Growth Needs: Success

Success in human achievements can vary widely in kind and degre, ranging from a national effort (a space mission) to individual efforts (graduation), or even games (solving puzzles, mysteries).

People have always been workers, builders, makers, creators, and problem-solvers. One of the joys we have is that of closure: of completion, of getting a job done, a problem solved, a victory,

When something is undone or incomplete, many people (not all) feel this strong desire to close, to reach a conclusion, to achieve a goal. Things left undone, unfinished, seem as a sign of failure.

Two common kinds of ads relating to completing a set, or a sequence, are:

(1) Ads for improvements (diets, dance lessons, computer skills) can relate to an endless cycle of "getting better."

(2) Ads for collections (baseball cards, trading cards, book sets, encyclopedias, ceramics, plates, sports memorabilia, toys) which expect many people to start but only a few to complete. Some products (Lego, Barbie, G.I.Joe, TMNT, Anerican Girl) are designed to encourage the purchase of extras and accessories.

Collectors can be manipulated by ads which sell "Collectors Editions" suggesting that the items sold will greatly increase in value. Baseball cards, for example, as well as fantasy game cards (Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering). Some such ads sell hope and greed, the illusion of future gain. Smart sellers use vague generalities and qualifying words such "worth," "value," "potential value,"and "virtually sure to increase in value."

Collections are partly a snob appeal because only the rich or elite have enough disposable income, extra money, to spend on non-necessities, on luxuries, whether they are antique art or modern toys. Partly, such collections have an expert appeal: the relatively few people who are so interested, or so obsessed, become experts in their limited field: "A big frog in a small pond."

Success is such a vague generalization, or high-level abstraction, that it is often used by political leaders who wish to avoid being specific about what they mean. Consider the use, during the Iraq war, of the words success and failure.

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:

achieve, achievement
accomplish, accomplishment
climax
close the deal, closure
complete, completion
conclude, conclusion
contentment
end
final
finish
fulfill, fulfillment
goal, goal-oriented
graduate
improve, improvement
mature, maturity
perform, performance
perfect, perfection
prosperity
reach
ripe, ripeness
satisfaction, satisfy
solution, solve
succeed, success, successful
synthesis
triumph
victory, victorious
whole

Back to: Audience-Centered Claims