# Do advertisements have an effect on what you purchase?  How?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-advertisements-have-an-effect-on-what-you-purchase-how/613032>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 16, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-advertisements-have-an-effect-on-what-you-purchase-how/613032 "2012-02-16T15:41:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-advertisements-have-an-effect-on-what-you-purchase-how/613032/81 "2012-02-23T05:14:46Z")

</div>

> [@Roadfood](#):
>
> People who choose their soft drinks based on some criteria other than what their personal taste buds prefer are a mystery to me.

Heard an NPR story the other day about how associations with non-flavor factors (sounds, colors, etc) have a palpable, measurable effect on people’s flavor reports and preferences.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-advertisements-have-an-effect-on-what-you-purchase-how/613032/82 "2012-02-23T05:15:46Z")

</div>

> [@Terr](#):
>
> Just a quick question for the people in this thread that claim that advertising doesn’t influence their decisions - what do you think of the Citizens United decision and its fallout? Since advertising doesn’t influence people’s decisions, do you think the politicians and Super PACs are wasting millions on political advertising that doesn’t have any influence on the elections?

It’s a trap!

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-advertisements-have-an-effect-on-what-you-purchase-how/613032.md?page=4)