“Life is temptation”

Long-time readers of this blog will know that I am a huge fan of Ted.com, where leading thinkers, scientists, businessmen and artists share their views on a wide variety of topics that are of interest to humankind.

Recently, I watched the following presentation, in which Philip Zimbardo shared key insights on current research on the perception of time and its impact on our behaviour.

As a marketer, I was struck by what he said in the beginning of his presentation: “Life is temptation”. Truth be told, the main reason I was attracted to the presentation in the first place was because it is advertised on Ted.com with an image featuring the text “Life is temptation” in large letters behind the speaker. It appears that, indeed, life is temptation …

« Promised virtues fall prey to temptations of the moment »

In his talk, Zimbardo talks mostly about what determines our actions when faced with choices that give us an opportunity to gratify our needs. Basically, we adopt different perspectives, based upon our personal character traits, education, social background, peers and social/societal roles. Most of us have a “preferred” perspective, which may change throughout life:

• Present-oriented         “What is now ?”
• Past-oriented              “What was ?”
• Future-oriented          “What will be ?”

As a marketing professional and a keen observer of the (not so) hidden techniques of persuasion used by major brands, I immediately began linking this to the myriad ways in which we are bombarded by appeals to our need for gratification in advertising. That insurance ad urging you to get sufficient home coverage ? Appealing to your future-oriented for security and avoiding financial loss. The long-running “made for film”-ads featuring major spirits ? A present-oriented play, urging you to seek instant gratification.

Some time ago, I wrote a post on “Maslow in Branding”, which provides us with another useful framework for classifying persuasion mechanism. By using both frameworks, it becomes clear how different persuasion mechanisms interplay. The point is: any good persuasion mechanism will ideally appeal to several dimensions at once – and most do.

This does not apply to advertising alone: philanthropy is largely built on future-oriented concerns for whatever cause is supported. Support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are helping people cope with an overly strong bias on present-oriented needs. Large companies pride themselves on heritage, innovation or the need to dominate their industry, thus creating shared myths of common origin, goal or destiny based on different perspectives of time.

Every one of us is receptive to arguments that appeal to our deep-seated desire to gratify our most basic needs. Whether used for commercial gain or other, more lofty purposes, the more you can appeal to this inherent need, the stronger the impact of your message will be. According to Zimbaro, “(m)any of life’s puzzles can be solved, by understanding your time concepts and those of others”.