PERSUASIVE ADVERTISING

The media have often been used carelessly—and sometimes deliberately—to target households through aggressive advertising campaigns. At its worst, this becomes a kind of mental poisoning, repeatedly planting suggestions intended to influence judgment and behavior.

Financial institutions campaign relentlessly for new credit-card customers. Homeowners receive offers encouraging them to borrow money for improvements, and insurance companies advertise health-care plans at seemingly irresistible rates. Such promotions are not necessarily dishonest, but their presentation can sometimes be misleading, particularly when important qualifications are buried in fine print.

Much of the confusion begins with promotional material sent through the mail. Unless recipients read carefully, they may be influenced by bold promises while overlooking pages of qualifications and conditions.

The bold type is the carrot.

Offers may arrive as checks, official-looking notices, or documents designed to create a sense of urgency. By signing or accepting certain offers, consumers may unintentionally obligate themselves to subscriptions, loans, or services that continue to be charged monthly. Canceling them can then become time-consuming and frustrating.

Some letters are designed to resemble official correspondence or to suggest that the recipient has already requested information. Credit-card solicitations are a common example. Their wording may imply an existing relationship when, in fact, the correspondence is simply an advertisement.

I once received correspondence concerning a long-term-care insurance program. The first letter introduced the program and included a coupon for requesting free information. I had been away for several weeks when it arrived and had never requested the material.

A second letter was more disturbing because its wording gave the impression that an existing membership or wellness plan was about to expire. It warned that unless I acted immediately, I risked losing membership.

Health care is a serious concern, and few people would casually ignore a warning that their coverage was about to end. The wording therefore created a sense of urgency and, at first glance, suggested that I was already enrolled.

I read further.

The letter stated that the company had been unable to bill a credit card supposedly provided by me and that the membership would be canceled unless other payment arrangements were made. An invoice was enclosed.

Yet I had never supplied a credit card and had no recollection of enrolling in such a plan.

Reading carefully, I realized that the wording did not necessarily prove I was already a customer, but it was constructed in a way that could easily lead a hurried or anxious reader to believe so. The first letter had introduced the company and its services; the second created urgency. Whether intentional or not, the sequence demonstrated how suggestion and repetition can influence perception.

In another situation, my elderly mother received repeated telemarketing calls and unwittingly accepted a telephone service she already possessed. For more than six months, she was billed for two local telephone services without understanding why.

The elderly can be particularly vulnerable to persistent telephone solicitation. Memory problems, confusion, loneliness, or simply the pressure of a skilled salesperson can make it difficult to resist. Rehearsed responses to every objection can wear down even an alert person.

Persuasive advertising succeeds partly because it appeals to emotion before reason has time to intervene. Fear, urgency, scarcity, security, status, and the promise of savings are powerful inducements. Repetition gradually makes a name or idea familiar, and familiarity itself can begin to feel trustworthy.

To resist this continuing media blitz, we need to become more conscious consumers. Before responding to mail, telephone calls, e-mails, or advertisements, ask whether the sender is familiar, whether the service was actually requested, and whether there is any genuine need to act immediately.

Read the fine print. Question urgency. Verify the sender independently.

Most importantly, pause long enough to distinguish between a decision you have consciously made and one that has been subtly made for you.