This paper explains how response latency and semantic priming were harnessed to create a truly implicit methodology that taps in to automatic processes. Much of the truth (about brands, advertising and products) lies submerged, in our implicit mind. Direct questioning cannot elicit this truth, because we cannot express attitudes that we don't know we possess. To penetrate the implicit mind, we need approaches that reflect its fast, automatic nature. For eBay, the approach described here revealed a strong (and hidden) negative bias among non-users and showed that these beliefs could be successfully challenged by new ATL advertising.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BarghJ.A. (1997) The automaticity of everyday life, in WyerR.S. (ed.) Advances in Social Cognition, Vol. 10.Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
2.
BrunelF.F., TietjeB.C., & GreenwaldA.G. (2004) Is the Implicit Association Test a valid and valuable measure of implicit consumer social cognition?Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14, 4, pp. 385–404.
3.
CarterR. (1999) Mapping the Mind.London: University of California Press.
4.
ChaikenS. (1987) The heuristic model of persuasion, in ZannaM.P., & OlsenJ.M. (eds) Social Influence: The Ontario Symposium, Vol. 5. Hillside, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 3–39.
5.
FazioR.H. (1990) Multiple processes by which attitudes guide behaviour: the MODE model as an integrative framework, in ZannaM.P. (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 23. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 75–109.
6.
FrenschP.A., & RüngerD. (2003) Implicit learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 1, pp. 13–18.
7.
De HouwerJ., Teige-MocigembaS., SpruytA., & MoorsA. (2009) Implicit measures: a normative analysis and review. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 3, pp. 347–368.
8.
DienesZ.N., & BerryD. (1997) Implicit learning: below the subjective threshold. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4, 1, pp. 3–23.
9.
Du PlessisE. (2005) The Advertised Mind.London: Kogan Page.
10.
FreudS. (1900) The Interpretation of Dreams.Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
11.
GreenwaldA.G., & BanajiM.R. (1995) Implicit social cognition: attitudes, self esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102, 1, pp. 4–27.
12.
GreenwaldA.G., McGheeD.E., & SchwartzJ.L.K. (1998) Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 6, pp. 1464–1480.
13.
GreggA.P., KlymowskyJ., OwensD., & PerrymanA. (2013) Let their fingers do the talking? Using the Implicit Association Test in market research. International Journal of Market Research, 55, 4, pp. 2–14.
14.
HammondK.R. (1996) Human Judgement and Social Policy.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
15.
HeathR. (2001) The Hidden Power of Advertising.London: Admap Publications.
16.
KahnemanD. (2003) A perspective on judgement and choice. American Psychologist, 58, 9, pp. 697–720.
17.
KahnemanD. (2011) Thinking Fast and Slow.New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
18.
LaneK.A., BanajiM.R., NosekB.A., & GreenwaldA.G. (2007) Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: what we know (so far) about the method, in WittenbrinkB., & SchwarzN. (eds) Implicit Measures of Attitudes.New York: The Guilford Press.
19.
MurphyS., & ZajoncR. (1993) Affect, cognition and awareness: affective priming with optimal and suboptimal stimulus exposures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 5, pp. 723–729.
20.
NosekB.A., HawkinsC.B., & FrazierR. (2011) Implicit social cognition: from measures to mechanisms. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15, 4, pp. 152–159.
21.
OsmanM. (2004) An evaluation of dual process theories of reasoning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 6, pp. 988–1010.
22.
PinkerS. (1997) How the Mind Works.New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
23.
SchiffrinR.M., & SchneiderW. (1997) Controlled and automatic human information processing. Psychological Review, 84, 2, pp. 127–190.
24.
StanovichK.E. (1999) Who is Rational? Studies of Individual Differences in Reasoning.Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
25.
StanovichK.E., & WestR.F. (2000) Individual difference in reasoning: implications for the rationality debate?Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 23, 5, pp. 645–726.
26.
StorbeckJ., & CloreG. (2007) On the interdependence of cognition and emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 6, pp. 1212–1237.
27.
StorbeckJ., & RobinsonM.D. (2004) When preferences need inferences: a direct comparison of the automaticity of cognitive versus affective priming. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, pp. 81–93.
28.
TaylorD.A. (1977) Times course of context effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 106, 4, pp. 404–426.
29.
TverskyA., & KahnemanD. (1974) Judgement under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. Science, 185, 4157, pp. 1124–1131.
30.
WittenbrinkB. (2007) Measuring attitudes through priming, in WittenbrinkB., & SchwarzN. (eds) Implicit Measures of Attitudes.New York: The Guilford Press.
31.
ZajoncR.B. (1980) Feeling and thinking: preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35, 2, pp. 151–175.
