32 TH E M I N D O F TH E BUY E R
sh all devote an en tire ch a p te r to them a t a
l a te r stage. F o r t h e p resen t w e sh all pass
th em by, m e rely no ting th e excellen t reason
why ce rtai n kind s o f obj e ct s readily a t trac t
th e a tten tion.
Thi s gives us a hin t a s to the m etho d o f
a rre sting a n d p enet rating th e m en tal stream
o f th e b uye r : Ch oose a s ti mulus s tronger
th an th e oth e r obj ec ts round about him. In
olden time s th e t own c rie r used a bel l ; th e fish
monge r, a h orn. Tod ay th e a dve rtise r uses
sh ri eking bill boa rds. Th e sal esman who de
p end s upon p ersonal con ta c t ra rely u ses in
t en si ty i n a ttra c ting th e a ttenti on o f hi s
p rosp ec tive c ustom e r ; probably b ecause of its
frequen t rudeness a nd vulga ri ty. If h e ca n
devi se som e el egan t a nd inoffen sive way,
h oweve r, of utilizing it, h e will high ly a ug
m en t hi s ch anc es o f securi ng favo rabl e a t ten
t ion.
Ex tensity. Th e sec on d fac tor i s exte n si ty,
by which w e mean size, bign ess, m a gnit ude.
Th e min d i s very susc ep tibl e t o th e i nfluenc e
o f bign ess. In its rapi d fl ow i t m ay n egl ec t
th e small obj ect s seeking sh el te r in i t s mi dst ,
a nd sh ove th em unh eedingly to one side. B ut
i t ca n h a rdly do so to th e bi g one s. An au to
ist b owlin g al ong a c ountry roa d ca n sca rcely