hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about the sleeper effect
now let's begin number one the media tidal wave think back to the last commercial you watched it
might have even been a few seconds ago when you clicked on this video can you remember
what that commercial was about was it showing off the latest car a preview for an upcoming
movie or an ad for some cutting-edge medication you encounter an overwhelming amount of these
advertisements on a daily basis on average you waste a full hour of every day watching ads now
of course you don't remember most of them you remember the show you were watching or the game
you were playing but the ads they're just a blur in your memory you tune them out like background
noise like the cars honking outside your window or the dogs barking down the streets you don't
remember them you barely pay attention to them yet every advertisement has a powerful effect on you
whether you like it or not the media influences your opinions it changes your preferences it even
controls your lifestyle now it may not always be obvious or direct but it's still happening you
just take those car commercials you see every day come on how many of them really convinced
you to buy a new car probably none just like none of those pharmaceutical ads suddenly inspire you
to go see your doctor but each advertisement you ingest slowly but surely alters your perspective
you can't see it happening and you'll hardly ever notice the difference but your mind is being made
up for you number two the tricks of the trade so how do they do it how does the media manipulate
your life people think advertising is simple and straightforward but it's a lot more complicated
than you think commercials don't just show you a product and expect you to buy it well some do
but those ads aren't the most effective in the long term they're great for a temporary burst
of business but over time the hype around any new product will just die down and people will quickly
go back to their old routine okay this makes a lot more sense in context so let's look at an
example imagine a soda company makes a new line of low-calorie drinks they want to get the word
out there so they make a commercial that shows off how great their new soda tastes you see the
commercial on TV and in the moment you think to yourself hmm that soda looks pretty good but a
couple of days go by and you forget all about that commercial so when you finally go to the
store you end up buying the same soda that you always buy so to make sure this doesn't happen
the best commercials have to be a lot sneakier they use advanced persuasion techniques to help
their message stick some ads will sell you on a lifestyle instead of a product they show you
this fantasy life filled with family fun and luxury and that association subtlety changes
your opinion of their product if you want proof just think about how many car companies spend
90% of their commercial talking about anything but the actual car but other ads Lodge themselves in
your memory by doing something really strange they make themselves less persuasive in a way
that persuades more people number 3 the power of the sleeper effect the sleeper effect is one of
the best-kept secrets of the advertising industry it's actually been around since
the 1940s when it was first discovered by Carl Holland and his colleagues at the time Hovland
was researching how the media affected people's opinions of World War two his data revealed that
certain ads were ineffective at first but had a significant impact over time in other words
your opinion might be exactly the same after your first viewing and even your second and your third
but as more time goes by that message will have a larger and larger effect on you it's worms its
way into your brain changing the way you think behave and live your life but how does it work
in his next batch of experiments Carl hofland found that the sleeper effect needs two things
to function the first ones easy repetition these ads get played all the time you may not remember
them but you've been watching these sleeper ads every day for weeks or months at a time just think
about the jingles that you can't stop humming the catchphrases and phone numbers that keep popping
into your head you don't know where they came from but they're always there for the second step
we need something to soften the blow to suppress the initial impact of our ad scientists call this
device the discounting cue whether you realize it or not you've seen this device in action
hundreds of times you know how at the end of most political ads they tell you that it was paid for
by their opponent doesn't that make the ad less believable at first you might have bought into
their costs but when you see that you pull back a little right that obvious lack of credibility
means most people won't change their minds you won't really internalize their message so why
would these political ads include something that obviously hurts their cause that message acts as a
discounting cue it undermines the effectiveness of the ad because they're not trying to persuade you
now they don't care if you leave the commercial feeling motivated in fact they don't want you to
because those impulsive reactions fade quickly over time that's why they added discounting cue
to neutralize their own commercial but what stops that discounting cue from ruining their whole ad
it turns out discounting cues are easy to forget when you watch the same commercial over and over
the message will stick but the lack of credibility won't you'll gradually internalize one and forget
about the other psychologists call this process dissociation in your mind you naturally separate
the message from its discounting cue and with out that queue the message becomes much more
persuasive there's nothing stopping their ad from completely changing your opinion so even if you
know a commercial isn't credible it can still have a major effect on you number four media
manipulation in action one of the most famous examples of the sleeper effect comes from a
group of psychologists in the 1970s this study was actually the first to definitely replicate hablas
groundbreaking discovery which happened over 25 years earlier until 1978 researchers couldn't
figure out how to replicate his findings but this study showed the power of the sleeper effect and
how big of a difference the right cue can make the study itself was pretty simple a sample of
college students had to read a controversial news article the article was created to influence their
opinion like any normal advertisement but at the end of every article there was a note the
note explained to the reader that the article was filled with inaccurate data after reading
something like that what would you think would you still put any faith in that news article you
probably would just not on purpose and that's exactly what happened to this sample of college
students they knew perfectly well that the article was incredible yet their opinions
still changed the endnote scared them off at first but over time they gravitated toward the
articles controversial message the discovery of this bizarre social phenomenon changed the way
that the media approached advertising because now they don't have to rely on conscious persuasion
normally when you see something convincing you can feel yourself changing your mind you
know you just watched a powerful advertisement or heard a charismatic speaker but the sleeper
effect unlocks a deeper level of control now the media can unconsciously stimulate
long-term change they can manipulate your opinion without you realizing what's happening number five
repurposing the sleeper effect it's been decades since Hovland first discovered the sleeper effect
since then the influence of the media has grown exponentially in the 21st century experts have
used Holland's theory to develop new ways to delay and strengthen their messages delayed
fear is a great example and has become more popular in recent years if an advertisement
wants to present something as dangerous or scary what kind of commercials should they make you'd
think they'd want something terrifying something that really sticks with their audience but those
ads rarely have a lasting effect on their viewers instead the media undermines its own message with
humor bad quality or some other discounting cues this kind of commercial won't leave anyone shaking
in their boots but it helps their message stick in people's heads so the next time you go to the
store to buy some chips or a soda think about why you're choosing that specific product do
you just like the taste did you see an ad that sold you a feeling or a lifestyle or has the
media unconsciously changed your opinion as your constant exposure to certain brands companies and
influencers transformed the way you think hmm it's tempting to say no no one likes to think
their views may not be their own but that's the power of the sleeper effect you'll keep
thinking they're your choices your opinions and your habits but the media has been worming its
way into your mind for your whole life and it isn't going to stop anytime soon now a thank you
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