Introduction. Even in an age when so much shopping is done over the Internet, many shoppers still enjoy the in-person experience of stepping into grand aisles, in rooms two or three stories high, surrounded by gleaming counters and beautiful women. Department stores such as Macy’s use the visual stimuli of this experience to serve as propaganda to lure in customers. This is a relevant topic for consumers, so that they know the strategies that stores use. Macy’s uses a variety of propaganda techniques to bring in shoppers. Rowland Hussey Macy started a chain of four retail dry goods stores between 1843 and 1855, beginning with the inaugural location in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts. All of these stores closed, but the lessons he learned served him well when, in 1858, he moved to New York City and opened R.H. Macy Dry Goods between 13th and 14th Streets on Sixth Avenue. The store grew, expanding into surrounding buildings and adding departments. It also added different marketing gimmicks, such as its sponsorship of the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, starting in 1924, and the use of an in-store Santa Claus to bring in business. After merging with Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores, the company went from being a New York City phenomenon to a nationwide brand with over 850 stores by 2006 (“Macy’s, Inc. History”).
The Psychology of Everyday Persuasion. Every year, marketing and advertising departments spend, in total, millions of dollars for spots that will play during the Super Bowl. The way that those commercials lodge in the minds of the viewers will vary, depending on the particular product and ad, but advertising agencies are paid millions each year to persuade consumers to buy products (Pratkanis and Aronson). This didn’t just start with Dorito ads featuring flying dogs, or AFLAC ads featuring Gilbert Godfrey as a talking duck. In the 1700’s, Franz Anton Mesmer tried to take advantage of a magnetic fluid that he thought coursed throughout the human body. He believed that this fluid managed our behaviors and reported on the health of the individual. He also thought that he could influence a person’s behavior simply by changing the direction of that fluid, so he would use magnets on his research subjects to alter the flow and then would record behavioral changes. Unfortunately, none of the most renowned scientists of the day, which included Antoine Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin, could corroborate his results, when they assembled as a committee and tried to replicate the outcome. However, Mesmer’s followers still kept trying – his name became the root of the word “mesmerize,” which is exactly what he and his followers tried to do to their subjects, thereby influencing their thoughts and activities.
Macy’s uses a variety of strategies to engage in “everyday persuasion.” The print and television spots create a glamorous ambiance that makes the viewer want the lifestyle that he or she sees, while realizing that the Macy’s lifestyle is only available for a select few. What this means is that, when viewers see and listen to Macy’s marketing, they see affluence; they see attractiveness; they see beauty. These are accessible to those with the means throughout the country. However, what is not accessible to everyone is the New York City experience. What one often sees in Macy’s spots is models singing and dancing as though they are in a Broadway show. These touches represent a nod to Macy’s grand stature as a New York City icon, despite its current status as a nationwide brand. Many people across the nation love the idea of the New York City lifestyle, even though they may live in suburban Arizona or rural California – about as far from Manhattan, affectively and effectively, as it is possible to be. By buying from Macy’s, though, they can live that dream – even if only for a very short time, or if only in the sense that they have bought from a New York City company.
Pre-Persuasion: Setting the Stage for Effective Influence. Coca-Cola has been “the real thing” for decades now; in fact, a lot of Coke consumers don’t use that slogan to refer to their drink of choice. If you ask a group of people from just about every age bracket what that slogan means, though, the vast majority can identify “The Real Thing” as a phrase closely identified with the soda giant. The same holds true for dozens, if not hundreds of products. The next time you have a captive audience of children and middle schoolers, read a list of advertising slogans from the television and radio – and choose products that are not age-specific for those students. You’ll be shocked by how many can match products to slogans, especially those that were sold before that group of children was even born (Pratkanis and Aronson). This is how ingrained advertising and marketing are in modern culture.
Currently, the slogan for Macy’s is “Way to Shop!” This casual slap on the rear as a shopper goes by is perfect for the quick friendliness of the busy way of life in New York City. The affect is friendly and encouraging, cheering the buyer on for doing what (as the slogan suggests) everyone knows is really the only correct decision. By planting this slogan in the mind of the consumer, Macy’s has established itself as not only an authority in trends but also as a desirable location for shopping.
Communicator Credibility: Real and Manufactured. Perceived and actual credibility can be two completely different matters for an individual – as well as for an entire company or organization. Some companies view credibility and integrity as watchwords that must be followed, while for others, the view of integrity may be something that you live by in public while private matters are a completely different ballgame. However, the problem of the marketing department is not to make ethical decisions for your company but, instead, to project an image of credibility out there to consumers. When a company develops a plan for marketing its presence, this is one of the major tenets of basic strategy, not just in the formulation of guidelines but in the company’s attempts to dominate its target niche of the market.
The name Macy’s still represents a bastion of reliability. After all, it’s been around since 1858, and it brings in seven figures in annual revenues. While there was some contraction in the 2000’s, it has developed a reputation as a rock-solid company that, even in a time of recession, promises to offer retail services for decades to come. Not only has the store been open for over a century, but the fact that it is synonymous with Thanksgiving Day for so much of the country gives it a marketing presence that is front and center the day before the year’s busiest shopping day: Black Friday. The video and audio spots that Macy’s has created give a sense of permanence and beauty in the stores: if you look at the displays, you’ll see section upon section filled with beautiful clothes – and filled with beautiful people buying those clothes. The end result is that the consumer comes away with a notion of Macy’s as an established, reliable store.
The Message and How it is Delivered. It wasn’t that long ago that print spots were the “bee’s knees” for all of the guests tomorrow. However, with the advent of powerful social media, it’s no surprise to learn that Macy’s has some of the more creative advertising media working for it. In addition to a wide range of still photography, Macy’s is aggressively moving into social media, bringing in outside staff to develop a Web 2.0 presence. If you add in the notion that Macy’s wants to position itself as a revered, glamorous institution from New York City, while also creating the impression that it can serve the needs of a nationwide clientele, then you see that the messages are being delivered through a variety of outlets: print, radio and video spots, to capture the more traditional customers, followed by social media and direct Internet marketing to build a group of shopping followers who make Macy’s their first choice when it comes to purchases.
Emotional Appeals: Touch the Heart, Persuade the Mind. While we make most of our decisions using logic, many purchasing decisions are made with emotions at the forefront (Pratkanis and Aronson). This is no truer in any area of consumer decision-making than the automobile lot. Customers see a car that they fall in love with, and the sales and finance departments take advantage of that love, selling the car at a much higher profit than they might have had logic been the prevailing value of the day. Customers come in emotionally committed to a level of car payment – and the price goes up, and the loan term goes to 60 or 72 months instead of 48. Other customers come in committed to a percentage rate of financing – and the price goes up. Knowing the correct price, and going in committed to that price, no matter how much you “love” the car, will keep you from overpaying. When it comes to the purchase of clothes, decisions can also be highly emotional. We want to feel good about ourselves in our clothes – we want to be attractive, either physically or professionally (or both), and savvy marketers will build campaigns that take advantage of those emotional needs, so that more consumers will buy those clothes.
Macy’s has as its goal a lifestyle brand that will set it apart from its competitors. Just like the W Hotel, which bills itself as a complete leisure experience, instead of just a hotel room, Macy’s wants consumers to believe that buying their clothes will change their lifestyle. If you look at the ads, you’ll see people who are rich enough to spend time in New York City, doing the fun things that you can see there. As viewers, we want to have that much leisure time; we want to have just as much fun, and look just as good, as the people in the images and videos. If we have the means to buy Macy’s clothing, then we can perhaps attain the lifestyle that offers many trips to Manhattan, as well as upscale touches in other areas of our lives. We would want a photo essay of our lives to look like the catalog we are perusing; one step toward that goal, the suggestion becomes, is to purchase the clothes on those pages, and to wear them.
An alternative to the hypotheses present would be that Macy’s wants to create a brand that aims at families, and that its marketing campaign simply seeks to be family friendly. The activities that take place in the photos in the catalogs often feature family activities, with members of all ages taking part in and enjoying them. Another way to look at this is to consider the emphasis that has helped the family since the company was founded – healthy families bond through the enjoyment of leisure time.
It is important for consumers to understand the motivations behind marketing and advertising – in addition to the goal of building sales. All companies want to build a large list of customers, but not all companies use the same methodologies. Successful companies in the 21st century will integrate more and more media into their campaigns, such as social media, video and audio files and other stimuli in addition to print presence. Analysis such as this, however, will help the consumer see through some of the tricks that companies play when working their way into consumers’ lives – and into their wallets.
Works Cited
“Macy’s, Inc. History.” Web. Retrieved 18 November 2011 from
http://www.macysinc.com/pressroom/History/
Pratkanis, Anthony, and Elliot Aronson. Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and
Abuse of Persuasion. New York: Holt, 2001.
