Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
12-2022
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
Reader 1
Ronald Riggio
Terms of Use & License Information
Abstract
The marketing tactics of the alcohol and tobacco industry are inextricably linked through the psychological basis upon which these companies target their customers. Through the principles of reciprocity, social proof, scarcity, commitment and consistency, unity, and authority featured in Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (2021). The principle of reciprocity explains how companies get customers to buy in, social proof explains our dependence on our peers’ validation, and scarcity explains why we want what we can’t have. The principles of commitment and consistency explain how companies garner long-term customers that see themselves as an extension of a brand, unity explains a customer’s need for community, and authority explains the influence of someone with power. These principles, along with psychological theories such as the Mere Exposure Effect, Evaluative Conditioning, the Situated Inference Model of Priming, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, and Social Learning Theory, explain why alcohol and tobacco ads are so effective and the mechanisms of how they became so pervasive. This thesis explores the psychology behind marketing tools such as celebrity endorsements, sponsorships and ad placements, ad campaigns, and brand activations that convince customers to invest into a brand from a young age and continue as a loyal customer for a lifetime.
Recommended Citation
Dvorkin, Sophie, "The Psychology Behind the Marketing of Alcohol and Tobacco: How We Convince People to Do Things That Are Bad For Them" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3216.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3216
Included in
Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Social Psychology Commons
