Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

192 CHAPTER 5 LearningIN FOCUSWatson, Classical Conditioning, and AdvertisingFrom shampoos to soft drinks, advertising campaigns oftenuse sexy models to promote their products. Today, we take thisadvertising tactic for granted. But it’s actually yet another exampleof Watson’s influence.Shortly after the Little Albert experiment, Watson’s wife discoveredthat he was having an affair with his graduate studentRosalie Rayner. Following a scandalous and highly publicizeddivorce, Watson was fired from his academic position. Despitehis international fame as a scientist, no other university wouldhire him (Benjamin & others, 2007). Banned from academia,Watson married Rayner and joined the J. Walter Thompsonadvertising agency (Buckley, 1989).Watson was a pioneer in the application of classical conditioningprinciples to advertising. “To make your consumer react,”Watson told his colleagues at the ad agency, “tell him somethingthat will tie him up with fear, something that will stir up a mildrage, that will call out an affectionate or love response, or strikeat a deep psychological or habit need” (quoted in Buckley, 1982).Watson applied this technique to ad campaigns for Johnson &Johnson Baby Powder and Pebeco toothpaste in the 1920s. Forthe baby powder ad, Watson intentionally tried to stimulate ananxiety response in young mothers by creating doubts abouttheir ability to care for their infants.The Pebeco toothpaste campaign targeted the newly independentyoung woman who smoked. The ad raised the fear thatattractiveness might be diminished by the effects of smoking—and Pebeco toothpaste was promoted as a way of increasingsexual attractiveness. One ad read, “Girls! Don’t worry any moreabout smoke-stained teeth or tobacco-tainted breath. You cansmoke and still be lovely if you’ll just use Pebeco twice a day.”Watson also developed ad campaigns for Pond’s cold cream,Maxwell House coffee, and Camel cigarettes.While Watson may have pioneered the strategy of associatingproducts with “sex appeal,” modern advertising has taken thistechnique to an extreme. Similarly, some ad campaigns pairproducts with images of adorable babies, cuddly kittens, happyfamilies, or other “natural” stimuli that elicit warm, emotionalresponses. If classical conditioning occurs, the product by itselfwill also elicit a warm, emotional response.Are such procedures effective? In a word, yes. Attitudestoward a product or a particular brand can be influenced byadvertising and marketing campaigns that use classical conditioningmethods (see Grossman & Till, 1998; Olson & Fazio, 2001).Watson and Rayner also found that stimulus generalization had taken place.Along with fearing the rat, Little Albert was now afraid of other furry animals,including a dog and a rabbit. He had even developed a classically conditioned fearresponse to a variety of fuzzy objects—a sealskin coat, cotton, Watson’s hair, and awhite-bearded Santa Claus mask!Although the Little Albert study has achieved legendary status in psychology, ithad several problems (Harris, 1979; Paul & Blumenthal, 1989). One criticism isthat the experiment was not carefully designed or conducted. For example, Albert’sfear and distress were not objectively measured but were subjectively evaluated byWatson and Rayner.