The Importance of the Association Principle

Advertisers are incessantly trying to connect themselves or their products with the things we like. In one study, men who saw a new car add that included a seductive young woman model rated the car as faster, more appealing and better designed than did men who viewed the same ad without the model. The important thing for the advertiser is to establish the connection. It doesn't have to be a logical one, just a positive one. Celebrities provide another form of desirability that manufacturers have always paid dearly to tie to their goods. Recently, politiians have caught on to the ability of a celebrity linkage to sway voters.