Gestalt Theory & The Perceptual Set

Gestalt Psychology

Having explained how colour, contrast, size, juxtapositions, repetition and movement as well as morally stimulating and shock tactics work in advertising, I can now introduce another more scientific theory.

In order to perceive an object, the human brain needs to see a whole image to appreciate it. (Chisnall, P. M., 1995) Marketers leave parts of their advertisement unexplained, leaving the consumer to interpret it. This involves the consumer's brain and our natural instinct to create something whole out of something that is actually incomplete means the consumer will pay attention to the advertisement. This is aptly explained by Solomon et al, "[the brain will] derive meaning from the totality of a set of stimuli, rather than from any individual stimulus” (Solomon et al, 2010, p133)

This concept is called gestalt psychology. This theory is broken up into four sections...

Figure & Ground

This is when the figure is the element that capture attention and the background is largely undistinguished. The human eyes naturally creates a figure (the foreground) and ground (the background). Try it. Look at your hand, everything behind your hand is likely to be blurred. Now focus on an object behind your hand, you will see that it is now your hand that is blurred and the object you are focusing on is clear.

A classic example of this is the vase/ two faces images. Focus on the centre and you will see a vase, then try to see two faces facing each other, the vase has moved into the background.

Closure

A perceiver will naturally form an image out of an incomplete picture.

This panda is stylised, and so missing lines where the panda's body ends. The eye naturally draws the line as seen in the second image. This is called closure, an advertiser can create an incomplete image but be aware that a consumer will create an image.

Grouping

The brain automatically groups items together that are similar in shape or colour. Items are grouped together to form an “integrated whole” (Solomon et al, 2010, p134). For this reason, advertisers will group their products together to have more of a visual effect. I think the following image shows this well; personally, I would be more likely to stop and look at these products if they were displayed like this- but if they were displayed individually, I doubt I would notice them.

Stimulus Ambiguity

The advertiser will create a image or product (stimulus) that is not directly related to a recognisable shape or form so that the customer will have put it into a context to understand it. This engages the consumer as they try to make sense of it. In this image, a child and a chicken would never be able to hold the weight of a fully grown man, the brain is confused as it tries to make sense of the image. This captures a consumer's attention and leads them to be curious about what is being sold.

These are all effective ways of grabbing a consumer's attention, sometimes before they even realise how much thought is actually going into the image. Gestalt psychology focuses on manipulating the brain and utilising the way it works in order to make an advertisement stand out. Combined with the aforementioned, more simple methods, a successful campaign can be created.

Perceptual Set

Gestalt psychology and all other methods used in advertising rely heavily on the perceptual set. The perceptual set works as a selector and interpreter and is developed over time. It is influenced by personal experiences, upbringing, values, beliefs, and traditions... it is an innate way of thinking. Every person will have a unique perceptual set simply because no two people have lived the same life.

Despite being very personal and deep rooted, the perceptual set can be influenced my marketers. For example, the following clip is an advert for the NSPCC. Take a look: NSPCC Advert 2010

For somebody who has the mindset of "It's someone else's problem, not my issue.", this commercial might make them think that maybe they should get involved, perhaps they should alter the way they think. For another person who may be hitting their children and never saw a problem with it, they may see these actors and think twice about their actions. They may choose to get help and consequently change their beliefs. This means their perceptual set has changed because of a piece of marketing material.

* Chisnall, P. M. (1995) Consumer behaviour. 3rd ed. Maidenhead: McGraw- Hill.

* Solomon, M.R., Bamossy, G., Askegaard, S and Hogg, M. K. (2010) Consumer behaviour: a European perspective. 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson.