Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 September 29

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September 29[edit]

Arizona Republic[edit]

I'm hoping someone with access to Highbeam or some other subscription news aggregator can help me find a specific source:

  • McDermott, J. "Trump’s Brownshirts? Militia vows to 'protect' Donald Trump", Arizona Republic, 13 June 2016

I'm at a loss. Not only can I not find the source, but I can't find any evidence online that it ever existed. Can someone please find the source and confirm that it actually exists? Thanks in advance. (I am not watching this page, so please ping me if you want my attention.) --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 23:11, 28 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

WP:REX may also be helpful to you. --Jayron32 00:55, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, that's the page I was trying to find! Thank you!!! --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 04:27, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Name of psychological sales trick[edit]

Apologies if wrong subsection, but what's the name of that old sales tool where a company, for example, would put an attractive person next a car for sale? Or those adverts on TV where an attractive male shaves using a certain brand of razors? I know the basic idea is "wow if I buy this I'll get a woman like that" or "I'll be that good looking if I buy those razors!" but I can't remember the name for it. Thanks for any help! 80.6.102.227 (talk) 03:00, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

sex sells? 110.22.20.252 (talk) 03:37, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The psychological concept you are looking for is Priming. --Guy Macon (talk) 04:49, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Identification (psychology) seems a more specific fit but its unclear if any of these psychology terms are used in the public relation industry. --Kharon (talk) 05:06, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Oh. I didn't realize the OP wanted what the PR flacks call it instead of what it is actually called. For that, 110.22.20.252 gave the correct answer: sex sells. BTW, it seems likely that the primary goal of having a pretty girl standing next to a used car for sale is to induce someone who is flipping through the channels to pause for at least a short time. If so this would be akin to the concept of clickbait in web advertising. --Guy Macon (talk) 11:59, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
It seems like a blip in time, but involves a lot of spontaneous message processing (third section). InedibleHulk (talk) 12:46, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
There's classical conditioning, typically associated with drooling dogs, but also effective on man. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:45, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The OP's question is a great example of the male gaze, by the way. "Wow if I buy this car I'll become as beautiful as that woman" or "My husband will become as good-looking as that shaving model if I buy him those razors". The "attractive person next to a car" is indeed almost invariably a woman; there are lots of informal names, but our article is at Promotional model, which discusses the difference between mediated and in-person advertising. See also Sex in advertising, a redirect from "sex sells". Carbon Caryatid (talk) 12:47, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]