Some of them used it well. Some used it to mislead, and that history is worth knowing too.
The people
Edward L. Bernays
1891 to 1995
Public opinion can be shaped
Often called the father of public relations, Bernays was Sigmund Freud's nephew on both sides of his family (History Today; Britannica). He wrote Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) and Propaganda (1928), and in 1947 published an essay titled "The Engineering of Consent" (SAGE Journals). His famous stunts include the 1929 "Torches of Freedom" Easter parade, where young women smoked in public for American Tobacco, and soap-carving contests for Procter and Gamble's Ivory (The Conversation). He also ran publicity for United Fruit before the 1954 coup in Guatemala (Boston University). Historians note that the impact of some stunts was inflated, often by Bernays himself.
What it means for you: People trust third parties (experts, customers, the press) more than ads. Use that honestly.
Ivy Lee
1877 to 1934
Tell the truth first
After a 1906 Pennsylvania Railroad wreck, Lee put out a same-day statement and brought reporters to the scene, an approach often called the first modern press release (Britannica).
What it means for you: When something goes wrong, say so quickly and plainly.
Walter Dill Scott
1869 to 1955
Ads are psychology
A Northwestern psychologist, Scott published The Theory of Advertising (1903) and The Psychology of Advertising (1908), applying attention, memory and suggestion to ads (EBSCO Research Starters).
What it means for you: Get attention, be memorable, and tell people exactly what to do next.
E. St. Elmo Lewis
1872 to 1948
AIDA: attention, interest, desire, action
Lewis is traditionally credited, through a 1925 account by Edward K. Strong, with the sequence attention, interest, desire, action (HathiTrust, Strong 1925).
What it means for you: A good landing page walks people through those four steps in order.
John B. Watson
1878 to 1958
Emotion and habit
The founder of behaviorism left Johns Hopkins and joined the J. Walter Thompson agency in 1920, using testimonials and emotional appeals (Britannica; PBS).
What it means for you: Feelings and habits drive buying as much as facts.
Claude C. Hopkins
1866 to 1932
Test everything
In Scientific Advertising (1923), Hopkins argued ads should be measured against sales, and he used coupons to track response (Advertising Hall of Fame).
What it means for you: This is the ancestor of conversion tracking. If an ad cannot be measured, you are guessing.
Albert Lasker
1880 to 1952
Salesmanship in print
At Lord and Thomas, Lasker championed copywriter John E. Kennedy's 1904 idea that an ad is salesmanship in print (American National Business Hall of Fame; Britannica).
What it means for you: Your website should say what your best salesperson would say.
David Ogilvy
1911 to 1999
Respect the customer
Ogilvy started in research at George Gallup's institute, founded his agency in 1948 and wrote Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963) (Britannica). He insisted customers are intelligent and deserve facts.
What it means for you: Specific claims beat hype.
Rosser Reeves
Ted Bates & Co.
The unique selling proposition
In Reality in Advertising (1961), Reeves argued every ad should make one specific claim a competitor does not (Advertising Hall of Fame).
What it means for you: Know your one reason to be chosen.
Bill Bernbach
1911 to 1982
Honest and human
His agency's 1959 Volkswagen "Think Small" campaign used plain honesty and wit and is credited with starting advertising's creative revolution (Britannica).
What it means for you: Small brands win by being clear and real.
Ernest Dichter and Vance Packard
Motivational research and its critic
The hidden why
Dichter used depth interviews to find emotional buying motives (Hagley Museum and Library); Packard's 1957 bestseller The Hidden Persuaders criticized that kind of research (UPI).
What it means for you: Learn why people buy, openly.
Theodore Levitt and Philip Kotler
Marketing as strategy
Define the business by the need
Levitt's 1960 Harvard Business Review essay "Marketing Myopia" argued railroads failed by defining themselves as railroads instead of transportation (Harvard Business School). Kotler's Marketing Management (1967) became the standard business-school text (Northwestern Magazine).
What it means for you: Define your business by the customer's need, not the product you happen to sell.
Robert Cialdini
Born 1945
The principles of influence
His 1984 book Influence named six principles (reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity) and later added unity (Arizona State University).
What it means for you: Reviews, credentials and real limits persuade, when they are true.
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky
How people really decide
Biases and loss aversion
Their research on judgment, biases and loss aversion earned Kahneman the 2002 Nobel prize in economics (Nobel Prize).
What it means for you: How you frame a price changes how it feels.
Byron Sharp, Les Binet and Peter Field
How brands grow
Be easy to think of and easy to buy
Sharp's How Brands Grow (2010) argues brands grow by being easy to think of and easy to buy; Binet and Field's IPA research found a roughly 60/40 split between brand building and short-term activation worked best on average (IPA).
What it means for you: Be remembered, and be easy to reach.
The principles, in plain English
| Principle | What it means | Where it comes from | Use it honestly by | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mere exposure | Familiar things feel more likable | Zajonc, 1968 | Showing up consistently in search, maps and social | Wears off with overexposure |
| Social proof | People follow others like them | Goldstein, Cialdini and Griskevicius, 2008 | Real reviews and local examples | Fake reviews are illegal under the FTC's 2024 rule |
| Scarcity | Rare things seem more valuable | Worchel, Lee and Adewole, 1975 | Real deadlines and real capacity limits | Fake scarcity can break consumer-protection law |
| Reciprocity | People return favors | Cialdini, 1984 | Free, genuinely useful advice | A trick gift backfires |
| Anchoring | The first number shapes the rest | Tversky and Kahneman, 1974 | Showing package options in order | Effect sizes vary |
| Loss aversion | Losses feel bigger than equal gains | Kahneman and Tversky, 1979 | Showing the cost of doing nothing | Size of the effect is debated |
| Choice overload | Too many options can stall a decision | Iyengar and Lepper, 2000 | Three clear packages, not twelve | A 2010 meta-analysis found the average effect near zero |
Myths we do not repeat
- Subliminal ads did not boost popcorn sales in 1957; the researcher later admitted the test was a gimmick (Scientific American).
- Bernays did not invent bacon and eggs; he promoted it.
- The famous pyramid of needs is not in Maslow's 1943 paper, which describes needs that overlap rather than strict steps (Maslow, 1943, via Classics in the History of Psychology).
The ethical line
Every principle above can inform or manipulate. We use them to make true things clear and easy to act on. The FTC's 2024 rule banning fake reviews and testimonials is a good reminder of where the line sits (FTC).
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Sources
- History Today · historytoday.com/miscellanies/original-influencer
- Britannica · britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bernays
- SAGE Journals · journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000271624725000116
- The Conversation · theconversation.com/the-manipulation-of-the-american-mind-edward-be...
- Boston University · bu.edu/bridge/archive/1998/11-06/features3.html
- Britannica · britannica.com/biography/Ivy-Ledbetter-Lee
- EBSCO Research Starters · ebsco.com/research-starters/history/scott-publishes-theory-advertising
- HathiTrust, Strong 1925 · catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000475708
- Britannica · britannica.com/biography/John-B-Watson
- PBS · pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhwats.html
- Advertising Hall of Fame · advertisinghalloffame.org/inductee/claude-clarence-hopkins
- American National Business Hall of Fame · anbhf.org/laureates/albert-lasker
- Britannica · britannica.com/biography/Albert-Davis-Lasker
- Britannica · britannica.com/biography/David-Ogilvy
- Advertising Hall of Fame · advertisinghalloffame.org/inductee/rosser-reeves
- Britannica · britannica.com/biography/William-Bernbach
- Hagley Museum and Library · findingaids.hagley.org/repositories/2/resources/643
- UPI · upi.com/Archives/1996/12/13/Author-Vance-Packard-dies/2525850453200
- Harvard Business School · library.hbs.edu/working-knowledge/ted-levitt-changed-my-life
- Northwestern Magazine · northwestern.edu/magazine/northwestern/winter2003/features/kotler/i...
- Arizona State University · news.wpcarey.asu.edu/20210510-godfather-influence-has-new-way-be-mo...
- Nobel Prize · nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2002/kahneman/facts
- IPA · ipa.co.uk/media/14463/long_and_short_of_it_presentation_final_03042...
- Zajonc, 1968 · doi.org/10.1037/h0025848
- Goldstein, Cialdini and Griskevicius, 2008 · academic.oup.com/jcr/article/35/3/472/1856473
- Worchel, Lee and Adewole, 1975 · doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.32.5.906
- Tversky and Kahneman, 1974 · pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17835457
- Iyengar and Lepper, 2000 · doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.6.995
- Scientific American · scientificamerican.com/article/the-subtle-power-of-hidden-messages
- Maslow, 1943, via Classics in the History of Psychology · psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm
- FTC · ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/federal-trade-commi...