'Never suffer a sleepless night again!' There’s no shortage of such incredible claims in advertising. Not limited to psychic advisers and the purveyors of miracle diets, marketers in all fields practice what Patricia Berry refers to as 'selling hope.' Find out what it’s all about in this document.
'Business Secrets Revealed!' 'Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days, in Your Sleep!' 'Reduce Seven Signs of Aging!' What do these and dozens of similar statements have in common? They’re all creating 'hope.'
Every day, millions of people respond to these types of statements by investing in the stock market, buying lottery tickets, purchasing cosmetics, visiting therapists, and cheering sports teams. Hope is so widespread that we even use it on product names. A recent search on Amazom.com and CDNOW.com revealed no fewer than 4,936 books, 202 CDs, and 229 songs with 'hope' in their titles.
Because hope is so pervasive in marketing, let’s think about what it is, how to generate it, and its consequences.
WHAT IS HOPE?
Hope is basically the desire for a positive yet uncertain future outcome. A positive outcome means not just having something good happen (e.g., winning the lottery), but avoiding something bad (e.g., becoming older). Why are things uncertain? People don’t completely expect an outcome — either they lack the confidence that it will occur, or the ability to prevent something from happening.
HOPE AND HYPERBOLE
Let’s not mince words. A lot of what people hope for is really just hype. For example, think about the statement you often see on magazine covers: 'Five New Secrets to Losing Weight.' Do you really think there are new ways to lose weight beyond the basics of diet, and exercise? Probably not, but people read this stuff hoping to find something new.
The same holds true in business and marketing. You can easily find Web sites that claim to reveal new business and marketing 'secrets.' Do you really believe that there are new marketing secrets? You probably hope so, even though many of these 'secrets' are just repackaged ideas.
CREATING HOPE
Certain tactics work because they make positive outcomes seem more positive, increase desire, or make a positive outcome seem more likely. Consider the pervasive before-and-after photos (e.g., before vs. after using a weight-loss product). Such photos make consumers more certain that they can achieve the same outcome. Let’s examine some other 'secret tips' that work:
Link your claims to scientists or scientific evidence. Scientific research or evidence increases hope because it represents the latest, state-of-the-art knowledge. Hence, claims touted as 'developed by a physician,' 'based on scientific research,' or 'proven in the lab' will likely generate hope in your customers.
Show people that the product works without the usual negative side effects. What happens when you diet? You feel deprived, cranky, and irritable, right? Diet ads that say that you can lose weight while eating normally affect hope because they affect your desires. You can not only have your cake, you can eat it too!
Imply easy, rapid, and permanent success. Although achieving goals we really want can be difficult, it’s easy to find all sorts of claims that you can avoid this hard work. These are similar to the claims that you can reduce signs of aging in a single week, or lose weight and keep it off with just 20 minutes of exercise a day. These tactics work because they make the outcome we want to achieve much more desirable — they seem so much easier to achieve than we’d thought.
Highlight novel solutions. How many magazine covers have you seen that promote tools, secrets, tricks, tips, and secrets to a better sex life, a more alluring body, younger looks, better relationships with your children, wealth, or a better job? They create hope because they affect expectations of a positive outcome, once you have the proper resources — even though they might be odd or shrouded in mystery. In fact, they’re probably similar to what we already knew. Imagine — we had the tools all along and just lacked the confidence that they’d work!
USE HOPE SPARINGLY
However, creating hope among consumers can be good or bad, depending on the situation. On the one hand, because hope creates motivation, enhancing it should increase the likelihood that people will want to buy your product. Suppose they become confident that you can help them, but your product doesn’t follow through. Chances are they’ll be disappointed and upset. So while consumers should beware of what they hope for, you should beware of the claims that you make. Don’t create hope that you can’t fulfill!