Here's my questions for Monday discussion.
1. Do you think autobiographical ads can really change people's memories of their past? If so, any examples? You can relate any experience of yours and the others on this topic.
2. Do you think autobiographical ads (if they really work) would cause any negative effects on our life?
*What I wanted to say during the class discussion is that I think some extremists often use similar types of the autobiographical ads (they are actually propaganda) to incite hatred between ethnic groups or religions (telling people about their "history" and instigate them to fight). Therefore, autobiographical ads can be seriously persuasive. If misused, they can be very negative. What do you think?
What's up guys,
ReplyDeleteThis is Anton and I am also in Will's group for the Monday seminar and I am going to post Joe's question and my question below. Feel free to share your thoughts on the blog; be ready to discuss your thoughts in more detail on Monday:
Joe: Do you have any flashbulbs memories that you later found out that the details you remembered were incorrect?
Anton: Do you believe auditory memory is inferior to visual memory (concerning advertisements)?
Joe, definitely this happens. Indeed, I don’t believe most of my flashbulbs memories are less vulnerable to forgetting than my ordinary memories. Even in special moments where I am supposed to keep more accuracy that doesn’t happen. I have noticed, however, that my long term memory is much better than the short term one, independently of the emotional aspect.
DeleteAnton, I believe they go together but I think this varies among people. Personally, I keep memories more easily if I have a picture of it in my mind but also associated with a speech (from a third party and from myself) – and this is in every aspect of my life, not only with ads. So, if the ads' visual is great, the story is good and I recount that for someone else, I will remember the ad for more time.
I think that for many people it is very common to imagine having some experiences when in fact they never really happened - but I am not sure to what extent we can attribute this to advertising. We have been exposed to so many different situations during our lives that it makes difficult to credit “fake memories” only to ads when there are so many other variables.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, thinking more deeply about the paper, I made myself a very simple test – first, I remembered of an old doll that I didn’t have when I was a child and tried to imagine moments when I was playing with this doll. Then, I went to you tube to find old ads about this doll – they were very very similar to my memories!!! So there may be a chance of the paper being very accurate.
Regarding the second question - if autobiographical ads really work, I still would doubt about its power to manipulate our past. I also don’t see how implanting a negative memory would help to sell a product, which makes me skeptical if the industry would have any interest on that. Especially for infant ads they always bring me good feelings and I feel very nostalgic about them too, so I don’t see how this could bring negative effects in my life.
Hey, here's my thoughts on all three of your questions.
ReplyDeleteFor Will's questions>
-Yes to the first question since I do have that experience. I was a huge fan of Seo Tae Ji, the pioneer and legend of Korean Pop music history, and I remembered listening to his last album before he got retired at the time. But it turned out to be I was 6 or 7 at the moment and pretty sure that I had no access to his music. Later, I found out that I watched a TV show about a memoir of Seo Tae Ji and was convinced I saw the music video when I was young. This of course is not about an ad commercial, but it was a false memory triggered by video clip. So I think autobiographical ads can influence the way people construct their past.
-No to the second question. If our minds have these cues which can be easily affected by ads, then they can be stirred by any other stimulus in our daily life. And I don't think this can be negative if it is the way the human mind works.
For Joe's question>
Like I described above, my flashbulbs about Seo Tae Ji was completely manufactured. But the details of memory, I mean the quality of the content, was very specific since the images were borrowed from the video clips. I just believed that I listened and watched his music video at that time.
For Anton's question>
I think your choice of word "inferior" is interesting. On page 33 of that we've read in Foundations of Advertising class, it says that "there are great personal differences in normal individuals in their ability to form certain class of mental images." I totally agree with this quote. It depends on each individual of how they are awakened by different types of imagery. Some people might be eye-minded and some are ear-minded. If there is a big difference in the effects of advertising between visual and auditory memory, it would come from the limitation of the advertisement form as the printed page. It is obviously hard to provoke other than visual images.
Thanks for all of your thoughtful discussion questions! I really enjoyed them. I look forward to discussing them on Monday.
Hey guys, interesting thoughts!
ReplyDeleteFor Will's questions, yes I do think autobiographical ads can change people's memories of past. II remember a time when my friends and I went to a new restaurant opened in my city, as soon as I saw the menu I suddenly remembered eating there before. But as I said, it was a new restaurant and not a chain restaurant so it's not possible that I had been there before. Later I remembered in one of my favorite TV sitcoms, there were lots of scenes taken in a similar restaurant. And I think that could be the source of my fake memory.
And for the second question, I think we are exposed to a lot of things every day and ads are just a little part of our daily life. Maybe ads can change our memories for the past sometimes to a degree, but incorrect memory might not last forever. And other things in life could have also affected our memory. If autobiographical ads really works, it is hard to say whether the negative effects are merely caused by ads.
For Joe's question, definitely yes, take my incorrect restaurant memory as an example. The moment it appears in my mind I just believed it was one hundred percent true and it felt so real. But later it was proved incorrect.
For Anton's question, I think first we need to define the word inferior. Does it mean less powerful in changing people's thoughts and action? Or does it mean last shorter in time? Or maybe easier to remind of the ads when people see the actual product? As for myself, if there is a mental visual image in my mind and that memory can be called more "superior". But I think the actual effect of auditory memory and visual memory varies from person to person. Because I do know people who keep very good memory of ads they heard on the radio than they saw in the magazine or on TV.
Hey everyone,
ReplyDeleteGood questions! Straight to the point of these articles.
1. Autobiographical ads - sadly, I think the study is correct; I think they can indeed change our perceived recollections, even when they don't specifically try to (like Disney). For instance, the perpetual reference to childhood & Happy Meal in McDonalds ads trigger adults’ early memories, making the restaurant seem a comfort zone or escape from everyday hassle. These adults may not even have liked MD as kids, but since these ads have been on for so long and have become ingrained in the culture, they may have indeed modified memories.
In the long run, I think this appeal has negative consequences – namely, it makes people remember things the way they’re depicted in the media, as stereotypes, and forget authentic memories, which are really the variety and beauty of life. Our families didn’t look like TV ones and perhaps didn’t make us happy, but in the end they’re a part of our identities and by forgetting them we forget bits of ourselves.
2. No; I have a few flashbulb memories, but I’ve never tested their accuracy. The most vivid is seeing 9/11 live on afternoon news at home. As I went to get something from the kitchen, I saw my dad watching this and he said something along the lines of ‘something terrible has happened.’ I don’t remember his exact words.
3. I think it depends on everyone’s sensitivity, as well as on the ad’s production values. If someone is hypersensitive to sound, like I am, they’re bound to remember sound more than they do visuals; however, if sound is unremarkable, maybe even these people wouldn’t remember it. Ultimately, maybe the element (image or sound) which is more original or which attracts the most attention is likely to be remembered more, regardless of personal sensitivity.
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteI know that I have experiences where I feel like I remember something from childhood that my parents tell me never happened. I'm sure that I could have seen an ad that depicted something similar, but I actually it's more likely that I heard my friends' stories and now think they are my own. I know advertising is powerful, but I question whether it causes these completely false memories.
Memories are tricky because most of the time I find I remember what I want to remember not what actually happened. Especially when I was a small child.
If autobiographical ads do cause false memories I still wonder if they are powerful enough to cause any serious negative effects. Most of the time the memories they are said to cause are happy so I would doubt there would be any serious consequences.
I have flashbulb memories of 9/11 that I feel are totally accurate however I know the likelihood that the memory is 100% correct is slim to none. This is an interesting concept. These memories seem so clear, but I know that the whole day was such a blur there is no way I can remember it as clearly as I think I do.
I believe that types of memory change depending on the person much like types of learning change from person to person. I am a visual learner, but someone else may need to read in order to understand. This changes from person to person in my opinion.
Hi! Everyone! So many great opinions and experiences!
ReplyDeleteWill> Yes, I definitely think autobiographical ads can alter people’s memories of their past. In Korea, there are some companies which make an advertisement containing people’s common nostalgic memories – i.e. family gathering on Thanksgiving Day at grandparents’ house, playing hide-and-seek with friends after school. When people encounter this sort of advertisements through television or radio, they truly feel that those common experiences happened in their past and empathize with them. I did not have experience of those; I can see many adults influenced by advertisements.
Some people would argue that companies’ manipulation through advertising would lead distortion of their thoughts and even their past, mostly advertising toward consumers produce positive feelings and atmosphere, which means influencing in positive ways. Even though advertising can distort one’s past, it eventually makes both consumers and companies happier than before – i.e. people can recall (even though they are fake memories) their happiest memories, and companies can impact greatly on their brand images and profits.
Joe> As Bobby, I have a few flashbulb memories, but I am not sure they were accurate or not. Unconsciously, I accept the stories and facts as a truth and did not try to figure it out whether they were true or false.
Anton> Same as everybody’s opinion. Although I am a person who is much more sensitive to sounds, which means ear-minded person, it would be different from person to person depending on situations or individuals’ characteristics. To be more specific, people will, in my opinion, differently respond to each memory relying on their past experiences or their backgrounds. For instance, when I was young, the apartment complex I lived had a nice but too quite living environment. I think that’s why I am a person who is hypersensitive to the merest noise and much more influenced by musical elements. Therefore, it is difficult to say which memory is superior or inferior to others, because every individual has different backgrounds and different interests.
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteI do believe that autobiographical ads can change people’s memories of the past. An example of this is an ad that I related to when I looked further into autobiographical ads, The Magic of Disney World commercials. Even though I have visited Disney World, I remember things from those commercials when I try to recall what happened during the visit.
In regards to the second question I do believe they can have a small negative impact, however I don’t think that the negative impact that an autobiographical ad can make is very significant.
In response to Joe’s question, yes I have had flashbulb memories that I later realized weren’t real. I found that this happened because I had wished a past situation had been different so badly that when I went to recall at a later time, I originally remembered what I wished had happened over what did.
In response to Anton’s question, I don’t believe that auditory memory is inferior to visual memory. My reason for believing this is because when I think of auditory memory I think of the jingles that get stuck in our heads and we can’t help but associate them to the companies that advertise them.
Tyler Sands
Will:
ReplyDelete1. Do you think autobiographical ads can really change people's memories of their past? If so, any examples? You can relate any experience of yours and the others on this topic.
As to memory changing by autobiographical ads, actually I am surprised by the research, because I cannot recall any relevant experience. Even after reading the article, I don’t think my personal memory has been or will be changed by any autobiographical ads. Maybe it is because I grew up in a small village, having little contact with the outside world. My childhood experience is too unique and special to be targeted.
2. Do you think autobiographical ads (if they really work) would cause any negative effects on our life?
I don’t think autobiographical ads can cause any negative effects. By arousing your sympathy towards the ads, sponsors just want to promote consumption. According to this goal, they don’t want you to feel bad about the ads. Therefore, the majority of autobiographical ads intend to recall your good memories.
Joe:
Do you have any flashbulbs memories that you later found out that the details you remembered were incorrect?
Flashbulbs memory is a really interesting topic and the interesting part of my flashbulbs memories is not that I remember the wrong details, but I often cannot remember the details. I often forget what I have said when I was excited or sad. I am not sure it is faults of my memory or my friends’. It happened several times when they tried to remind me of something I had said before, but it seems my mind went blank when I said them.
Anton:
Do you believe auditory memory is inferior to visual memory (concerning advertisements)?
Good question! Since I am a visual person, yes, I believe auditory memory is not as effective as visual memory. Every time when I recollect something, the pictures are still clear as a film showing in my brain. However, for some reason, it is always a silent film without any sound in.
for Anton's question about auditory or visual,
DeleteI feel I am more of an auditory type. When I was an English major in college, I performed better than my peer students in English pronunciation, but not as well in writing or grammar and some other stuff. I also tried to remember a series of digits (like a telephone number I have to remember at a certain time) by encoding the digits into musical scores. Besides, I believe you would find it's not so hard to name a few movies whose music strikes you very much. These are all good examples of auditory memory.
So I think auditory memory can be very effective. However, in terms of which one is superior, we may need more definitions and measurements.I guess visual memory contributes to us more than auditory memory in our life.
1.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think it may change people's memories of their past. When the ads comes to people's memories, it may have some interaction. But I have no such kind of feelings. Maybe the autobiographical ads have had impact on my memory that I don't realize.
2.
I don't think it can cause any negative effects on people's life. Maybe it can cause some negative feelings when people see a certain scene and it makes them feel like it happens before. But I think the negative effects are the advertisers try to avoid. The aim for advertising is to make people buy products.
To Joe,
Yes. The terrible disaster in China in 2008 has a awful impact on Chinese. I remember the earthquake magnitude is 8.2 and I remembered I saw this figure on TV. But I searched it online, it says it is 8. Till now, I am still confusing what happened to my memory.
To Anton,
I think it depends on what people are sensitive to. As for me, I think visual works much better than auditory memory. When someone mentions an ad, the first comes to my mind is the image instead of sound. But it is just personal attitude. As the reading from ADV550, what if the audience is blind or deaf? And audiences are classified into many kinds including eye-minded, ear-minded, and so on.
Hi everyone! Thank you Joe, Anton, and Will for your discussion questions. I think that this topic is really interesting. . . !
ReplyDeleteWill: To answer your first question. . . Yes i do believe that autobiographical ads can change peoples memories of their past. I certainly believe this happens, yet i cant recall any certain instance where i did this because if i knew that the ads had changed my memories i wouldn't really think of them as 'my memories'. I know that i probably think of certain events of my life a particular way, and that it probably had been effected by an ad, but to specifically tell you an example is a difficult thing for me to do.
In regards to your second question i think that autobiographical ads can have a negative effect on people. As stated above i recall all my memories to be true. . . Yet, i still know that they probably have been influence. Thus, it is probable that the memories which i recall never truely happened which can have a negative effect on me emotionally. Still, i believe that if you do not know whether autobiographical ads have effected you then negative impacts cannot really occur.
Joe: I have flashbulb memories from only major events that have impacted me in the past. The example 9/11 i can really relate to. . . but also when i was a little girl and i found out that my mother's mother died i recall the moment my mother found out. Yet, when i talked to my mom about it years later it turns out that my sense of time was totally off and i did not recall the memory 100% right.
Anton: No i do not believe that auditory memory is inferior to visual memory for the same reason as Tyler. . . Jingles are so impactful and can really stick with you for a long time. I still remember a jingle i heard as a child from oscar meyer weiners! "Oh i wish i were an oscar meyer weiner, thats all i really wish i could be. . "! I think that these two types of memory are just as impactful as the other.
Thank for the questions again guys,
Rebecca
For Will's questions:
ReplyDelete1. I’m surprised to see that many of you have that experiences, because I can’t recall any related experience myself. Frankly speaking, I’m not sure if autobiographical ads can change people’s memories of their past. I think that depends, because different people have different memory mechanisms and some may be more easily affected than others are. Maybe they have more impact on older people as they tend to be more nostalgic and they could be more easily to mix up memories.
2. I would say no.These ads are created to stimulate people’s memories, often beautiful ones, in order to make people buy their products. Even if they stir some negative emotions, they won’t last long.
Thank you all the discussants!
ReplyDeleteTo Will:
I do agree with the result of the first experiment. I used to be addicted to a Japanese cartoon named Captain Tsubasa. I devoted myself into this TV programs whenever I saw it on TV, no matter how much homework I had to do. I would say if Nike or Adidas now employs Captain Tsubasa to promote its products that would definitely induce my confidence of ever experienced this cartoon and be addicted to the products again. But I am not sure if autobiographical ads can CHANGE one’s memory. However, I agree with Bobby: using such ads may create false memory in people’s minds. I think It would be terrible if our minds are controlled by advertisers and always generate something we never experienced before.
To Joe:
I think everyone has experienced incorrect flashbulbs memories. There have been many times that I found my memories about cereals’ prices were different from what appeared on the receipts. It really sucks when you found yourself paid much more than you were intended to pay.
To Anton：
I agree with others. One article I read before said that we have different sensitivities towards the ways we learn something. For example, some may remember things better if they hear it; some may remember things better if they see it; some may also remember things better if they experience it through actions. I think this principle is also applicable to advertising. There is no inferiority or superiority among visual or auditory memory. What it matters is matching the sensitivity and memory.
To will:
ReplyDeleteAs far as I have concerned, autobiographic ads may have influence on the construct of individual memory, though I don't have such kind of experience. But I think when there are similarities or connections beteewen the ads' content and individual memory, people may mix them up for memory are always unclear in many details which can be filled by ads' content instead.
TO Joe:
I definitely have incorrect memory. I once told to Fanny that I remember we do not have to buy a textbook but several days after I suddenly realize that the memory is wrong for I misremember the requirements of two different courses.
To Anton:
Well, I think it depends. Some times auditory message is more impressive, like some advertising musics. While some times visual message is more effective, like the famous spokesman or special images in the ads. Also the memory is tightly linked to individual experience. I think the combination of auditory and visual message will increase the involvement of audience and makes it more efficient to establish memory.
Will 1. I think repeat information in some extent will change people's memory. And I believe it is unconscious. So , although I think they can change our memories, but we don’t know, and I think autobiographical ads which include happy information indeed could add more happy emotion when we recall our memories.
ReplyDelete2. I think sometimes autobiographical ads push us to accept some information. It will change our memory, when we make choices, it definitely influence our choice. But ,it just help us to make choice change our attitude to certain product unconsciously, so I don’t think it will bring some negative effects.
Joe:Yes, around our life, there are so many big events that shock me or make me angry. But when I recall them, I definitely miss some details. I always remember my mother took me to park and once I was chased by a huge dog which looks like scared ferocious. I was a little girl and think it really hurt me, until now, I am always afraid of dogs. But when I told my mother, she just amazed and said, no, It was just a little cute dog, and it didn’t run after me. So wrong memory, but that scene for me is so vivid. I think I exaggerate some memories to give my behavior a proper reason.
Anton: I believe it depends on whether these kinds of memory touch you and influence your emotional mood. And when we see an advertisement, whether it can arouse some memories of us, relate to our life is important. The more familiar with the advertisement, the more we can remember.
Hi pals,
ReplyDeleteHere are my answer towards those questions
1. Will: I do believe that autobiographical ads can really change people’s memories of their past. Take myself for example, several days ago when I discussed supermarkets in the U.S. with my friends, I stated without hesitate that K-market is the most inferior one compares to any others. However, I realized later that I haven’t ever been to K-market before, I was totally misleading by a clip of a very famous movie I saw it early in my childhood, Rain man. When Dustin Hoffman keep babbling to Tom Cruise that he’d like to go to the K-market for shopping, Tom shout him back saying “K-market sucks!” I now believe that scene construct my initial prejudice towards the K-market. Along with my growth, that part of memory twisted and transferred to my own cognition, which leading me to create an unfair impression of the K-market.
2. Joe: My flashbulbs memory is about a quite famous sexual scandal in Hong Kong, China several years ago. The protagonist called Edison Chen, who is the extremely fashionable icon at that time. After the scandal burst out, the whole entertainment circles started to banish and expel him. It was really shocking news that suddenly people from all over China focused on this affair. As far back as I can remember, Edison Chen’s private photo was released by one of his rivals in their business and I barely doubted since I strongly persuaded by my own mind that such astonishing flashbulbs memory could never went wrong. Later on, it did prove me wrong that those photos were released by a computer worker who was assigned to repair Edison Chen’s laptop.
3. I believe auditory memory is inferior to visual memory. Light move faster than sounds:-), it also create a much more specific image of a certain object which sound could barely did.
1. Do you think autobiographical ads can really change people's memories of their past? If so, any examples? You can relate any experience of yours and the others on this topic.
ReplyDelete2. Do you think autobiographical ads (if they really work) would cause any negative effects on our life?
Joe: Do you have any flashbulbs memories that you later found out that the details you remembered were incorrect?
Anton: Do you believe auditory memory is inferior to visual memory (concerning advertisements)?
For Will's questions
-In my point of view, autobiographical ads can have an obvious influence on people’s memories to some extent. In 2008, Super Girls Season, one of most popular TV shows to select best signers in China, put its own commercial TVC to promote its show. In its advertisement, a young and beautiful girl showed her growth story from a normal student to a popular singer nationwide. When she was a college student, she practiced her singing skills for hours and did her part-time job as a club singer until midnight every single day in order to pursue her dream. After she attended the show and won the competition, her life was changed, singing her songs to the audience on stage of national big shows and releasing her albums. Finally in the end of this TVC, she became to be a super pop star. This TVC was displayed so frequently in that period so that I couldn’t ignore it. When this show began, I watched a competitor to tell the audience her personal growth story in one episode. In that moment, I suddenly thought that the details of this competitor’s history were so familiar. I felt so emotional and sympathetic that I thought that girl just my personal growth story. However, as you know, I am not a singer, I never practiced my singing, and to be a pop super star is impossible to be my final dream. I saw this TVC so many times and just imagined the role in the ad as myself.
-I think this question is subtle. As the old saying goes, every coin has two sides. The autobiographical ads could introduce new idea and new habits to the public. This kind of ads, which are inspiring, can indeed broaden the audience’s eyes. However, the final goal of advertisements is to serve the advertisers to boost the sales. In terms of the purpose to push consumers to buy products, I do think that autobiographical ads would constrain people’s authentic thoughts, their own imagination and creativity for a long term. In this pattern, people’s behaviors will be influenced by stereotypes of autobiographical ads to a degree, if some part of people does have false memories caused by them.
For Joe's question
-The example I presented above showed the answer of this question. My flashbulbs about the signer, when the competitor of this Super Girl show told her personal experiences, I could remembered single details and I thought I had the same story and I was the character in this story. However, the details of my memory were just from the TVC. I felt so real and familiar about competitors just because I saw this video commercial so many times and remembered the specific information of the leading role’s story.
For Anton's question
-For me, it really depends on different conditions of different persons. Actually, I am an eye-minded person. I am hypersensitive to any visual things. However, this morning, when I took the shuttle of our apartment to campus, the driver turned on the radio loudly. In a shuttle, I could do nothing except listening to the radio. Wide awake of Katy Perry was looped so that I could remember every lyric. Especially the sentence of “I am wide awake” was so impressive in my mind. Auditory, visual, which is more useful to memory? It is hard for everyone to get an answer. Furthermore, it is not supposed to compare the two aspects but combine auditory factors with visual factors to deepen people’s memories. The cooperation of Auditory and Visual would be a better way for our memories’ working.
1. I do think autobiographical memory has impact on people's memory, at least on me. I have watched TV commercials of Diao soap for many years, which left me an impression that happy families use Diao soap, some how I always think my mom uses this soap for many years then. However, one day I occasionally found out that we are using another brand of soap, and my mom told me she never bought Diao soap. So I think ads of products that we don't care a lot in daily lives are more likely to change our memory since such memory itself is vague.
ReplyDelete2. I don't think so, cause just like I said in the first question, those changeable memories have slight meanings to people, thus it won't cause negative effect on our life.
3. Yes. I had a car accident when I was like 7 or 8 years old. My parents were in the car too. As I remember, my sister was with us too, but years later when I talk with my mom about the accident she was sure my sister wasn't in the car, we begun argue and we finally called my sister. Sadly it turned out she wasn't with us during the accident. I think this might because I spent most of time with my sister in that age, so my memory automatically relate such terrified memory with her to make me feel better.
4. Except some special occasions such as deaf people, I think it depends on the characteristic of the ads, as well as different people. As for me, I am more sensitive to images so I remember most of ads as photos or silent movies in my mind. However, if the commercial use an impressive music or funny dialogue, I would remember sound too.
Hi there, here are my points of view:
ReplyDelete1. Yes. I do believe autobiographical ads could change our memory. It has been proved (in past experiments and real cases) that human memory is easy to be manipulated and reconstructed. Even without any manipulation, we sometimes distort our past memories in different kinds of reasons, for example, we make up our own version of story about our past in order to fill in the blank. I believe autobiographical ads is one of the tools that take advantage of our “fill in the blank” nature. The detail description let readers unconsciously put the lines/content into the frame of their story and further change their past memory.
2. I believe if the advertiser who makes autobiographical ads follow the nature and ethic of advertising, the effect of this kind of ad wouldn’t be negative but only adjust the consumers’ desire on its favor on goods and services. However, if this kind of ads are used in some radical propaganda, it could lead to enormous negative effect on the society.
3. I had a flashbulb memory that I deeply believed in but later found out it was distorted. When I was 10, a big earthquake, which later named as 921 big earthquake in Taiwan’s history, stuck early in the morning on September 21th. I remembered I heard my sister’s cry and the wood ladder shake. I woke up and hug my sister. We two little girls held each other tight and hide under the blanket. However, years later when I once talked about this past to my sister, she told me that I slept as a log when the earthquake took the first strike. She did cry and hug me after it but I had no response but slept as if nothing happened….. I guess it was because the morning when I went to school, everybody was talking about it. It was then I heard some story that I unconsciously took it as mine experience…
4. Actually I think it is visual memory inferior to auditory memory. We receive too many visual messages from the ads every day. I believe there are a lot of similar image pop up to us which means our visual memory could be easier to be distorted. (or simply we just didn’t remember it precisely).
Sorry for posting this so late:
ReplyDeleteHere're my answers:
Will:
1.Yes, of course. The whole recalling mechanism of human being is not reliable and that consecutive. Sometimes our memories of something just like bubbles which will pop out as soon as you try to recall them. But sometimes, for some subjects, i.e. a person you met on a remote party, an obscure new word you recited, the recalling process itself is more like a reconstruction of some specific relationships. You may ask yourself several questions: What is he look like? Who introduced him to me? How can my friend know him? This is a process that you are finding a “hint”, a hint that can be a clue which may string the whole things and make the story more reasonable. So the autobiographical ads just take advantage of this phenomenon, try to offer you some detailed information, which may be a false hint, and finally make you believe something really happened in the past for their own purpose. So theoretically, it can be done.
2.No. First, the majority of those autobiographical ads just want to sell their products. They won’t do harmful things to their loyal consumer. Second, the reason autobiographical Ad works is you lost your hint. If you did not, you won’t believe the “truth” they offered you. In other words, modifying a memory you cannot recall may not affect you to a severe degree.
Joe:
Yes. As I described in the class, I once told my mom that I can remember the scene that I was lifted and put on the top of the refrigerator when I was a child. I even found a photo that I was sitting on the top of the fridge to proof this. But after my mom saw the picture, she said it can’t be true because I was only several month old when they took the picture, it’s must be my imagination after I saw the picture. Well, I can’t tell because the memory is just so vivid that I can still feel the cold feeling sitting on the fridge until now.
Anton:
Well, it depends. If you are an “ear-minded people”, whose thinking is a succession of sounds, as described in the article we read for adv 550, the auditory memory maybe is better than the visual one. Otherwise, it is not necessarily true.