Reconstructive memory research study: Braun, Ellis, & Loftus, (2002) – Make my memory: How advertising can change our memories of the past. Flashcards
(20 cards)
Background
According to Braun et al., advertisers use
autobiographical advertising to manipulate
consumers to focus more on the ‘feelings evoked’ by
the memories of their childhood, rather than focusing
on the ‘rational product information’, such as details
of what the product does and costs.
For example, Braun et al. reported that when Disney
World® in Orlando celebrated their 25th anniversary, they
used an advertising campaign that included vintage-
style home movies of people enjoying themselves.
Braun et al. suggest that because nostalgic
advertisements might act as a cue for consumers’
memory of their personal past events, the
advertisements themselves might alter what
consumers actually remember as they reconstruct
their memory of the event.
They propose that autobiographical adverts might
encourage consumers to picture themselves in the
scenario that is presented in the advert and this
could result in them thinking that the event actually
happened to them personally.
Loftus and Pickrell (1995) suggest that older
memories are more vulnerable to alternation. By
using suggestion, presenting false cues and getting
participants to use their imagination, it is possible to
create false memories about childhood events in a
significant minority of participants.
Advertising companies use something called
‘experiential information’. This is a type of
promotion which is designed to immerse consumers
in the advertisement as they learn about the
advertisement by ‘experiencing it’. Another
technique used by advertising companies is using
‘dramatic narratives’, which uses a story to convey
the message of the advertisement. Both of these
advertising methods are thought to trigger
the consumers’ memories.
Aim
To see whether autobiographically-focused
advertising could directly affect how consumers
remember a prior childhood experience.
Hypotheses
If the advertisement is part of how the consumer’s
memory is reconstructed, then elements or
images of the advertisement may appear as part
of the consumer’s reconstructed memory of their
visit, regardless of whether or not the events
actually happened.
2 If the advertisement causes the consumer to
visualise their childhood memory, then the process
of imagining the memory will lead consumers
to believe the section of the advertisement
that showed someone shaking hands with
Mickey actually happened to them (this is called
‘advertising inflation’).
Method
This was a laboratory experiment with an
independent measures design, where participants
only took part in one condition.
Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected
using questionnaires and self-report.
The independent variable was whether participants
were shown the DisneyTM advert or the control advert.
The dependent variable was the difference in
score between week one and week two on the Life
Events Inventory on the target item, which was ‘met
and shook hands with a favourite TV character’.
Autobiographical advertising
Adverts that are intended to bring back people’s
memories of their past to influence how they
feel about the product that is being advertised.
Sample
107 undergraduates (64 female and 43 male) from a
Midwestern university in the USA.
Participants received a course credit for their
involvement.
Materials
A questionnaire containing twenty childhood events. It
was called the Life Events Inventory. The target event,
‘met and shook hands with a favourite TV character
at a theme resort’ appeared fourth on the list. These
were rated on a 100mm line where 0 definitely did not
happen and 100 definitely did happen.
Disney TM resort advert.
A questionnaire rating the advert using attitude
scales such as ‘unfavourable/favourable’.
A questionnaire rating on a scale of 0 (strongly
disagree) to 100 (strongly agree) how involved they
felt in the ad using empathy measures such as ‘I got
really involved in the feelings provoked by the ad.’
Two distraction tasks.
Questionnaire about their personal memories of
DisneyTM.
Procedure
Week one
Participants were randomly assigned to either the
experimental group, who received the DisneyTM
advert, or the control group, who received the control
non-DisneyTM advert.
During the first week, participants were given the
Life Events Inventory. Participants were also given
a number of other experimental tasks. This was to
minimise the opportunity for participants to work out
the aim of the research and change their behaviour
(demand characteristics).
Participants were then asked to return the following
week to finish one of those experiments.
Week two
Participants were given either the DisneyTM or the
control advert by a second experimenter. Participants
were asked to try to visualise the advert and imagine
themselves experiencing the situation described.
procedure 2
They were given five minutes to write down what
the video made them feel and what it made them
think about. Afterwards, participants rated the advert using the attitude scale and the empathy measures.
They were then given a five minute distraction task.
After they had completed the task, the experimenter
from week one entered the room, looking ‘panicked’
and saying there had been a problem coding the
autobiographical data from the Life Events Inventory
which they completed in week one. He asked if they
could fill out the questionnaire again.
Participants then did a second distraction task
which lasted fifteen minutes. A third experimenter
then gave participants another questionnaire which
asked participants if they had ever visited Disney
World® and, if so, to describe their memory of the
event. They were asked a number of questions about
their memory of the event, such as how well they
remembered it (one = not at all, seven = perfectly).
Finally, participants were asked what they thought the
aim of the experiment was, to test them for demand
characteristics. They were also asked whether they
believed that their memories of DisneyTM had been
affected by the advert.
Results
The participants’ reactions to the adverts and their
statements recalling their personal experience of
Disney World® were rated by two independent judges
who did not know what the alternative hypothesis
was. This was so that their ratings would not be
biased by the predictions of the experimenters.
A correlation analysis showed that their inter-rater
reliability was 0.83, meaning that their ratings were
similar.
Autobiographical effects of the advertising
30 out of the 46 (65 per cent) participants in the
experimental group who received the autobiographical
advert mentioned memories of Disney World®.
34 (74 per cent) reported that the advert had caused
them to imagine the experience.
29 (63 per cent) mentioned that they would visit
Disney World® in the future.
Even those participants who had not previously
visited Disney World® were able to imagine what it
would be like to visit.
Imagination inflation
One of the key aims of Experiment 1 was to see
whether reading an advertisement and imagining the event can increase the confidence of the participants
that they had had their own childhood experience
with the product. Significantly more participants in the experimental (DisneyTM) group showed an increase in their score on the Life Events Inventory in week two for the critical
question (‘met and shook hands with a favourite TV
character at a theme resort’): 90 per cent versus
47 per cent in the control group.
The mean difference scores of the Life Events
Inventory were analysed. The experimenters found
that the DisneyTM group showed a significantly more
positive change, with a mean average of 37.05,
compared to the control group mean of -1.5. This
shows that the DisneyTM group were much more
confident that the event had happened to them.
There were no other significant differences between
the two groups across the other eighteen items on the
questionnaire.
DisneyTM memory
Out of those participants who had reported previously
visiting a DisneyTM Park, significantly more of the
experimental (DisneyTM) group recorded positive
thoughts about DisneyTM compared to the control
group (DisneyTM mean = 3.6. Control mean = 2.8).
There were no significant differences in negative
thoughts about DisneyTM.
Significantly more elements of the advert, such as
use of the words ‘magical’ and ‘cool rides’, were used
by the DisneyTM group compared to the control group
(DisneyTM mean = 2.38. Control mean = 1.47).
Demand characteristics
The experimenters asked the participants to try to
guess what the aim of the experiment was, in order to
see whether their responses had been influenced by
working out the purpose of the experiment.
However, no one was able to guess that the aim
was to see whether the advertising could alter their
childhood memories.
Therefore, they found no demand characteristics.
Experiment 2
Aim
design
sample
To see whether false information in an advertisement
could make participants think that those events had
happened to them as a child.
Independent measures.
Sample
167 undergraduate psychology students from an
American university (104 female/63 male).
Materials
Same as Experiment 1 with a few amendments:
Ad 1: suggested they had shaken hands with Bugs
Bunny.
Ad 2: suggested they had shaken hands with Ariel.
Ad 3: factual – given to control group. Life Events
Inventory modified so that the critical question
was: ‘shaking hands with a cartoon character in a
theme park’ with a 10-point scale ‘definitely did not
happen’/’definitely did happen.’
Procedure
Participants were given two different types of false
information. The first suggested that they had shaken
hands with Bugs Bunny at Disney World®. Bugs Bunny
is not a DisneyTM character, so it is impossible that
this could have happened.
In the second advert, it was suggested that they had
shaken hands with Ariel. Ariel is a DisneyTM character,
but the character wasn’t introduced until later, so they
also could not have met her as a child.
The experimenters used the same basic procedure
as Experiment 1. However, this time both the
experimental and the control group were given a
DisneyTM advert. This was to see whether just the
mention on the DisneyTM name was enough to trigger
autobiographical memories.
The experimental group received the autobiographical
ads with the false information. The control group
received a DisneyTM advert that contained factual
content, giving information on a new ride and how to
book tickets.
Results
The autobiographical adverts were rated as being
more involving. It was scored on an 8 point scale, with
a lower score meaning less involvement.
Mean score /8
Ariel 4.8
Bugs Bunny 5.1
Non-autobiographical 3.8
All of the groups showed an increase in confidence
that they had shaken hands with the characters on
the second Life Events Inventory. However, those in
the experimental group showed a greater increase.
Percentage increase
Ariel 76%
Bugs Bunny 78%
Non-autobiographical 62%
Conclusions
Autobiographical advertising can influence how
consumers recall their past.
Autobiographical advertising can make consumers
more likely to believe an event happened to them as a
child, even if the event would have been impossible.
Autobiographical advertising can create false
memories.
The results support the theory that memory is
reconstructed as participants’ memory of events
were influenced by the advertisements.
3 Criticisms
There was age bias. Both studies used
undergraduate students from the USA. This
is a biased sample as they may not represent
how people of different ages respond to
autobiographical advertising.
It is not ethical to manipulate people’s memory.
Many participants reported that they were
more likely to visit Disney World® and could
have therefore been manipulated to spend a
considerable amount of money on a holiday that
might not have taken otherwise. It also affected
how the participants recalled their past.
The study lacked ecological validity. The study
took place under laboratory conditions. It may
not have reflected how people think about
autobiographical advertisements in real life
situations. For example, participants were directly
instructed to imagine themselves experiencing
the situation. In real life, people do not generally
get given direct instructions on how to perceive an
advertisement and therefore may be less likely to
have their childhood memories altered.
