The problem that we are trying to solve is that companies will use all these little tricks to try and convince you into buying their product(s, the problem with this is that not all of these tricks are fully honest and if they are honest which tricks work the best, We are on both sides of the problem trying to find all the tricks that companies do use to try and convince people to buy their product but also help companies try and find the most effective trick/way to get people to buy your product.

 

How we got our infromation

Secondary Sources

Looking at websites about traditional digital marketing tricks and also how colour is used in marketing and what types of marketing were used in what decades/centuries.
 

Primary Sources

 

The deco effect. Exp. Say you're at a cinema and you want to buy popcorn, there are 3 sizes, small for $3.00, Medium for $4.50 and large for $5.00, most people would buy the medium if the large wasn’t there, but because the large is only $0.50 more and popcorn is really cheap to make. So the medium is only there as a deco so that people will spend the extra $0.50.

2. Loss aversion. Did you know that people would much rather avoid the loss of $20 than to win $20? Major companies when they hand out coupons will give you a coupon that saves $20 instead of having a coupon that wins them $20 of that companies credit.

3. The illusion of scarcity. Humans for some reason have a much more desirable feeling to buy something if the product is limited edition or has a limited quantity. Major companies will release limited time products or special edition products (sometimes with other companies) so people will be influenced to buy it.

The framing effect. The framing effect is where the way you say something or the way you “frame” the product will convince people to buy your product even if what you're saying is the same. For example I should say 7 out of 10 dentists recommend this product, instead of 3 out of 10 dentists would never use our product.

5. Social influence. Social Influence is where certain people have an influence over your decisions or if you see something online you way be more likely to buy that product.

6.The mere exposure theory. The mere exposure theory is a theory where people are more likely to buy something if they can relate to the product or if their familiar with the product. Companies will put there advertisements either online or not, in places where you feel comfortable, if it’s on the football channel or at the mall.

Tugging at emotions. The way the company narrates there commercials or the way the company presents itself will tug at certain emotions, for example in a Coca Cola ad the emotion they are trying to tug at is satisfaction and hunger.

BOGOFS,

Companies will use certain deals on certain products so that people may be more inclined to buy the product. BOGOF or Buy one get one free or buy one %50 off, it makes the consumer thinking that their saving money or that their getting it all for free.

False price lowering.

Did you know that on certain occasions like Black Friday companies will raise the price of products 1 or 2 weeks before the occasion? After they will add a deal that sounds too good to be true but in reality it’s only 1 - 5 dollars cheaper than the original price.

Red, We found that color in ads and the way they use color in ads will help tug at certain emotions. For example the color Red (if used the right way) will amplify hunger, that’s also why most old fashioned restaurants use red all over the building.

Most companies that are trying to target a younger audience will use brighter colors that stand out and give a more appealing look, even companies like pepsi and Coca Cola which drinks are brown, use bright colors in there advertisements as well as on there bottles.

Orange, is normally used when targeting younger audiences with the bright and vibrant colors.  A Prime example of this is Fanta with it’s appealing and “tasty” colors.

Yellow, Yellow is the brightest color in advertising, with it representing the sun, curiosity and happiness  this means that yellow is a ideal color choice for advertising children’s activities.  

Darker yellow or gold however, can present feelings of prosperity and security as well as luxuriousness, this makes it a great choice when marketing miniancial oriented organizations.

Green, Green is linked with the environment and as well as nature in most people’s mind.    Green is a excellent color to from the basis of marketing material for companies that are concerned or working for the environment as well as financial matters.

Blue, Blue is a color that encourages trust success, depth, loyalty, calmness and power. Although it may be a more serious color it is one of the most popular colors when advertising banks, financial institutions and medial companies, this color suggests to the viewer that they can trust the company fully.

Purple, Purple is similar to dark blue and yellow, the color Purple suggests feelings of luxuriousness, royalty, dreams, mystery and elegance. Light purple however suggests soothing and calm feelings usually used in beauty oriented advertising. 

Pink, Pink will always be associated with femininity at a lower level, makin git a harder color to use in advertising if not targeted to a feminine audience. Hower a stronger or darker Pink has potential to hold its own against other traditionally non corporate colors such as yellow, orange and purple.

Brown, Brown is rarely seen as an exciting color. However is associated with nature and relaxation, and is a dominant color in industries such as coffee, chocolate manufacturers and even pet services.

Black, Grey and White are all seen as similar in Marketing. Normally Black, Grey and white are used when the company wants to stand out compared to other brighter companies, or to set a tone of seriousness and wealthiness. 

Although these colors help major companies in advertising, it only helps if you use it in the right way. Too much colors or too much of the same color may not give the effect that you want the color too. However if used correctly can change the whole impact of you're 

New and improved is just the same product recolored and rephrased, there have been multiple cases of products saying their product is “new and improved” is just the product recolored or in different coloring, most of the time the only reason that companies say new and improve is either because their product isn’t performing well, they want to redo the packaging or if they actually want to improve the product.

B2C marketing is where the business directly advertises to the consumer. The company will find a way to get directly to the consumer. B2C Marketing normally takes a shorter amount of time to get to the consumer. For example, B2C marketing strategies include:

• A TV advertisement for a candy bar
• Instagram ads for a clothing shop
• Direct mail coupons for a store
• Social media advertising.

  B2B Marketing is where a Business tries to sell to another business. The process of B2B is much longer than B2C with a longer buying cycle and a lot more research involved when the other company wants to buy the final product. The goal of B2B is where the company selling wants to establish a relationship with large retailers and their target audience and building trust with other major retailers proving to them that they are reliable and get their product out on time. Examples of B2B marketing is 

• Conventions and major events.
• Marketing campaigns.
• Influencer and Celebrity branding. 
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  1. Personalized marketing

  Personalized Marketing is where companies will collect data from your recent purchases and search history, to a advertising “theme” to advertise towards you. This data is collected by “cookies” where websites will ask you if you want to accept their “cookies” of course it’s not real cookies but a nickname to what they use to determine your search history and recent purchases.

  2. Direct mail

  Direct mail advertising is where companies will send a direct message to a building or even to a specific house, this insures companies that they can advertise to a certain audience. A good example of this is if a senior home company advertised at a university than the university students could find a senior home for their grandparents guaranteeing the company customers of their desired age.

  
  

  3. Partner marketing 

  The Partner Marketing strategy is where two companies partner to compliment one another's product. A great example of this is if a mcdonalds got sponsored by google for free wifi.

  4. Public relations (PR) marketing

  PR relations marketing is where a company will partner with another company that will hype up and publicitise their product, for example if a local cafe partnered with a radio station to talk about their excellent cappuccinos always come out fresh and hot with a nice coffee drawing on the top. Not only does the radio station give the company publicity but it also talks about how great their product is. 

  
  
   

  5. Stealth marketing

  Stealth marketing is where a company will advertise their product without you noticing. They sneak their product into the movie subtly for example if a character only drinks Fanta and only drives a Mercedes which would help the company branch out to different viewers or to help make a connection with the movie so that if the consumer see’s the movie they might go and think about the product.

  6. Brand marketing

  Brand marketing is where the long term goal is to familiarize the average consumer with your product. The goal is to have a good reputation and be known to do something good or to be associated with a good cause.

   

  7. Cause marketing

  Cause marketing is where a company will say that a certain percentage of their income will go towards a different cause the company could also sponsor the company and say that the only reason that the company is running is to support that cause. For example Patagonia said that %1 of their total revenue would go towards saving the planet and the environment. 

  8. Brand marketing

  Brand marketing is a long-term form of marketing in which the goal is to become recognizable and establish a good reputation. Brand marketing encompasses many different facets, from visual branding to tone and voice. 

  To measure the effectiveness of brand marketing strategies, companies will track their brand awareness. This metric measures how familiar the average person is with your brand. 

  
  

  9. Cause marketing

  Cause marketing is a strategy in which a company chooses to back a certain cause as a way of strengthening their brand's core values. A good example of this is Patagonia. They pledge 1% of sales to restoration and preservation of earth's natural environment. 

   

  The history of Marketing begins in the 1800’s where the most common way to advertise was in newspapers, posters, magazines and trade cards. Because there was no color printing back then all the advertisements were black, white and gray that made it harder to set a certain “tone” when advertising. Because there was no Internet there was no online advertising. Another way to advertise was from people telling their friends and family about the product.

   

  In the 1900s the most common advertising technique was through radios. Although the internet was in development it was not yet super popular. Companies started sending out mail and packages to people as marketing at there front door. The cost of Radio advertising back then was around $10 per minute on average compared to today's average of $1000 per minute .

   

  In the 2000s most companies would use the tv, radio, social media, physical prints and emails to get across their product, this is the time when the internet blew up in popularity and social media kicked off. Major companies such as Mcdonalds, Burger King and more started to advertise their product online with color and funky music, most of these advertisements were targeted towards children.

   

  From the 2010-2020s Social media had taken a big part in advertising for companies. Youtube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram were all created and blew up in popularity taking the internet by storm. Social media was a big deal for companies because it meant that they could share their product in an instant. 

           Popular Youtubers and Tik tokers actually started making their own products including candy, food, energy drinks and beauty products. The popularity of the internet and these creators gave them free advertising just by adding a promo in their videos, younger audience members would be intrigued just because their favorite creator made the product this ended up with creators making bad products just for a quick cash grab. Creators also started getting promotions from companies that wanted promotion in there videos, most of the companies giving creators promotions would sponsor certain creators so that it would target a certain audience.

  
   

We have concluded that overall younger audiences are more likely to be targeted in marketing for their brains aren't fully developed and are more likely to fall for the tricks (normally visual) that companies use the get you to buy their product. We have seen and reaseared marketing changing through the ages first hand, if it’s the development of cell phones or the downfall of newspapers to the introduction of social media, Marketing tactics and formulas have changed so much lately! We explored the current day tactics and how most of theme revolve around social media. Online advertising/marketing have massively increased companie sales while giving companies a chance to collaborate with others.

 

https://www.cysf.org/

https://flauntdigital.com/blog/7-psychological-marketing-tricks-to-boost-sales/

https://www.newdesigngroup.ca/blog/digital-marketing/psychology-colour-advertising/

Google

https://asana.com/resources/types-of-marketing

 

I acknowledge my teachers, Ms. Cowdey Mrs.Saunders and Mr.Pedenko. I also acknowledge the judges both at the school and at CYSF I thank everyone that helped me with our project. A special thank you to Genile Dufresne for helping with judging at both school sciencefair (qualifiers) and also judging other projects at the CYSF.