Item #8: Pandora Advertisement

COMMUNICATION CHANNEL: Internet

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Pandora listener. Pandora asks for age and gender to better target audiences for advertisments, and according to the information I gave them, they feel that this advertisement is targeted to me.

I often listen to Pandora Internet Radio. The free version uses advertisements to pay their bills, and pictures above is one of the advertisements used in the background while my music is playing.

This advertisement plays on the consumer's psychological need for coffee, especially delicious coffee. Subtly, it also plays on the need for security, specifically financial security.

Everyone has needs that are either necessary for our survival or not. For example, our need to eat is necessary to our survival, but our need to be accepted by others isn't. Larson (2010) notes that although a need may not be necessary to persuadee's survival, the persuadee will not feel happy without the need. Such needs are psychological, not critical or physical (Larson, 2010).

Most people don't need coffee to survive. Even those who drink several cups a day will survive if they are forced to be without it. Therefore, coffee is a psychological need and this advertisement tell the viewer how to fulfill it. The attractive appearance of the product also persuades. What coffee lover doesn't want a frappe with whipped cream and caramel? It looks too delicious to pass up.

Abraham Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs includes Security Needs. The need for security is the second level of Maslow's heirarchy so according to Maslow, feeling safe is the greatest need besides the needs for food, water, and other things we need to survive. The need for security includes the nedd for financial security. By stating that a small frappe is "just $2.29" McDonald's is saying, "You can enjoy a delicious frappe and still save money."