Advertising

Companies spend [billions:alot] on advertising every year. But they're not just pushing products-they're selling their brand's "personality," too. Think: Red Bull. What comes to mind? Most people say things like speed...power...hyper...extreme.Well, a pair of scientists wanted to see if the energy drink's alleged qualities would [influence:provide] people's performance in a racecar video game - without sipping Red Bull. So they had 70 volunteers race cars with identical specs, but different paint jobs. Four with the logo and colors of a drink - Guinness, Tropicana, Coca-Cola or Red Bull and one car just plain green. The drivers clocked similar times with most of the cars. But behind the wheel of the Red Bull car, they [actually:rarely] drove more aggressively, scoring either incredibly fast race times, or their slowest - by driving recklessly and crashing. The study appears in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.Polled after the game, the players didn't realize the Red Bull image apparently [influenced:targeted] their driving. Which suggests marketing doesn't just influence a brand's personality. It could be shaping our personalities, too, without our even knowing it.