Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 September 29

= September 29 =

Arizona Republic
I'm hoping someone with access to Highbeam or some other subscription news aggregator can help me find a specific source: I'm at a loss. Not only can I not find the source, but I can't find any evidence online that it ever existed. Can someone please find the source and confirm that it actually exists? Thanks in advance. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 23:11, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
 * McDermott, J. "Trump’s Brownshirts? Militia vows to 'protect' Donald Trump", Arizona Republic, 13 June 2016
 * WP:REX may also be helpful to you. -- Jayron 32 00:55, 29 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Ah, that's the page I was trying to find! Thank you!!! --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 04:27, 29 September 2017 (UTC)

Name of psychological sales trick
Apologies if wrong subsection, but what's the name of that old sales tool where a company, for example, would put an attractive person next a car for sale? Or those adverts on TV where an attractive male shaves using a certain brand of razors? I know the basic idea is "wow if I buy this I'll get a woman like that" or "I'll be that good looking if I buy those razors!" but I can't remember the name for it. Thanks for any help! 80.6.102.227 (talk) 03:00, 29 September 2017 (UTC)

sex sells? 110.22.20.252 (talk) 03:37, 29 September 2017 (UTC)


 * The psychological concept you are looking for is Priming. --Guy Macon (talk) 04:49, 29 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Identification (psychology) seems a more specific fit but its unclear if any of these psychology terms are used in the public relation industry. --Kharon (talk) 05:06, 29 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Oh. I didn't realize the OP wanted what the PR flacks call it instead of what it is actually called. For that, 110.22.20.252 gave the correct answer: sex sells. BTW, it seems likely that the primary goal of having a pretty girl standing next to a used car for sale is to induce someone who is flipping through the channels to pause for at least a short time. If so this would be akin to the concept of clickbait in web advertising. --Guy Macon (talk) 11:59, 29 September 2017 (UTC)
 * It seems like a blip in time, but involves a lot of spontaneous message processing (third section). InedibleHulk (talk) 12:46, 29 September 2017 (UTC)


 * There's classical conditioning, typically associated with drooling dogs, but also effective on man. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:45, 29 September 2017 (UTC)


 * The OP's question is a great example of the male gaze, by the way. "Wow if I buy this car I'll become as beautiful as that woman" or "My husband will become as good-looking as that shaving model if I buy him those razors". The "attractive person next to a car" is indeed almost invariably a woman; there are lots of informal names, but our article is at Promotional model, which discusses the difference between mediated and in-person advertising. See also Sex in advertising, a redirect from "sex sells". Carbon Caryatid (talk) 12:47, 29 September 2017 (UTC)