TH E I MAG INAT I ON O F T H E B UYE R^103
—im age s of eating ic e-crea m a n d simila r
dai ntie s. Th ese are much use d by a c er tain
c an dy c omp any in a dve rtising i t s ch ocol ate s.
Th ere a re oth e r im age s th a t ge ne rally b ri n g
unpl easa nt feelings— noisom e a ni mal s a n d
rep tile s. B esides such general te n dencie s
th ere are like s a n d dislike s p e culia r t o c e rtai n
indivi dual s—i diosync ra cies develop ed i n th e
c ourse of exp eri enc e. Th e sell e r sh oul d study
th em a nd us e only th ose im a ge s whic h h ave
pl easa n t a ssoci a tions.
Empathy in the sale. On e i nt e res tin g u se t o
which we oc casionally p u t m ent al im a ge s i s
i n th a t p roc ess c all e d “ empa thy. ” E mp athy
m ay b e define d a s “ th e p roces s o f h uma nizin g
obj ec ts, o f rea din g o r feeling o urselve s i n t o
th em .” We a re so c onstit ute d th a t w e a re
in cline d to plac e ou rselve s imaginal l y i nt o
si tua ti on s th a t may b e p resen te d b e fore u s.
We do thi s some tim e s ove r so simpl e a thin g
a s a st raigh t lin e. If i t sl a nt s a t a c e rtain
angl e wi th ou t a ny vi sibl e m ea n s of supp ort
it give s u s a n unc omfo rtabl e feeling. We feel
a s th ough w e we re th e line ; a nd to h ol d a n
a tti tude o f such obli quity give s u s uncomfo rt
abl e fe elings o f st rain. Th e rea de r may n ote
such feelings a s h e l o ok s a t Figure 8. Th e
lin e, a, with its overweigh t e d top, and the