AP Psychology Photo Journal 3

What is going on in the photo?

This is a picture of an advertisement in an Ulta magazine for hair products. It says that if one buys two hair products, they get one free! However, there is a footnote that states that brands cannot be combined, that some specific products are not elligible for this promotion, and that the free product must be of equal or lesser value of the lowest priced product bought. (67)

How is it related to a specific psychology concept from the current or previous units?

This advertisement is an example of framing. Framing is used to change people's thoughts about something by changing how it is poised. The ad states in big, bold letters, "Buy two, get one FREE," while the footnote is in a much smaller font. Potential buyers might not see the footnote at first, therefore they might think they would get a better deal than they actually could. (66)

Link the image to one of the perspectives of psychology with an explanation of how it relates.

This ad could be related to the cognitive perspective because it manipulates how people might think about the deal. Presented with all the information in the same size font and in the same place, people might think that the deal wasn't as good. However, the eye-catching "get one FREE," is distracting. It's all about how people are thinking about the promotion. (61)