Freud on Madison Avenue: Motivation Research and Subliminal Advertising in America

An author, cultural consultant, and founder of Culture Planning, a company with Fortune 500 clients, Samuel delves into the ways in which Sigmund Freud’s theories on psychology were implemented, for better or worse, by the advertising industry more than a half century ago. Samuel analyzes the work of Viennese-trained psychologist Ernest Dichter, along with Paul Lazarsfeld and many others, but it’s Freud’s contributions that laid the groundwork for ad strategy then—and now. By the ‘50s and ‘60s the industry had shifted its focus from how consumers behaved to why, and Samuel contends that Freud’s “concept of the unconscious, with its hidden desires that shaped people’s behavior, was a particularly powerful idea for marketers to embrace and exploit... a godsend to Madison Avenue.” Although subliminal advertising was challenged on ethical grounds, and consumers feared Orwellian invasions of privacy, many of the practices developed at the time, such as focus groups and account planning, are still integral tools of the modern ad trade. (June)