There’s a sly look in the eye of Bryant University Professor of Marketing Sukki Yoon, Ph.D. — fitting for a master of allusion and an expert in shaping messages in ways that make an impact.
“The things we think of as choices aren’t necessarily choices, or at least those choices are manipulated in subtle ways,” he notes.
As a marketing behavior researcher and self-described “experimentalist,” Yoon’s work borrows from a host of disciplines, ranging from psychology to economics.
“We look at the things that are sometimes seen as unquantifiable and we try to quantify them,” he says. “We try to get inside people’s heads.”
Yoon’s own studies focus on the fundamental questions of consumer/audience behavior: why and how people react to marketing in the ways that they do. One of his focuses is message framing and “priming” — how slight tweaks in the way you position a message can influence its audience.
“Incredibly small changes can make big differences,” says Yoon. “There's something magical about it.”
“Disney World is a fantasy; we all know that. But doesn’t it still make you smile?”
It’s a seemingly simple concept, Yoon notes, but its effects are far reaching. Like how the speed at which we listen to advertising affects how we process it (the faster an ad, the more we focus on price; the slower it is, the more we focus on quality). Or how seeing the logo of a favorite sports team can affect one’s own athletic performance.
The insights this work generates, he notes, are becoming increasingly valuable as we embrace artificial intelligence.
The age of Don Draper-esque advertising exec may be replaced by the rise of cognitive machines, but those machines need to make the leap to understanding human behavior.
As editor-in-chief of the Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, a forum for thoughtfully examining and debating the role advertising plays in society, Yoon looks for academic rigor in the journal’s submissions and for real-world relevance. But that’s not all.
“I’m looking for novelty,” he notes.
“It is good and important to find support for something that’s widely believed or known, but I’m looking for something new.”
Yoon also hosts a podcast offering bite-sized encapsulations of each issue’s articles. Its title, “Curious and Interesting,” could double as the mission statement for his work.
“I think every article should be entertaining,” he says.
“You need to wield the magic wand responsibly."
The more we learn, Yoon states, the more fascinating the world becomes. “I can see the manipulations happening, but often the only real difference is that I am aware that I am being manipulated,” Yoon admits. “I fall for many of the same things as everyone else.”
In the end, he reflects, that’s not always a bad thing. “Disney World is a fantasy; we all know that. But doesn’t it still make you smile?” he asks.
There are also opportunities to put priming to good use and promote pro-social change, another one of Yoon’s preoccupations. A recent project he contributed to, for example, found that using photos of baby animals helped to promote pro-conservation messages. Another suggested that placing googly eyes on irregular-looking fruits and vegetables can shape buyer intentions and potentially help eliminate food waste.
“You need to wield the magic wand responsibly,” Yoon notes.
Of course, he allows, the seeming absurdity of the “googly eyes” concept was an enticement as well.
“It helps,” Yoon states, “to have a sense of humor about your work.”