Caveat Emptor!

False Advertising and Memory

Melissa J. Grinley

University of Washington

Acknowledgements

– Elizabeth F. Loftus and Jacquie Pickrell

– Susan Joslyn, Ayanna Thomas, Margaret Marshall

– My wonderful research assistants: Shawn Chen, Serena Lin, Elizabeth Stewart, Nadya Zawaideh, and Lisa Page

– Donna Golshan

Previous Research

• Braun, Ellis & Loftus (2002)– Bugs Bunny at a Disney resort

Braun et al. “Met Bugs”

M = 2.7 M = 2.2Confidence:

16

7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Bugs Control

Pe

rce

nt

"Me

t B

ug

s"

Goals of Present Experiment

• Boost the false memory effect with multiple exposures to false advertising

• Learn more about quality of false memories-

How much detail is remembered?

Study Design

BUGS AD

Bugs Bunny Ad

Study Design

BUGS AD CONTROL AD

Control Ad

Study Design

BUGS AD CONTROL AD

BUGS AD STORIES CONTROL AD STORIES

Ad Stories Example

•“Remember when you were a kid and Disneyland was the happiest place on earth?….Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and Goofy greeting you at the gates.”

BUGS AD CONTROL AD

BUGS AD STORIES CONTROL AD STORIES

MET BUGS?•Yes/No Judgement•Confidence (1-8)

SPECIFIC MEMORIES

Proceduren = 101 n = 98

Specific Memories: Bugs Bunny

Did you shake his hand? Y N DK

Did you hug him? Y N DK

Was he holding a carrot? Y N DK

Did he say ‘What’s up Doc?’ Y N DK

Did you touch his tail? Y N DK

Did you touch his ears? Y N DK

Results• 101 participants in experimental group, 98 in

control group– 5 ‘Bugs Detectors’ removed from experimental

group, final count: n = 96

• Data were analyzed for:– Met Bugs (Y/N)?– Confidence met Bugs (1-8)?– Specific Memories

Percentage of Participants who Said They Met Bugs at a Disney Resort

35.9

8.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

Bugs Control

Pe

rce

nt

2 (1, N = 85) = 9.36, p = .002

Mean Confidence Ratings for Meeting Bugs at Disney

t(87) = 3.15, p = .002

1.86

3.21

1

2

3

4

5

Bugs ControlMea

n C

on

fid

ence

(1-

8)

Percentage of Participants who indicated Specific Memories of

Bugs Bunny (N = 13)

Measure Yes No DK

Shake his hand? 628 233 152

Hug him? 466 466 81

Touch his ears? 233 547 233

Touch his tail? 233 466 314

‘What’s up Doc?’233 314 466

Holding a carrot? 81 152 7710

To summarize, the viewing of false Bugs Bunny ad suggests:

•Greater likelihood of Ss saying they had met Bugs at a Disney resort

•Increased confidence that they had met

Bugs Bunny

•For some, formation of specific memories

of details of their experience

Implications

• Advertising enhances perceived validity (Law & Hawkins, 1997)

• Ads that evoke nostalgia may alter true memories or even create false ones

Subjects’ responses to the question “Do you think you remembered things

differently because of the advertising?”:

• “I don’t know if I met any characters, but reading about meeting them makes me think I did”.

• “I have more memories of my trip when I was young now, don’t know if they're real.”

• “I remember characters which I don't usually remember meeting when I went to Disneyland.”

That’s all, folks!