Image Psychology

As individuals we are constantly communicating, when we do it as a brand, we have to pay close attention to every detail in order to meet our objectives, each step we take as a brand we are projecting our image abroad and that is how the consumer will perceive us.

The images used in advertising usually contain several layers in their meaning, they are not images chosen at random when there is a professional behind this task, but on the contrary, they are really worked in order to deliver a message to the consumer and manipulate their perception of our brand to convince them of the benefits of using our products

The psychology of the image in advertising usually uses different strategies to achieve objectives, almost all of them are based on the psychological theory of Maslow's Pyramid or hierarchy of human needs. 

These strategies include the following:

Mechanistic strategy:

It makes use of psychoanalysis, seeking to condition people through the repetition of an image until it convinces them to make a purchase through this repetition to infiltrate the consumer's mind.

Affiliate strategy:

It is focused on lifestyle, culture, and established models. They are directly related to our nature of social acceptance and belonging to certain groups, creating the promise of being included and accepted in these, by owning the product in question.

Persuasive strategy:

It focuses on highlighting a product above its competitors, showing information about its characteristics or attributes, and comparing itself favorably with the rest.

Data is often used to creatively exaggerate it, in order to highlight the differences between products, although, in reality, these differences do not imply a perceptible difference to use.

Suggestive strategy:

Its principle is psychoanalytic techniques to study the depths of human thought, and they focus on fear, anxiety, anguish, or stress in order to sell them a product that solves their terrible fears. This strategy is, for example, commonly used by companies that market security services.

The image has great power on the viewer, and depending on its use it is relatively easy to manipulate.

In an interview, the great film director Alfred Hitchcock explained with a brilliant example one of the effects of the psychology of the image:

“Show a man looking at something, say a baby. Then show him smiling. By placing these shots in sequence (man looking, object seen, reaction to object), the director characterizes the man as a kind person. Keep shot one (the look) and shot three (the smile) and substitute the baby for a girl in a bathing suit, and the director has changed the characterization of the man. "

The brain tends to relate different sequenced images, if we show a "light" soda and then we show a thin woman, our brain will unconsciously interpret that by drinking this soda, we can be thin.

Just a couple of decades ago, it was still legal to use subliminal images in advertising.

A subliminal message is a message that is perceived below the normal limits of perception, only our subconscious can perceive them.

In cinema it was also used by some of the great directors of all time, there are some examples that became famous, we can talk about the previously mentioned film director Alfred Hitchcock, who used subliminal images in the movie, "Psycho" (1960).

They consist of several frames practically invisible to the human eye that, when interspersed with other images, are interpreted by the brain as overlays or simply details that we do not see at first glance but are there and our subconscious captures them.

They are almost imperceptible details, as in the final scene where the protagonist's mother's skull is subtly superimposed on the face of the terrifying "Norman Bates" (Anthony Perkins).

This effect helps to give more emphasis to the double personality mental illness suffered by the protagonist, despite being almost imperceptible to the human eye, there it is, and our subconscious perceives it that way.

Another example is the color of the main character's bra (Janet Leigh), which is white before stealing the money and which changes to black after committing the robbery, referring to good and evil.

Another great film director who used the same techniques is Stanley Kubrick in the also horror film "The Shining" (1980) where there are subliminal messages hidden throughout the entire film, they are there if you look closely you can see them, but at first glance they are imperceptible, the color of the typewriter, various references to the Holocaust, allusions to the moon landing of "Apollo 11" or "Room 237" that hide a great theory behind, as well as the cover of Playboy Magazine that Jack Nicholson reads while waiting in the lobby of the hotel to be interviewed by the director.

In that time, surely Kubrick studied the masterpieces of Dr. Wilson Bryan Key.

All these details together, achieve their objective in an intelligent way, with quality in the message.

Returning to the psychology of the image in business communication, a really important factor to take into account is that not in all countries or continents, an image produces the same psychological effect depending on the geographical area, that is why it is very important to know which market we are addressing and of course, having a strategy according to these objectives.

It is essential to be aware of the differences between the microenvironment and the macroenvironment.

Obviously, there are common denominators for all markets, but to be able to skip some rules you must first know them.