1 24 TH E M IN D OF TH E BU YE R
i ng. S o h e excl aime d, p a raph ra sin g th e dis
grun tl e d scrip t u ral w ri ter, “ All a dvertise rs
are lia rs ; I will no t believe a ny of th em. ” If
wi thin rec en t yea rs th e b uyin g p ublic h a s
devel op ed mo re c onfide nc e i n a dvertising i t is
beca use a dvertise rs h ave l ea rne d to m ake
sta te ments which a gree with reality an d which
wh en ac ted up on by th e b uye r, b ring satisfac
t o ry responses.
Confidence is stable but fragile. O ne p ec uliar
i ty ab out c onfi denc e i s th at aft e r i t h a s p a sse d
th ro ugh th e sta ge o f do ub t a nd h a s sec ure d
th e ri gh t to exi st by m ean s o f a l ong a gree
m en t b e tween i mp re ssion ( “ simpl e reality
fe elings” ) a n d fac t, th e n i t stands square an d
solid. We say o f a n indivi dual i n wh om w e
h ave grea t c onfidenc e, “ I w oul d t rust him wi th
my l ast doll a r. ” An d thi s solidity end ure s
a s l on g a s th e feeling of reality can at ta ch
i tsel f unim pededl y to th e obj ec t. B ut l e t o ne
slip oc c u r a n d th e struc ture i s ruine d. P ara
do x ical a s it m ay seem , c onfidence i s a t th e
sa m e ti m e ve ry stabl e a n d very f ragile. No
wh e re i s thi s dem on stra te d m o re forcibly th an
i n th e bu sin ess of b anking. Th e c onfi denc e
w hi ch p e opl e may h ol d i n a bank fo r gene ra
tio n s may b e sh a tt ere d ove r ni gh t.
Confidence, the goal of bankadvertising. The
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