West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1915-04-22
ADVERTISING GREAT HELP
TO LIVE BUSINESS MAN
Will Open Up Many New
Avenues for Disposal of Mer-
ehandise-How Psychology En-
tcrs Into Problem OF Selling
Through the Newspapers

The Psychology of Advertising
was the subject OF an interesting pa
per read by Mr.. G. q. Clarke. pub
Usher of the Record Perry. n. ", AT
the meeting of the Western Now York
Newspaper Publishers association al
Rochester. The paper was prepared
by Mrs. ii. II. McMasters, n member of
the Perry Record stan. Her observa-
tions on the subject will be of inter
! est To many readers of The Argus and
are given in part, below:
Advertising is not an amusement,
but "A business. Not many years ago
most merchants and manufacturers
who had finally been persuaded TO ad-
vertise. did II in a half amused way.
as II to humor the whims of the news
paper or magazine owners. and only
vaguely expecting any benefit from a
The faker was the first To use the
advertising successfully and with rich
results. The merchant and the man
ufacturer SOW this, but were suspic-
ious of II, looking upon advertising as
"A sort of circus business" and thew
were slow to accept 1t. for there was
no one to assure them OF It's efficacy.
no one to say how they should adver-
tise, no one to tell them what to say I'm
their ads, nor even show them what
Denehts would result, should there be
any.
Finally one ventured to advertise a
little. He sold some goods. not many
as a result, but IL was encouraging.
He ventured n little further and sold
more goods. He found out, also some
thing about selling goods. With some
thing akin to wonder he found that
new road had opened To him, by which
he went straight TO the thousands
where he had been slowly reaching
the hundreds; then to millions where
once he had sent his statesmen to thou
sands.
me advertising and the advertising
principles of today are not those of
yesterday. Tomorrow they will have
advanced another step The progress
has been so rapid and so varied that
1t Is impossible to keep pace with the
details, but good business men are not
going to spend their money for adver-
tising without reaping their reward i'm
dollars and cents. They no longer
look upon advertising as a speculation
but as an investment bearing a good
rate of interest. Some of the great
business houses and transportation
companies spend as much as a million
dollars each year upon their adver-
using, the amounts ranging from that
down to the small country merchant
who spends perhaps $50 to 800 The
rate which the advertiser pays de-
pends upon the character and circula-
ton of the publication he uses. He
pays $500 for one page I'm one months
issue OF Everybody's. In the Christ
mas issue OF one OF the leading New
ork papers, Gimbel Bros had an ad of
IL full pages "A complete section OF
the paper-which probably cost them
In the neighborhood OF 81 900 n page
for the one issue. This was not done
as Christmas present TO the owner
OF the paper
Within the past week a man showed
me an ad for the article he was repre-
seHting II was page ad in the Sat
urday Evening Post, which probably
has the largest circulation OF any
magazine in the country. This ap-
peared in three issues Of the magazine
and cost the firm $4,000 for each issue
From experience they knew IT was
money well invested
Yesterday, it was held that an adj
vertisement paid II II did no more than
keep the name OF the advertiser be
fore the public. Today, the advertiser
insists that II shall actually sell his
goods. II it does not, he looks for the
trouble and gets rid OF it. The trou-
bic may be only the way he presents
IL to the public. II is here that the
psychology OF advertising comes to
the rescue. II he is a grocer he may
have said in his catch line: 81 want
TO sell groceries" Well, that's his
viewpoint. not yours. or he may have
said MY groceries are good" which
may interest you or may not, but n
he says Let me cut your grocery bill
down that is talking from your view
point and you are attracted at once
From the standpoint Of the public.
the effect OF advertising has many
beneficial points in business. I'm So
| ciety and in the homo Did you ever
! stop TO think how many modern utill-
ties and convcniencos we have which
might never have been made or mar
keted had 10 not been for the printed
and pictured description and sales
manship? Some may say. 81 would
not buy an advertised article. because
have to pay for the advertising"
On the contrary, the wider distribu-
tion Of the advertised article makes 70
possible TO sell at a much narrower
margin Of profit than when only a linn
tied number are sold.
IN our everyday dealing with the
business world, advertising acts as
corrective. II helps to regulate prices.
Time was when the goods we bought
was at figure marked az the discre-
ton Of the dealer. Now, a woman
knows what she should pay aud what