Priming

When it comes to modern forms of media, tracing the roots of priming helps me understand the impacts of what we see today in the media and why it is we see such messages promoting the violence of men as well as the subjectivity of women in the 21^st century.

One part of the media’s diffusion of innovation is the use of priming in the media. People of the media use priming to provide a feeling of acceptance for the reader. This involves a strong appeal to the targeted audience in order to promote the purchase or even the viewing of a product. The advertisement indirectly provides a sense of self-satisfaction for the viewer by making their feelings relative to the advertisement. The media uses this tactic because it makes the viewer feel at home, because the advertisement giving them something to relate to.

This example shows Britney Spears promoting her perfume “Believe”. To begin, the photo shows a beautiful pop-culture icon devoid of any real clothing. Despite what the icon has currently done with her life, viewers are “primed” because a popular sex-icon/artist has created it, giving viewers the belief that they will look that way if they buy the product or that it will give them a sense of self-satisfaction because someone famous uses it. If a “regular Joe” promoted the product, lacking what the media holds as “true beauty” and a famous stature, almost no one would even be interested in the product. This shows how the media can manipulate and exploit their products according to traditional beauty standards by the use of catharsis, or the use of media to allow users to indirectly satisfy their desires.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/lifestyle/2007-08/10/content_6022147.htm