New Year’s resolutions influenced by marketing

Now that the Christmas season is over…

Happy New Year!

And what comes with the New Year: New Year’s resolutions.

We hear and read a lot about companies’ and industries’ resolutions for 2012; however what probably affects us the most first hand is their advertising resolution. The resolution that doesn’t fail to haunt us in our everyday lives.

I know many people who claim they don’t make any resolutions, but there are times of the year, especially around now, when the subjects of money and weight arise. Having made resolutions or not, marketers know our weakest spots and open our need for (unwanted) resolutions.

Coming back to England yesterday I had to do some of the necessary things: grocery shopping and going to the bank. Both of these trips intertwine with some enforced resolutions:

When I went to X supermarket (no free advertising here!), I did the usual, took my little list out and bought all the things that I wanted to get. Nothing unusual here. Then at the checkout, the woman at the till kindly offers me their ‘free’ magazine for the months of January and February. Little did I know that I’d be the one paying! Strange that they never usually mention it and the magazines just sit there and the accent on ‘free’ is what struck me the most. Oh, and the fact that she almost forcibly shoved it in my hands.

The story continues: I get home, unpack the stuff that I bought and throw the magazine on the counter. Usually I don’t take these things, but hey, if it’s there why not flick through before it’s recycled? Bammmm: the vast majority of the recipes were healthy or healthier options for the New Year. ON a budget. Smart move, combining the two things in one go. So obviously these subconscious worries are reinforced by companies telling you that you SHOULD be worried…

Then comes the bank, I’m already more alert at this stage and kind of looking out for specific hints of theirs. Maybe I don’t look carefully usually at their brochures (thought I did) but the closest one to me as I was queuing up was about budgeting. So I have a read through this as well, and I swear this wasn’t there before. I must admit my sensitivity towards the New Year’s conspiracy may have taken part in me overanalyzing every single message.

There is a clear link present between marketing and the way we form and alter our resolutions due to its influence. You may very well be aware of this, yet many of us are so used to this influence that we tend to ignore its true impact. Why can’t resolutions be as simple as ‘smiling more often’?