I read this article on March 25th in the Wall Street Journal and am just getting the opportunity to post it. I’m pretty sure I always knew this was true 🙂
“You don’t need to be a Mac owner to be a cutting-edge hipster. Just thinking about Apple Inc. can make you more creative.
That’s according to researchers at Duke University and the University of Waterloo, who found that exposing people to a brand’s logo for 30 miliseconds will make them behave in ways associated to that brand. In Apple’s case, that means more creativity, said Gavan Fitzsimons, one of the Duke professors who conducted the study. The study will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.
Scientist have long debated whether subliminal messages, the idea that subconscious exposure can shape behavior, really work. In recent years, the consensus has tended toward no. But most studies measured whether subliminal messages caused people to buy products. Mr. Fitzsimons and his colleagues wondered if the exposure resulted in behavioral changes that don’t show up on the balance sheet.
To find out, they exposed subjects to imperceptible images of brand logos for Apple and International Business Machines Corp., among others. Surveys found that people felt similarly about the two companies in ever way except creativity, where Apple came out ahead, and competence, which was IBM’s perceived strength. After exposing them to the brands, the researchers asked subjects to describe as many uses for a brick as they could.
The Apple-primed subjects averaged 30% more answers and independent reviewers also deemed their answers more creative. It’s harder to measure competence, but Mr. Fitzsimons says that IBM-primed subjects had strikingly uniform answers.
Does this mean businesses wanting to inspire creativity or competence in a handful of areas should buy Macs or IBM equipment for their offices? (IBM sold its PC division to Lenovo Group Ltd. while the study was in progress.) Mr. Fitzsimons isn’t ready to go that far: The key to shaping behavior is unconsciously planting the brand image. ”
Worthen, B. “Apple: Just Think About It.” In , (p. ). : . (Reprinted from Wall Street Journal, 2008, March 25)
So for those of you who need a jolt of creativity today…here it is:
You are welcome! 😉
