We have all seen advertisements that have questioned our norms that indirectly tell ordinary people there way of life could be so much better with the use of their product.  Every advertisement we have seen in our lives uses classical conditioning to strategized ways to market their products to the average consumer.   Classical conditioning deals with the kinds of learning in which an organism learns to associate stimuli.  In this case the consumer is the organism that is being maneuvered to feel a certain way about the product that is being advertised.

    One example of this is that of the Jose Cuervo’s alcohol beverage billboard ad.  In the ad an attractive happy man is lifting up an attractive happy woman and across the ad is the drink next to the quotes, “Purse your Daydreams”.  This advertisement questions our daily norm of daydreaming it strategically pokes fun at this norm and suggest with this drink Jose Cuervo you will be able to purse your daydreams and make it become reality.  The elements of classical conditioning include certain elements that need to take place in order for the conditioning to happen.  The factors that need to take place are the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response, and the conditioned response.  In the case of this specific ad geared towards buying Jose Cuervo the conditioned stimulus is the drink Jose Cuervo.  The unconditioned stimulus is the appeal of the drink.  The unconditioned response is the desire for the drink in order to, “Purse your Daydreams” and the conditioned response is the pleasure one would get from drinking Jose Cuervo.

    This billboard ad is hoping that the consumer will buy their drink because it produces a conditioned response of pleasure and desire with the consumption of this drink.  It is important to know how companies are using classical conditioning to market their products to the vast public.  Instead of being swayed by the well thought out classical conditioning of these advertisement one can decipher for themselves what an ad is trying to invoke in them rather them mindlessly buying their product.

http://jdeleeuw.edublogs.org/2011/04/05/does-alcohol-advertising-cause-abuse-to-youth