Cognitive Dissonance
Ads and videos written to this emotion: 22. 22 make the Say move, 0 make the Avoid mistake.
The Emotion Map's entry, written for B2B buyers.
What it is
Discomfort when beliefs clash with actions or new facts. People resolve it by growing, or by dismissing the evidence.
Where it shows up
A company that sees itself as data-driven and cannot name last year's total marketing spend.
Sounds like
"We're a very numbers-focused company."
Say
A way to close the gap that lets them stay who they believe they are.
Avoid
Rubbing it in. Pushed hard, people dismiss the evidence, and you with it.
In consumer ads
Say: An easy way to close the gap between who the reader thinks they are and what they do, one that lets them stay the careful parent or smart spender they believe they are.
Avoid: Rubbing it in: copy that keeps pointing at the gap. Pushed hard, people dismiss the evidence, and the ad with it.
Doing it right
Ads that make the Say move.
Coca-Cola soft drink ad, al-Kawakib 1952
For a reader uneasy about a foreign drink, the headline says the concentrate is made in Arab Morocco and calls it pure and clean, so drinking it no longer clashes with who they are.
Israel Kaplan's LeTorah VaDa'at school ad, Minsk, c. 1897
It prints sacred and secular subjects in two equal ruled columns under a government licence, so a traditional parent can add worldly learning without ceasing to be the observant family they believe they are.
Pond's cold cream ad, al-Musawwar 1931
Skin specialists say soap and water only clean the surface, a gap in a routine she trusts, and the cream is the added step, so she stays the careful woman she believes she is.
Agency house ad: If your buyers were all mechanical experts
The if-clause headline lets the maker conclude himself that his buyers are not experts, and the 'not how your product is made' line keeps his pride in the engineering intact.
Coca-Cola local jobs ad, Bint al-Nil 1950
Lets a reader wary of a foreign drink stay loyal to Egypt and keep drinking it: the plant in the reader's city employs hundreds, its suppliers thousands, drawn as workers leaving the factory.
Agency house ad: Sales plan fixes production costs
It first grants that American machinery is the wonder of the world, then places high costs on wrong selling, one maker running 5,000 models, so owners can fix costs without doubting their factories.
Philips Argenta light bulb ad, al-Kashkul 1925
Real economy does not come from buying cheap bulbs lets thrifty readers keep their thrift and redirects it, while a smiling man tests a bulb against a sheet of paper.
Free Speech Doesn't Mean Careless Talk poster
FREE SPEECH doesn't mean Careless TALK keeps the reader's right intact and splits off the habit, with a parrot as the careless talker, so readers can stop gossiping and still believe in free speech.
Philips Argenta light bulb ad, al-Kashkul 1925
It tells the thrifty householder he has economy backwards, then lets him stay thrifty through running cost: strong light for little expense, shown by a well-dressed man reading easily under a bright bulb.
Book-of-the-Month Club price of books ad, 1927
It quotes the reader's own remembered line about never getting around to the important new books, then offers the club as the device that puts the book in hand, so they stay a reader.
Philips Argenta light bulb ad, al-Kashkul 1925
Once cheap bulbs are recast as waste, the thrifty buyer can buy PHILIPS ARGENTA and still count as saving, shown by a man reading a letter by a bulb held to his face.
Sanka decaffeinated coffee ad, 1932
The reader keeps swearing off coffee she still drinks; Sanka closes the gap by keeping the coffee and removing 97% of the caffein, proved by a night-test she runs herself.
مجموعة أمريكانا الجديدة للمقلاة الهوائية. طعم مقرمش لذيذ، وضمير مرتاح.
The clash between wanting healthy meals and serving fried favourites is acted out, and the air fryer range closes it without asking the parent to give up either belief.
Doing it wrong
Ads that make the Avoid mistake.
No ad in the library does this yet.
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