Heuristics

            The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines heuristics as a proposition that connects an event with an action. Heuristics in advertising, for example, usually make decision making easier for the decision-maker because the advertisement influences the decision-maker in a way that convinces them to purchase the advertised good or service; whereas before, they may not have wanted or needed that good or service in any way.

            As you can see in this advertisement, soda drinks are ten bottles for ten dollars. If you are walking around in a grocery store and see a sign for ten soda drinks for ten dollars, and you then see the price is $1.50 for each soda drink purchased individually, you would know that if you bought ten of them, you would save fifty cents on each drink! That would save you five dollars total, making you think that the ten for ten deal is your best bet, when in reality, you probably do not need ten soda drinks nor would you have even purchased soda drinks in the first place if you had not seen such a bargain on the price!

            This second advertisement in the link above does the same type of convincing that the soda bottle does. In this Duluth (Men’s boxers) advertisement, the comfort, style, fit, support and overall quality are measured. The advertisement doesn’t compare Duluth Men’s boxers with other competing brands, nor does it really tell the viewer much about the boxers at all, but it is convincing enough so that the viewer feels like he needs to purchase his own pair.

            Heuristics in marketing and advertising are meant to be persuasive. They convince the shopper or average person that they need the product, even if the shopper does not indeed need the product or want the product at all in their life prior to seeing the advertisement. Another example could be Mcdonald’s Dinner Box. You receive two cheeseburgers, four small fries, and a ten piece chicken nugget ALL for $9.99. No person needs that much food to fill their stomach.



sources:  https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=H

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/180/2/decision-making-factors-that-influence-decision-making-heuristics-used-and-decision-outcomes