Potency of Advertisements

Research finds that advertisements can make consumers believe they've tried products they haven't or that don't even exist.

100 volunteers looked at print ads for a made up popcorn brand. Only some saw an ad with a vivid description of the popcorn. 1 week later, those who saw the vivid ad (but didn't eat any popcorn) were twice as likely to believe they tried this fake product. Moreover, they were as confident they had tried the popcorn as people who actually did eat popcorn after seeing the fake ads.