The Psychology of Advertising
On why it is important to understand mass psychology and the psychological processes of cognition for any successful advertising endeavor… Advertising has been a form of glorifying or gaining publicity for goods and merchandise since very early times. In fact, advertising has been around as an informal concept since the beginning of civilizations and former methods were oral advertising or claiming the benefits of products verbally when merchants sold goods to people directly on the streets. However with the advent of paper and writing, advertising took a more formal shape.
Our mental framework is based on a simple principle that has been ingrained in human beings since our appearance on this planet. The concept I make reference to is commonly known as the “Fight or Flight Instinct”. Every time a person faces extreme pressure situations, they make a series of seemingly innocuous choices that determine the outcome of their situation. The first choice made is typically the decision of whether to stay and face the difficulty; or instead, to turn tail and run. As a competitor, people make the attempt to stay and face the difficulty. If they choose otherwise, than all is lost. The second choice that people make in pressure situations is the way they allow themselves to interpret the thoughts that begin to stream through their mind. Simply put, the competitor chooses to view the energy burst they are experiencing as either nerves or anxiety, which typically has a negative impact, or they can view the feeling as eagerness, commonly a positive connotation. By deciding to view the energy as either nerves or anxiety, the competitor begins to view the upcoming competition as an impending terror experience. By making a conscious choice to view the feelings as eagerness, or as positive excitement for the competition, they condition their mind to process the upcoming events in a more positive manner. This reprogramming technique can be practiced by the competitor simply verbalizing their positive perspective aloud. The truth is that as a competitor, your opponent is likely to be experiencing identical feelings. If a competitor is able to positively view the feelings in their mind, than that competitor will have a more positive mindset when the time to compete arrives.
Psychology is typically divided into two areas of study: academic psychology and applied psychology. Academic psychology focuses on the research and study of personality, social, and development psychology. Applied psychology uses the principles of psychology to seek solutions to real-life issues, and can be seen in forensic science, ergonomics, and other areas of science related to addressing human problems.
The physical breakdown of an athlete is not making reference to the competitor that does not prepare physically during training. Physical breakdown of a competitor makes reference to the person that is ill prepared at the exact moment they step out to compete. Many competitors have experienced the feeling of “being flat” when the time for them to perform finally arrives. This breakdown is a result of an athlete not controlling their emotions or their mindset. By failing to level him or herself emotionally and mentally, the competitor expends an inordinate amount of energy during the pre-competition phase of their experience. As a result of this elevation of adrenaline throughout the hours leading up to their competition the competitor may experience a sort of “low” in their energy levels when the time to compete finally arrives. One must make the analogy of competition preparation being similar to a wave in the ocean.
A competitor wants to be at the peak of the wave at the exact moment of their competition. Physical breakdown refers to the athlete that unfortunately falls into the trough, or the low-point of a wave at their moment of competition. Many competitors have experienced positive progress with regards to their timing as a result of utilizing a competitor’s journal and the performance of relaxation techniques prior to competition. Use of positive visualization techniques will also aid in a competitor being able to better control his or her physical peak to coincide with their exact moment of competition.
Psychology has many applications, even in fields not directly pertaining to Psychology. Social workers, childcare workers, medical workers, educators, and scientists can all benefit from some basic knowledge of Psychology and its relationships with other areas of health and science. Students will also acquire skills in areas of critical thinking, research, interpretation, analysis, and basic scientific principles.
As an athlete, a coach, or a competitor in some other realm, we have all heard the saying “This is 90% mental, and 10% physical”. If this is the case, then why do we spend 100% of our training time preparing for only 10% of the competition? A true competitor will understand the simple fact that competition is warfare. Within the confines of warfare, there are simple tenets that are there to guide us along the path to victory. Sun Tzu stated it simply when he postulated “In order to conquer Ones’ enemy, One must first conquer Ones’ self.”