Tapsearch Com EditorGroundbreaking study: Advertising works
August 7th 2007 22:07
A study: Researchers gave small children the same food, wrapped plainly and then in McDonald's packaging, and the kids said the McDonald's-branded food tasted better. They concluded that the evil company's marketing really works.
Problem A: So what? The whole point of marketing is to create an association between the product/brand and positive feelings. If the researchers had found something else, that would mean McDonald's had made poor use of its advertising dollars.
Problem B: That said, it's still wrong to conclude that the results are due to marketing; some of it may be due to personal experience. For example, Gibson guitars don't advertise much, but I'd guess that if you gave me two identical guitars, one branded Gibson and one plain, I'd say the Gibson one sounded better. Why? Because I've heard a lot of Gibson guitars, and they tend to sound great -- I created that association not through marketing but through using the product. Similarly, kids may have learned they like McDonald's through eating it, and thus they associate the logo with good taste.
Problem C: According to the story, "[t]he study involved 63 low-income children ages 3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo County, Calif. Robinson believes the results would be similar for children from wealthier families." Given that low-income people tend to eat more fast food and watch more TV, why in the world would you believe that?
Problem A: So what? The whole point of marketing is to create an association between the product/brand and positive feelings. If the researchers had found something else, that would mean McDonald's had made poor use of its advertising dollars.
Problem B: That said, it's still wrong to conclude that the results are due to marketing; some of it may be due to personal experience. For example, Gibson guitars don't advertise much, but I'd guess that if you gave me two identical guitars, one branded Gibson and one plain, I'd say the Gibson one sounded better. Why? Because I've heard a lot of Gibson guitars, and they tend to sound great -- I created that association not through marketing but through using the product. Similarly, kids may have learned they like McDonald's through eating it, and thus they associate the logo with good taste.
Problem C: According to the story, "[t]he study involved 63 low-income children ages 3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo County, Calif. Robinson believes the results would be similar for children from wealthier families." Given that low-income people tend to eat more fast food and watch more TV, why in the world would you believe that?
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