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Does Sex Really Sell?
Yes. But not always -- and not for the reasons you'd think.
By Ryan Sager
June 30, 2011
http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/deal-of-the-day/when-does-sex-sell-1309409056133/
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PF-AA742_smsexy_F_20110630004352.jpg
Sex sells. That's the conventional wisdom, anyway. It's why Andie MacDowell
is in so many shampoo ads. It's why George Clooney could sell tequila shots
to pregnant women. And it's why beer commercials are, well, beer
commercials.
But as with celebrity endorsements, it turns out we know very little about
why -- or even whether -- pitches from attractive people actually work. The
research on the topic is rather mixed. Some studies show attractive
endorsers boost products' ratings among consumers. Others show no effect at
all.
A new study, however, seeks to pull things apart by examining just what
makes attractiveness persuasive and in what cases do we simply ignore it. In
a forthcoming study in the Journal of Consumer Research, Janne van Doorn and
Diederik A. Stapel of Tilburg University in the Netherlands exposed student
test subjects to various mocked-up advertisements for products with
fictional brand names, testing various permutations of endorsements by
attractive (non-celebrity) models.
One way attractiveness works, they found, is simply as a cue. That is,
showing people a picture of an attractive model, even when he or she isn't
attached to a product in any way, makes people more favorably disposed
toward any product they're shown.
In one part of the first experiment, participants were shown a magazine ad
with a picture of an attractive woman with lustrous hair. They were then
asked to rate three products -- shampoo, a couch and a lamp -- on a
numerical scale on three measures: did they like to product, would they buy
it, and how much would they be willing to pay? All the products were rated
higher overall by people who saw the picture of the attractive woman,
compared to a control group that was shown a picture of a tree.
In another part of the first experiment, the subjects saw an ad where the
woman was pictured with the couch. This ad was meant to test what the
authors call a "link" between an attractive model and a product. The ad
links the woman to the couch, but it presents no argument to the consumer --
the couch, lovely as it may be, isn't going to make you beautiful or give
you nice hair. So does the simple mental link between her image and the
product result in higher couch ratings? Yes.
But where things get interesting is when the authors look at how we react
when an ad tries to use an attractive model to make an implicit argument:
Look at this woman with beautiful hair; if you buy our shampoo, you can look
like her and have hair like her. Of course, no words are used to convey
this, but this is advertising's stock and trade.
Here they found that people's reaction to the argument was dependent on
something both logical and a bit surprising: Did they believe that they were
capable of being improved? To prime the subjects toward believing that they
either were or were not capable of change, the subjects were presented
randomly with one of two texts: One told them that "our personalities are
transient and malleable"; another told them "the structure of your
personality will always constitute a solid background factor."
What the researchers found, then, is that when people were primed to believe
that they were malleable, they were far more susceptible to the "argument"
of the attractive woman in the shampoo ad. They believed they could have her
hair and better themselves by buying the shampoo; and thus they rated it
higher. If they didn't believe they were malleable, the shampoo's rating saw
no boost. (In a quirk similar to one that's been observed in other
experiments, the people who didn't believe the shampoo could help them
appeared to transfer an excess of positive feelings spurred by the image of
the attractive woman into higher ratings of the other products.)
So even when it comes to sex, it appears we're capable of some rationality.
Sex is a powerful seller. But cynicism exerts its force as well.
========================
How To Manage Your Grocery Bill
June 8, 2011
http://www.smartmoney.com/borrow/debt-stategies/how-to-save-on-groceries-1307550887571/
Your grocery bill is your biggest weekly household expense, so keeping a lid
on it will go far to stretch your dollar. The average American family of
four spends between $610 and $1,203 per month on grocery bills, according to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy and
Promotion's April 2011 Cost of Food survey. And, while managing your grocery
bill helps your pocket book, more attention to what you buy can also help
your health and general nutrition, cutting down on last-minute trips to the
store or a fast-food restaurant. Here's how to manage your grocery bill:
Get organized. Before you embark on your weekly grocery shopping you need to
have everything planned. Shopping lists are crucial. Keep an inventory of
what you need so you don't double-up and
a.. Keep a cheat sheet of prices. Besides your shopping list, be sure to
keep track of prices. Nobody can remember the price of everything, so jot
down the prices of some key items. That way you'll know when you see a good
deal.
b.. Be size conscious. Bring a calculator if you have to, but most stores
will also list the "unit pricing" for items that come in different sizes.
Bigger package usually, but doesn't always, represent value. Packaging is
getting smaller, prices are going up.
c.. Compare prices. Compare deals you get at your grocery store with other
stores, like drug stores or home improvement stores, which may have cheaper
prices on certain items that are also available at the grocery store.
Maximize your coupon strategy. There are many tricks and creative ways to
find and use coupons.
a.. Look around. Check manufacturers' websites, the Sunday papers, stake
out sites like coupons.com and grocerygame.com and ask at your local stores
where to go for more coupon sources.
b.. Combine. Stacking a store and factory coupon on a sale item can help
boost your savings, but don't forget to seek out bargains, too. If a pound
of mince is on sale because the best-buy date looms, bring it home and
freeze it. Ask your local store if they accept coupons from competitors'
stores. You may be pleasantly surprised by the answer.
c.. Carry your card. If you pick up an item that requires a store card,
don't forget to use yours or ask for one. Some grocery stores also allow you
to digitally download coupons from the store's website. Make sure to
remember to scan your card at checkout.
Buy in bulk. If it makes sense for you, buying in bulk can save a lot of
money in the long-run, but you might have to shell out more up front to save
per item. A little saving on lots of tinned products and other
non-perishables like kitchen roll add up.
a.. Get fresh. You may find products with better expiration dates if you
rummage. This is all the more important when you're bulk-buying.
b.. Special occasions. If you're shopping for a party or special occasion
like Thanksgiving, this is the time to buy in bulk for high-priced items
like steak, turkey, beer or wine.
What not to do. These shopping tips could save you spending more than you
should.
a.. Don't be so brand loyal. What are you getting in return for sticking
with your favorite brands? Familiarity? Higher prices? Try buying cheaper
generics.
b.. Don't buy bottled water. If you buy a water filter, it will be like
the plastic bottled tap water you buy in the shop, except it will replenish
itself daily as if by magic. Similarly, watered down juice is a false
economy. Buy the juice and water it down yourself.
c.. Don't forget your coupons and store cards. Without those great
coupons, you're out of luck. If you do forget your store card, however, many
stores will take your phone number as an identifier. Just don't forget to
add it on your store card application or update your online profile for your
card.
======================
C Hamilton
a moderator of
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/new-continuum/
adult humor/opinion/pictures
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