Can advertising rely on coffee breaks to make people more open to persuasion? This won’t deter the average office worker from taking his or her next coffee break, but stress is always a factor at the bottom of an empty cup. And the stress factor is decidedly confusing. Men who work alone expect coffee to speed up their work, with the result that they are usually more stressed after a coffee break. By comparison, men who work in teams are likely to feel less stressed after a coffee, but their work is less effectual. And caffeine doesn’t affect the male and female bodies alike.
Nothing is new here, but the newest twist in the research stirs advertising specialists to action. It’s the finding that (to quote a report) “if you want to bring someone around to your way of thinking you should make sure they’ve got a cup of coffee in their hand”. Caffeine helps people process information better; it makes them more open to persuasion and more acquiescent to promotional messages. What would it mean to advertising?
As a person who studies things like how juries make their decisions and how stereotypes sway decision-making processes, Dr. Blake McKimmie is in a better position to answer it. He says perhaps advertisers will need to set aside TV commercials for times when people are more likely to use up their caffeine quota. But drink too much coffee, and your attention will be diverted by peripheral details. That is, “if you’re looking at an advertisement you may be more distracted by the attractiveness of the person selling it than the actual product”. When caffeine fires up the brain, it impinges on several neurotransmitters.
With enhanced attention comes enhanced memory. Even our attitude to remembering things changes. We can readily see what this can do to the potential buyer of a product or service he is being introduced to at the moment. Advertising relies on capturing peoples’ attention and getting it perpetuated through their memory. Will it last, though? There are different levels of persuasion and the key to success lies in how good is one in the long run.
Another thing is that the enhancing effects of coffee do depend on the context in which it is taken. The caffeine-generated arousal (a stress component!) comes handy at times when are tasks are mostly boring, like driving. But when it is combined with tasks that themselves are stimulating, “the extra arousal you get from caffeine might just send you over the edge”. Interestingly, men and women react differently not only to caffeine but also to stress – both biologically and psychologically.
SNEAK PREVIEW
1. Comparative Performance Scoring is a statistical tool. In cricket, it equates historic batting with modern batting, by attempting to remove the disparity in actual scores caused by prevailing pitch conditions. It computes each batsman’s score in terms of a prospective match total worth 1000 (the batsman’s runs per mille). The results are accumulated as per actual scores to give an overall season performance. It assumes that standards of batsmanship at the highest level have remained consistent since first-class teams were originally formed, but a W G Grace or Don Bradman will always “buck the trend”. The method can’t handle tests interrupted by bad weather.
2. Football for Hope was an inspiring benefit match for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. Organised by FIFA and UEFA in consultation with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, it was match played between a World XI and a European XI on February 15, 2005 at the Nou Camp stadium, with support from FC Barcelona who provided both their stadium and staff free of charge. It saw an XI led by Ronaldinho (the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year) beat a team captained by Andriy Shevchenko (the 2004 European Footballer of the Year) by 6 goals to 3.
ZC QUIZ No.231
1. Scientists call it the Goldilocks Zone. It is a solar system’s
– Glittery edge
– Centre of gravity
– Generator of winds
– Sweet spot
1. Sweet spot
2. Mona Lisa’s smile consists of millions of invisible dots. The technique used was
– Pointillism
– Camera lucida
– Constructivism
– Sfumato
2. Sfumato
3. With reference to a certain activity, what item in the list covers the other three?
– Handcuffs
– Eggbeaters
– Nutcrackers
– Windmills
3. Windmills (the other three are variations of “windmills” in breakdancing)
4. This writer was noted for his staunch support to the Esperanto movement.
– Leo Tolstoy
– Thomas Hardy
– Gustave Flaubert
– Shmuel Agnon
4. Leo Tolstoy
5. In 1976, the Paris Wine Tasting was real historic, because top honours went to
– French wines
– California wines
– Yugoslavian wines
– Scottish Wines
5. California wines