▶ Nicole Han, Campbell Hall High School 12th Grade
Has this ever happened to you? After finding an article of clothing that you kind of like, the judgments start to kicking and you begin to question yourself: “Should I really buy this?” But, right next tithe rack of clothes, is an advertisement with popular celebrity wearing that exact shirt.
The victim (you) begins to underestimate the situation, so he/she thinks: “Oh, well it looks so great on that celebrity, I want tower it too!” This whole process is the effect of advertisement on the psychology of the Hu m an n b r and i n.
Advertisers have always found unique ways of getting the attention of consumers, in terms of elevating the status of a particular, new product. It’ s true that celebrity endorsements do in fact greatly influence our consumer decisions. Celebrity endorsements have become a prevalent form of advertising in the United States. According to industry sources, approximately 20% of all television commercials feature a famous person. Many celebrities are being paid millions of dollars to use or sponsor different products and sub sequent findings show t h at celebrities make advertisements look believable to the consumer in question.
Advertisers are able to immediately grab our attention by endorsing various celebrities or sports figures. Researchers found that when an individual is con-fronted with a celebrity, there is height-need activity in a certain part of the brain called the medial orbitofrontal cortex. In simpler terms, when we see a celebrity on a billboard or commercial, our brains automatically register it and we tend to remember that product for an extended period of time. The reality is people want piece of something they can’t be. They live vicariously through the products and services that those celebrities are tied to.
Years from now, our descendants may look at us, and say, “God, these were the most gullible people who ever lived.” It’s inevitable. We, as the consumer, are prone to following into the advertisement’ strap by purchasing the product. However, that doesn’ t mean the shirt isn’ t cute!