and you. Such advertisements almost interrupt the order of the day hailing us
into its meaningful world by offering a subject position within the ideological
system of the ad, when we are interpellated, we exchange our self with the
subject position created by the ad. Thus interrelating the role of consumer
behaviour and advertising. This point is further supported by Williamsons
account on signifiers (1984)
"Chanel used the face of Catherine Deneuve in their advertisements
for Chanel No.5. In so doing, it used an existing mythological system:
Catherine Deneuve as signifier for the signified, 'classic French glamour and
beauty' Advertisements transfer meanings by juxtaposing two objects
simultaneously given the same value but they do not do so entirely within the
closed world of advertisement. The advertisers signs have meaning only in
relation to a wider set of meanings."
It is through this wider set of meaning,
which consumers have, that products are turned from signified into signifiers.
As receivers of advertisements we create the meaning but only because we have
been called upon to do so. Just as I have become to relate Corona with
relaxing, through their use of signifiers, e.g. beaches.
It's impossible to fundamentally grasp the
social and cultural developments of the past 100 years without some
understanding of Edward Bernays, also known as 'The Father of public
relations'. Bernays drew upon his uncle, Sigmund Freud, using his
psychoanalytic ideas for the benefit of commerce and promotion of commodities,
he was adopting techniques that would ultimately control the masses
"If we understand the mechanisms and motives of the group mind, it
is possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without
their knowing it" (Bernays, 1928).
In
other words Bernays understood that consumers often share the same demographic
characteristics (habits, tastes, economic status, sex, age and so on) yet could
still be very different people. Meaning there was a chance to target consumer
segments that will share a set of preferences for their products and services.
Bernays had recognised the unconscious desire to advertising and PR campaigns.
He had revolutionised advertising by applying Manipulation techniques. The
implications of this are grand and Bernays grasped it immediately, most people
even today do not see the incredible power of this notion, Society has stopped
manufacturing "goods" and cranks out "desires". You don't
logically need a new car - but just think of how much better you are going to
feel when you have the car and you've fulfilled the needs of your ID's desire.
Sigmund Freud's ideas about psychoanalysis impacted virtually every field, but
very few changed as dramatically as advertising.
"Advertising performs a potent mutation of the symbolic order"
(Richards, MacRury, Botterill, 2000).
The
underlying answer was simple… Understanding consumer behaviour is good
business.
A number of authors have considered how
Advertising teaches us above all to be consumers, that there are instant
solutions to life's complex problems, that happiness can be bought and that
products can fulfil and gratify our instincts for pleasurable activity. A
consumer is generally thought of as a person who identifies a need or desire.
Kilbourne (2006) & Richards, MacRury,
Botterill (2000), have all commented upon the fact that the problem is that
what advertising offers - material products - ultimately cannot satisfy our
deeply felt needs. They are tricking us, interacting with our emotions and
social lives through the use of
"Duplicitous and seductive images to enhance its emphatic
solicitations of identification, it invites, into the ordered processes of
differentiated symbolic signification" (Richards, MacRury, Botterill,
2000).
Sometimes
promoting anxiety, discomfort and inadequacy. This position is supported by
Jean Kilbourne's documentary 'Killing us softly' which analyses the subject of
women in advertising –
"The first thing the advertisers do is surround us with the image
of ideal female beauty, so we all learn how important it is for a woman to be
beautiful, and exactly what it takes."
What she's really doing here is objecting to
the use of 'ideal female beauty' and that it is not as important for a women to
be beautiful as advertisers suggest, despite this we all have an innate idea of
what is attractive about women, and advertisers are merely exploiting this,
encouraging the idea of doubt and making people feel uncomfortable in their
skins, this causes Intra-psychic conflict to arise between the id, ego and
superego which can result in acts of immediate impulse to gratify their
desires, Richards, MacRury & Botterill support this idea, investigating how
"An advertisement dangles before us as an image of another, but
invites us to become the same. It thus capitalises on our regressive tendency
towards the imaginary unity of the ego deal".
Much of our physical, informational, and
cultural space is now for sale - billboards, TV, magazines, newspapers, all of
these spaces pitch products promising to improve our lives, manipulating our
way of thinking. The psychological manipulation of advertising
"Is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception
or behaviour of others" (Wikipedia).
It has become the most powerful socialising
force in our society, this is supported by the 1929 case study 'Torches of
Freedom' which sees a 100 year old taboo against women smoking end overnight.
Through psycho-analytical methods, Bernays determined smoking gave women a
hypothetical symbol of the penis, which challenged male sexual identity so much
that men were sub-consciously keeping women from smoking. Bernays sought the
advice of the psychoanalyst A.A Brill. Brill's message to Bernays was
'freedom', sell cigarettes to women as a symbol of liberation. He hired
beautiful fashion models to march in New York's prominent Easter Parade, each
waving a lit cigarette and wearing a banner proclaiming it a 'torch of
liberty'. He was exploiting women's aspirations for a better life, targeting
the basic primitive impulses of the ID that demand satisfaction.
Consumers tend to project their own
experiences and aspirations to assign meaning, as demonstrated in the 'Torches
of Freedom' example. For this reason much of the meaning we take away is
influenced by what we make of the symbolism we perceive.
"After all, on the surface many marketing images have virtually no
literal connection to actual products. What does a cowboy have to do with a bit
of tobacco rolled into a paper tube? How can a celebrity such as the football
star Gary Lineker enhance the image of a potato crisp, or can Jamie Oliver do a
good job for Sainsbury's?" (Solomon, 2006).
A number of authors have considered this
creation of meaning and the role of symbolism in ones interpretation. Sheehan
(2004), Galbraith (1958) & Phillips (1997) have all commented upon the fact
that
"Advertisements that implicitly suggest a meaning can have a
stronger effect on our desires than advertisements that explicitly state a
meaning. A suggestion, rather than an explicit statement has the potential to
outmanoeuvre any rational decision making we do as consumers" (Sheehan
2004).
This describes how we would not have choices
as consumers if advertising did not suggest that for example, designer clothing
has a value that makes it imperative that certain people purchase the clothing.
This is supported by Phillips who describes how advertisements have the ability
to create the
"Illusion that it will satisfy conscious or unconscious desires
that it may not, in fact, satisfy".
Galbraith (1958) discusses the creation of
consumer wants by the same entities that also satisfy those wants. Galbraith
argued that
"Companies create specific products and services and then use
advertising to create desires among consumers that the products they have
created can satisfy. In the affluent society, goods become highly important and
valued more than many other aspects of society".
This is supported by the Old Spice 'the Man
your Man can smell like' campaign, who adopt a super cool guy on a mission to
tell women that "anything is possible" if they buy their men Old
Spice body wash. In a cultural context women tend to be in charge of most small
household purchases, like soap and deodorant. So using a sexy, suave dude, in
nothing but a bath towel to convince women to buy Old Spice for their man is a
good strategy.
In conclusion, Advertisers play a major part
in shaping society's values, habits and direction. We might applaud the
aesthetic and technical standards of many of the ads themselves or at worst
regard them as superficial, unreliable and intrusive, but it is hard to get
away from them and to resist the general temptations and advantages of the
consumer society. It is often hard to pin down what is actually objectionable
about ads because in most cases, advertisers simply do not know enough about
people to manipulate them directly, but it is argued that 'needs' are formed by
the social environment, as I mentioned earlier in the case of the Coca-Cola vs.
goat's milk example, it should be remembered that we do not eat and drink
solely to satisfy a biological need. We eat and drink for a number of reasons,
all of them embedded in our cultural context. It is this cultural context that
cause people to conduct themselves accordingly, internalising the thought that yourself,
your personal relationships, your success and your image all depend on your
consumer choices. Establishing the foundation for our current thinking.
Thus it seems that marketers do not create
artificial needs, but they do contribute heavily to the socialisation of people
in contemporary society and thus to the establishment of the social system of
needs. Consequently, marketers must take a share of responsibility for the
development of society and the manipulation of the masses that has ultimately
caused the human mind to not sufficiently value goods for the utilitarian
functions they deliver, but instead focus on the irrational value of goods for
what they symbolize.
"Beer would be enough for us, without the additional promise that
in drinking it we show ourselves to be manly, young at heart, or neighbourly. A
washing machine would be a useful machine to wash clothes, rather than an
indication that we are forward-looking or an object of envy to our
neighbours" (Leiss, 2005).
Bibliography
Sigmund
Freud (1913) The Interpretation of Dreams, New York: The Macmillan Company.
Dr
Warren Procci (2012) Interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego, Youtube.com:
About.com.
William
Leiss (2005) Social Communication in Advertising, New York: Routledge.
Michael
R. Solomon (2006) Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective, 3rd. England:
Pearson Education.
Jean
Kilbourne (2009) Killing us softly, 4th. USA.
Barry
Richards, Iain MacRury, Jackie Botterill (2000) The Dynamics of Advertising,
United Kingdom: Routledge.
Paul
Jobling, David Crowley (1996) Graphic Design: Reproduction and Representation
'In the Empire of Signs', United Kingdom: Manchester University Press.
Judith,
Williamson (1984) Decoding Advertisements: Ideology & meaning in
advertising, USA: Marion Boyars.
Kim
Sheehan (2004) Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, USA: Sage
Publications Inc.
Michael
J. Phillips (1997) Ethics and Manipulation in Advertising , USA: Greenwood
Publishing Group, Inc.
John
Kenneth Galbraith (1958) The Affluent Society, New York, Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company.
Edward
Bernays (1928) Propaganda, New York, Brooklyn: Ig Publishing.
CEO
of the Marketing Association of ANZ (August 8,2012) 'Perception in Marketing', SmartaMarketing,
Available at: http://smartamarketing.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/perception-in-marketing/
Case
Study: Corona Find Your Beach (Uploaded on Feb 29, 2012) Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z23TBvBJsCg
Judith,
Williamson (1984) Decoding Advertisements: Ideology & meaning in advertising,
USA: Marion Boyars. IMAGE ANALYSIS, Chanel No5, Catherine Deneuve – Image Signifiers.
