How consumers behave hasn’t changed much over the years, but the methods of studying it and its prominence in advertising have. As advertising has evolved, so has its relationship with consumer behavior research. In this blog, I will examine the early history of using consumer behavior to advertise and how it is used today.
The early history of consumer behavior in advertising
Claude C. Hopkins is known as the father of modern advertising. During his working life, he brought advertising into a new age using scientific methods of selling. Hopkins believed that the sole purpose of advertising was to sell products and using data from actual sales was the only way to get the job done.
Hopkins discovered consumer behavior trends through testing his advertisements himself. He would test different variations of advertisements and run whichever one got the most attention from consumers. He saved many companies millions of dollars by using data to guide advertising decisions instead of guessing which advertisement would work.
Creativity is not everything
Many advertisers since Hopkins and even today still rely on their creative instincts to guide their decisions. David Ogilvy, a successor to Hopkins as one of the most influential persons in advertising, was a fervent critic of this baseless view of advertising.
An Ogilvy advertisement is easily recognizable by its simple and many times replicated format. As you can see in the example below, his advertisement layouts were an image, a headline and body copy with black text and white background, from top to bottom.
Ogilvy did this because he knew, through consumer behavior research and experience, that 10% more people will read the headline when it is below the image, and that it is easier for people to read text when it is black with a white background.
Keep in mind that he did not lack creativity in his advertisements, far from it in fact, but he did not let it guide his work. He figured out what consumers would react to, and only then used a creative touch to make his advertisements stand out.
Consumer behavior in advertising today
The fields of consumer behavior and psychology have grown enormously since Ogilvy’s time. As psychology has become more credible as a science, it has been used increasingly in advertising.
An example of a recent research study on consumer behavior is a study done by Zhang and Bloemer in 2008 on the impact of value congruence on consumer service and brand relationships. This study shows that when consumers share similar values with a brand it leads to more satisfaction, trust and loyalty to that brand.
An example of research like this being used in a campaign is the support of the Black Lives Matter movement by many corporations. Many companies are aligning their brand values with this movement and, in turn, are creating a trusting relationship with consumers who share similar values.
My take
In my opinion, modern advertising should be a balance between the testing methods that Hopkins founded and the modern consumer behavior research that advertisers use today.
I believe that the principles of Hopkins are important to include because even if a study says consumers will act a certain way, there is no guarantee that it will work for every company in every market. For example, Ben and Jerry’s supporting the Black Lives Matter movement works because they have a history of supporting grassroots progressive movements. If the same tactic was used by Amazon, for example, it may come off as insincere.
Overall, the study of consumer behavior was a driving force in the creation of modern advertising and the progression of advertising today. The importance of knowing how consumers will react to advertisements is just as important as it was in Hopkins times and it should not be overlooked.
About the author
Colin Young is a copywriter at Copper Sun Creative. He specializes in writing advertising and branding content. When he is not blogging or working to complete his bachelor’s degree in Marketing he enjoys doing anything outdoors.