The goal of captivating the readers’ attention was successfully achieved by the designers of an advertisement for Mitsubishi Motors auto which was printed in MensHealth in February, 2011. Appealing to the viewers’ desire to feel safety through protection from the surrounding, on the one hand, and the audience’s fear of losing the link with the reality, on the other hand, the ad of Sport Outlander implements an effective selling strategy.
Focusing on natural human desire to feel safety, the designers of the advertisement under consideration represent the 710-watt sound system as an instrument for separating and protecting the potential customers from the rest of the world. Taking into account the fact that the sound effects cannot be revealed in a visional ad, the designers used the layout, colors and juxtaposition for encoding their first message to customers.
When I bought my first car, I paid special attention to the sound system though at the moment I have come to realization that it is not the most important characteristic of an auto. However, following the principle Outlander is not only a vehicle but also an article of luxury, the advertisers have mentioned this characteristic in their motto for the purpose of affecting the feelings of the audience.
Taking into account the fact that the sound effects cannot be revealed in a visional ad, the designers used the layout and juxtaposition for encoding their first message to potential customers. It is significant that the background of the ad is empty with only hills and sky on it. As opposed to depicting a car in the flow of traffic, placing it onto a desert road, the authors emphasized the driver’s separation from the rest of the world while listening to the sound system.
At the same time, the juxtaposition of the car as a an industrial product and the beautiful natural landscape on the background reflects the implicit advertisers’ promise of absorbing in the sound and uniting with the world of nature while sitting inside of Outlander and using a Rockford 710-watt system. Appealing to human desires is an effective strategy for affecting their consumer behavior.
It is stated that “awareness must precede interest, and interest must precede desire and desire is the necessary prerequisite for action” (Hasten and Christensen 428). With the present day realities of megalopolises, people may dream of escaping the crowded cities and flows of traffic. This natural desire of being lost and separated was utilized by the designers of the ad for affecting the audience’s perception of the product and following consumer behavior.
Along with manipulating the consumers’ desires, the ad of Outlander Sport affects the audience’s fear of being separated from reality and losing their link with it. Going from one extreme to another, the view of a car on a desert road can invoke not only the viewers’ desires but also their negative emotions, including those of fear and anxiety. The fear of losing his/her way is familiar to every driver and understandable for those who have never driven a car.
It is stated that “nature or nurture, or inherited or learned impulses, activate the fear system, which generate defensive responses” (Hasten and Christensen 107). For this reason, appealing to the viewers’ fears by promising them assistance in finding their way back through a 40-gig navigation system is an effective method for affecting their consumer behavior.
In general, the full text of the ad under consideration promises losing you through using the sound system and finding the way back through using the navigation system offers protection from both internal and external hazards.
The play of words through which the advertisement promises support of navigation system in not only selecting the most appropriate route but also finding yourself is an effective strategy for invoking viewers’ emotions and generating their defensive responses. Manipulating the audience’s fears and metaphorically expanding the functions of the navigation system, the advertisement of Outlander Sport promises more than transportation and can affect potential consumers’ behavior successfully.
Composing the advertisement text of two contradicting promises to lose yourself and to find your way back through taking the advantages of Outlander Sport devices, the advertizing designers have created a self-sufficient world in their motto. The car in question creates challenges and aids drivers in overcoming them. It clearly represents how the paradox of contradicting values can be used as an effective advertizing instrument.
It is stated that “in advertizing, the opposing values of a culture, although often paradoxical, appear to be effective because they relate to the important aspects of people’s lives” (Mooij 218). Focusing on sound and navigation systems of Outlander Sport, the ad designers used the play of words and appealed to contradicting feelings of the audience for creating the paradox of values and taking the advantages of it.
Appealing to fears and desires of the audience in one phrase and creating the play of words and the paradox of values, the advertisement of Outlander Sport in MensHealth is effective for not only captivating the viewers’ attention but also affecting their consumer behavior.
Works Cited
Hansen, Flemming and Sverre Christensen. Emotions, Advertizing and Consumer Choice. Copenhagen Business School Press, 2007. Print.
Mitsubishi Motors. Advertisement. Men’sHealth February 2011: 29.
Mooij, Marieke. Global Marketing and Advertizing: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2010. Print.