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Think about TV ads. Analyze. Ask questions. |
Consider these ideas for your own compositions. |
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| WHAT
WORDS ARE USED?
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WHAT
WORDS DO YOU USE?
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Suggestions are best made with words which are vague, general, abstract, ambiguous, have rich connotations, or have multiple meanings. Although advertisers could make suggestions (in addition to explicit claims) about a product's intrinsic qualities, they are much more likely to make such implications about the intangibles, the "added value" benefits, to lead the audience to make inferences. If an ad were to make an explicit claim that the product would bring "success" and "popularity," such a claim would be unbelievable and probably illegal. But, implications made (by words and images) can lead audiences to make these inferences, not logically, but in a kind of "wishful thinking." Persuaders can set us up, can entice us to our own wish fulfillment fantasies. Self-delusions are common to all of us. We infer what we want to believe: we hear what we want to hear. We filter out the bad. Not only can we co-create the message, but we can also co-operate in our own deception. Persuaders have always attempted to lure. But now, with modem technology, ads can present a world of illusions, carefully edited and designed to stimulate our inferences. What are the "goods," the benefits audiences need, want, or desire? Various scholars have categorized human needs. Here's a useful list of 24 common categories of human needs and wants (incorporating Maslow and others) often used by advertisers including: basic needs (food, activity, surroundings, security, sex, economy); a sense of certitude (from religion or science; or approval by the "best" people, or the "most or "average" people); a sense of space or territory (neighborhood, nation, nature); a sense of love and belonging (intimacy, family, groups); and other growth needs (esteem, play, generosity, curiosity, creativity, success).
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Straight information transfer (if this is your goal) is best done with words with limited denotation, restricted meaning, precise, concrete and specific. Be sensitive to the differences between denotations and connotations. Connotations already exist within the "ongoing conversation" of our language community. (Philosophical aside: we enter that party late; after we leave, that party still goes on.) We learn the connotations of words slowly, by experience, by reading, and by sensitivity to the nuances. Some people have a better ear for this, noticing the appropriateness of words in context: when, where, and how they are used. Other people "can't take a hint" or "can't read between the lines." They are too literal, unaware that direct explicit messages actually make up only a small portion of communication. Yet, people are always making inferences because we always perceive specifics, only parts of things and of processes. Thus, we keep making connections, filling in the gaps, based on our knowledge, prior experience, and probabilities. If we see an effect, we infer a cause. If we see a cause, we infer an effect. If we see a part, we infer the whole. If we see one part of a process or sequence, we infer what went before and what will come after. If we hear someone complain about a "bad," we can infer that they hold the opposite to be a "good." If we hear an opinion (a conclusion) expressed, we infer the unstated premises. We don't necessarily do this logically. We can err, make mistakes. Logicians have labels for such errors: "Jumping to conclusions," "guilt by association," "post hoc ergo propter hoc." In practice, most of our simple daily activities are based on inference-making from the bits and fragments, the specifics, that we encounter. So "jumping to conclusions" is not necessarily wrong, unless an error is made, or we are lured and deceived. We usually get along adequately with such haphazard inference-making in everyday real life. When we do make mistakes, often we get feedback and correct them, trial and error.
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| | Welcome | Purpose | Audience | Limits | Structure | Attention | Confidence | Explicit | Implicit | Response| Omission | |
