Pavlovian Marketing

For those of you who never took Psych 101, Pavlov was this researcher who rang a bell every time he gave his dog some food. The dog, upon seeing the food would start salivating. Eventually, much to the canine's chagrin, the good doctor would ring the bell, present no food, and the dog would salivate anyways.

This principle, I believe, is the foundation of much of traditional marketing. Take a typical beer ad. By relentlessly pairing the logo with bubbly, bikini-clad blonds, the targeted 21-35 year-old male will eventually salivate upon seeing just the logo.

Devilishly clever! And it would have worked too...if we had the cognitive capacity of a dog!