Disturbing story from The Independent:
A group of US marketing researchers claim that brand owners can make their customers believe they had a better experience of a product or service than they really did by bombarding them with positive messages after the event. Advocates of the technique, known as "memory morphing", claim it can be used to improve customers' perceptions of products and encourage them to repeat their purchases and recommend brands to friends.Its chief cheerleader is Professor Jerry Zaltman, a psychologist attached to Harvard Business School. He claims that advertising - "if properly constructed" - can lead to the creation of false memories.
"When asked, many consumers insist that they rely primarily on their own first-hand experience with products - not advertising - in making purchasing decisions. Yet, clearly, advertising can strongly alter what consumers remember about their past, and thus influence their behaviours," he writes in his book, How Customers Think. He says that memories are malleable, changing every time they come to mind, and that brands can use this to their advantage. "What consumers recall about prior product or shopping experiences will differ from their actual experiences if marketers refer to those past experiences in positive ways," he continues.
Zaltman has worked in the past with many big brand owners, such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Motorola, Reebok and General Motors, though it is not known whether his advice covered memory morphing.
But Coca-Cola's UK president, Tom Long, speaking at a marketing conference earlier this year, seemed to get close to giving his seal of approval to the technique. He said that memory morphing "is something Coca-Cola was pleased to learn [about]." And he went on to advise marketers: "Try to morph the memory of your consumers."
British advertising agencies say Zaltman has contacted them offering advice on how to use memory morphing techniques. But none of the agencies contacted by The Independent has admitted taking up the offer.
Zaltman's extraordinary claims are based on experiments carried out by memory researchers in the US, most notably the work carried out by Elizabeth Loftus, a former professor of psychology at the University of Washington. She singled out a campaign by Disney - "Remember the magic" - which, she claimed, was used to invoke real or imaginary childhood memories in consumers.
Of course, my first thought was: Sean Hannity has been doing this for years. Case in point:
Hannity got on his biggest roll of the night when he talked about the aftermath of September 11th, which happened to be the day after his show went syndicated. “Bush had to take over the Clinton recession, and then has to stare evil in the face. I can disagree with Bush on some issues, unlike the Dems who still can’t find ANY fault with Clinton even after he weakened the CIA and FBI, but I can say this: Bush is the greatest wartime president this country has EVER had.” The applause and cheering were shaking the beams at Cintas. Hannity continued: “Clinton didn’t have the character, the wisdom, and the insight to be president. Dems question Bush, but they can’t question his record: 20 million people freed in Afghanistan, the Taliban destroyed, and 25 million people in Iraq freed! And Usay and Qusay are DEAD!” The thunderous cheering from the crowd shook the dust from the rafters. “Bush leads the world without polls, no focus groups, no dick Morris to triangulate, while the UN hates our guts and ignores their own 17 resolutions. The Dems said we would be bogged down, Israel would be destroyed, and the massive casualties in the thousands, and that Saddam would go nuclear. None of that happened, I question their ability to lead the in the modern times.” Hannity said that the time he met with Bush, Bush said he “…doesn’t care what the press says, I have a job to do.”
See, it's not the Bush recession, it's the Clinton recession and the Bush recovery. Now, here are some more memory morphing materials. Read them and see if you don't start recalling exciting new details from the last three years about how much President Bush has helped you, and the US economy, too:
Background: The Path to Economic RecoveryPresident Bush has provided bold and active leadership to encourage growth and help people find work. America's economy experienced the unprecedented triple shock of a recession, economic disruption due to September 11 and the War on Terrorism, and corporate accounting scandals. President Bush acted promptly to help America's workers by providing tax relief to put more money in families' pockets and encourage businesses to grow and invest. Tax relief brought substantial savings to families and helped fight back the effects of the recession. Without the President's tax cuts, as many as 1.5 million additional Americans could have lost their jobs.
The President will not be satisfied as long as Americans are looking for work. Thanks to his leadership and the action taken by Congress, the U.S. economy is now on the path to recovery:
Nonfarm payroll employment grew by 57,000 in September, the first gain since January.
The value of U.S. stock markets has increased $2 trillion since the beginning of this year. Disposable personal income is up 3.8 percent at an annual rate in 2003.
GDP growth was 3.3 percent in the second quarter of 2003.
The U.S. homeownership rate was 68% in the second quarter.
Productivity growth remains strong, which has bolstered corporate profits.
Orders of manufacturing goods have been increasing since earlier this year.
Shipments of durable goods increased this summer after a period of decline and stagnation. Orders have been above shipments since early 2003, suggesting future strengthening.
But wait. There's more:
We know how to create jobs for America. It starts when Americans have more take-home pay to spend -- (applause) -- more take-home pay to spend, to save, or invest, which causes the economy to grow and, therefore, someone is more likely to find a job. So I twice led the Congress to pass historic tax relief for the American people. We wanted tax relief to be as broad and as fair as possible, so we reduced taxes on everyone who pays taxes. (Applause.) It doesn't make sense to penalize marriage in the tax code, so we reduced the marriage penalty. It costs a lot to raise children, and so we increased the child credit -- from $600 per child to $1,000 a child. And we put the checks in the mail directly to moms and dads.It's counterproductive to discourage investment, especially during an economic recovery, so we quadrupled the expense deduction for small business investment and cut taxes on dividends and capital gains. It is unfair to tax the estates people leave behind after a lifetime of saving money and building a business or running a farm. (Applause.) When you leave this world, the IRS should not follow you. (Laughter and applause.) So we're phasing out the federal death tax.
I proposed and signed these measures to help individuals and families. But they also help the small businesses of America. See, most small business owners pay taxes under the individual tax rate because they're subchapter S's or sole proprietorships. And, therefore, small business has benefited from the tax cuts. Millions of mom-and-pop companies are also benefiting from the higher expense deductions. And this is important because small businesses create most new jobs for our country, and they're usually the first to take risks. They're usually the first to hire people. By helping small businesses, we help our entire economy. (Applause.)
We are following a clear and consistent economic strategy, and I'm confident about our future. (Applause.) Last month this economy exceeded expectations and added new jobs. Inflation is low. After-tax incomes are rising. Home ownership is at record highs. Productivity is high. Factory orders, particularly for high-tech equipment, have risen over the last several months. Our strategy has set the stage for sustained growth. By reducing taxes we kept a promise, and we did the right thing at the right time for the American economy. (Applause.)
Wow, don't you remember how great the last three years have been, now?