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Approval
Needs: Best People
Most people have a strong need for a sense of certitude and approval from outside sources; some seek to get this from association with the elite, the "best people." Every era, every culture, every group has its own elite, the people who are admired or esteemed by others: social and political leaders, movie stars and millionaires, artists and athletes, scholars or celebrities, the "jet set," the "old money," "high society," "the movers and shakers." Sometimes, this aristocracy is due to the unearned gifts of wealth or birth or beauty; sometimes it is a "natural aristocracy" based on virtue of talent. Every group will have such an elite, who lend authority and prestige to that which is associated with them. Today, alas, most of these elites can be rented to endorse a product. Why do people watch the Academy Awards? In 2005, Michael Shermer (Editor, Skeptic magazine; columnist, Scientific American) writes: "... as a scientist, I can offer a plausible hypothesis. We are a hierarchical social primate species with the largesat visual cortex in the mammalian order. We look up to our alpha males and females, we vie for status among our cohorts, we prance and preen for our group, and we do it all visually. Celebrities are artificially constructed friends and cohorts.... Watch the awards as an anthropologist might, and enjoy the social spectacle, a glimpse at our true primate nature." Audience-centered ads try to associate the product with pleasant emotional feelings of "good things" already liked by the intended audience. Such feel- good ads are often not logical or true, but can be very effective. |
Key Words:acclaimed Back to: Audience-Centered Claims
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