This Christmas, major brands in the UK are spending more than £10 billion on advertising. And to justify the big spend, they are using sophisticated emotional marketing strategies to capture attention and boost sales.
One approach to understanding how these adverts work is by using a framework designed by the social psychologist William McGuire.
He identified six steps that help a brand influence the behaviour of the consumer. It starts with presenting the message, followed by the audience paying attention and then understanding it. The viewer then needs to agree with the message, remember it, and then finally respond or behave in the appropriate way – by consuming.
