Space/Territory Needs: NeighborhoodPeople have a sense of territoriality, a possessive relationship to the space around them from the neighborhood to the nation and nature. This can be imagined in terms of ripples extending outward from the self: starting with close personal space ("My seat... My room... My parking space..."), extending to the neighborhood (hometown, city, region) which a person knows firsthand, to the artificial boundaries of a nation, and, finally, to our relationship with the whole world of nature. People love the familiar, the known, the nearby, especially that territory we consider "our" hometown, "our" city, "our" neighborhood. People like to see ads filmed in their area where they can recognize the backgrounds. Many national brands will create several local (Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles) or regional (South, Midwest, Southwest) versions of the same ad. Regional pride is common: ask a Texan or a Southerner. Hometown pride is common ("Support your hometown merchants"... "Shop in Your Neighborhood"). But, the idea is not limited to rural small towns. All major cities have groups organized to promote civic pride, business and tourism (festivals, parades). While some might criticize this as provincialism or "boosterism," such civic pride is the basis for much of what we treasure: museums, libraries, the arts. The history of civilization is the history of the city. 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.
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Key Words:belong, belonging civic civil close community downtown friendly grassroots home, home town local nearby neighbor, neighborly region, regional. Back to: Audience-Centered Claims
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