1950s Advertisements

Paper Summary:

Maslow's hierarchy of needs, an important concept in the fields of both psychology and advertising, is explained and applied to ads from the 1950s. The resulting efficiency of these ads is also explored. The paper examines the Dodge advertisement of 1955 as a case study.

From the Paper:

"Advertisements throughout the fifties were notorious for combining the fear and bandwagon techniques with images and ideas reflective of the American culture of the fifties. The convergence of these two different approaches was aimed at making the consumer spend all of his or her money on items they did not necessarily need or even want. However, these ads, which became embedded in the mind of the consumers, sought to make the consumer believe that buying that particular product would satisfy the needs and desires set forth by Abraham Maslow. After Maslow created his hierarchy of needs in 1954, advertisements throughout the fifties began to experiment with this hierarchy as a guide for what areas to appeal to in order to compel consumers to buy their products."

More papers on 1950s Advertisements:

• Research Paper # 17001 : "Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" as Evident in 1950's Ads"
• Analytical Essay # 20613 : "Blacks in Time Magazine in 1950s"
• Term Paper # 102140 : "1950s America"

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