Consumer Psychology on Advertising Screens
>>Capturing Scarce Attention<<
A Tiger About to Leap Out of the Screen
Samsung once launched an outdoor advertisement. In the video, a tiger first tried to stretch out its "paw" to take control of a phone, then roared as if it was about to jump out of the phone frame. This visual spectacle of the tiger nearly leaping out of the screen grabbed widespread public attention.
In psychology, there is a concept called the "orienting effect" — the human brain has a natural alertness to sudden changes, and a sudden strong stimulus will force people to shift their attention. Compared with print ads, screens are more capable of leveraging this instinct: they can actively trigger the audience's orienting response through suddenly brightened images, smooth dynamic transitions, and impactful visual effects.
Screen content with strong visual tension.
>> Guiding Users' Potential Perceptions<<
Combating Forgetting Through Repetition
This subtle form of exposure builds a sense of familiarity in users' subconscious, which in turn fosters trust.
In psychology, this is known as the "mere exposure effect": the more people are exposed to something and the more familiar they become with it, the more they tend to choose it.
When shopping, if you face an unfamiliar brand and another brand you seem to have seen several times before, you are much more likely to choose the latter.
>>Hidden Drivers of Decision-Making<<
Scarcity Effect: Stimulating Loss Aversion
Such scarcity information prompts people to make quick purchasing decisions to avoid losses, simplifying the originally potentially long rational decision-making process. For example, Tmall's 618 pre-sale screen advertisements, with messages like "official discounts starting at 15% off" and "direct discounts per item", triggered a spree of impulsive consumption.
Hick's Law: Simplifying Users' Choices
Therefore, advertising screens in some stores do not list too many products. Instead, they act as "professional buyers", recommending specific bestsellers to filter out a small number of high-quality options for consumers.
These content strategies simplify consumers' decision-making paths, reduce the risk of abandoning purchases due to too many choices, and directly promote consumption.
The content carried by screens is more than just an information display; the real underlying factor is consumer psychology that deeply understands human nature. Based on different psychological mechanisms, brand content on screens can capture attention at the visual level, guide impression building at the cognitive level, and accelerate decision-making at the decision-making level. As a carrier, advertising screens provide a stage for this kind of brand marketing that understands people's minds.
