College Writing 3-1

Writing Assignment 1 13
Notice that the
main ideas of the
previous section are
repeated before a
new idea is
introduced. The
controlling ideas are
explained and
illustrated in detail.
Keywords refer back
to the controlling
idea (prominence)
and show the
reader how an ad
can be prominent.
Although novel stimuli attract our attention, we do not
always like them better. For example, we often dislike
food that tastes different from what we usually eat, new
clothing styles that deviate from the current trend, or
new and unusual music.Thus the factors that make a
stimulus novel may not be the same factors that make
it likable.
o lJsing L)nexpectedness. A second aspect of surprise is
unexpectedness. Unexpected stimuli are not necessarily
new but their placement is different from what we are
used to. Because they are different, they arouse our
curiosity and cause us to analyze them further to make
sense of them. 3M Company, the maker of Post-it Notes,
created attention with ads that featured chickens with
fluorescent notes with words like Rush and Copy stuck
to their bodies.The placement of Post-it Notes on
chickens was unexpected and hence attention getting.
Making Stimuli Easy to Process. Although personal
relevance, pleasantness, and surprise attract consumers'
attention by enhancing their motivation to attend to stimuli,
marketers can also enhance attention by boosting our ability to
process stimuli.Three things make a stimulus easy to process:
(1) its prominence, (2) its concreteness, and (3) the extent to
which it contrasts with the things that surround it.
t Prominent Stimuli. Prominent stimuli stand out relative
to the environment because of their intensity.The size
and length of the stimulus can affect its prominence.
For example, consumers are more likely to notice larger
or longer ads than to notice smaller or shorter ones'
Thus a full-page ad has a greater chance of attracting
attention than a half- or quarter-page ad. Yellow Pages
advertisers have reported that doubling an ad's size
increases sales fivefold, whereas quadrupling the size
increases sales by a factor of 15.
Things that are moving also tend to be prominent.
Attention to commercials tends to be enhanced when
the ad uses dynamic, fast-paced actions. Loud sounds
can also enhance prominence.Television and radio
stations sometimes turn up the volume for commercials
so they will stand out relative to the program.