In most homes worldwide, the issue of food burning and hence spoiling a very valuable and rare commodity is a thorn in the flesh for all the concerned. Apart from resulting in unwarranted tensions, this can result in fires, which may even spread to the neighboring houses. This is why guided by the laws of physics we have learnt in class we embarked on a journey to try to solve this problem. We came up with a solution. This is Melissa’s burning food detector. This device consists of two basic parts namely a sensor to sense smoke from the burning food and a very loud alarm to alert the family members that all is not well in the kitchen as they engage in family discussions or watch their favorite programs in their sitting rooms.
This device can run off a 9-volt battery or even 120 vote house current. We aptly christened it Mellissa’s burning food detector in order to recognize our female folk especially mothers, sisters, wives, aunts and cousins who spare no pains in seeing to it that our balanced meals hit the table on time! If we had named it Joseph’s or Peter’s burning food detector, we would have grossly undermined the vital roles played by the fare sex in our daily nourishment. However, the contribution of those of male gender in kitchen matters is recognized and appreciated and it’s our hope that they will lead the pack in purchasing of this gadget.
According to experts in theories of social influence and especially the cognitive dissonance theory, people seek consistency in all facets of their lives. Therefore, people will be very sensitive to any contradictions and inconsistencies, which may arise. When there is inconsistency, dissonance will arise. Dissonance refers to guilt or doubt. Any mass mediated campaign in support of a product cannot be effective unless the target audience has been exposed sufficiently to the messages and comprehends them.
There are two very important aspects of message delivery and these are the control over message placement and control of production quality. The control over message placement will help to ensure that the intended audience is exposed sufficiently to the messages at a regular frequency in order to exceed a given threshold for effectiveness. This allows for the optimal timing as well as the message placement. Unfortunately, this control is only assured where paid messages are involved. Relying solely on public donated time can attain adequate exposure but ultimately placement of message and frequency can only be assured by paid advertisements.
When a message is consistent, it will have influence socially. People or messages, which are consistent in nature, will lead to attitude change in people hence leading to persuasion on the subject to follow the point of view of the persuasive party. Experts have noted that other people influence behavior either positively or negatively and intentionally or unintentionally. When people understand social influence and how it occurs they can be able to ignore peer pressure as well as manipulation. Conformity leads people to do certain things in order to help them remain in the group or a given social circle.
In addition, people are sometimes influenced through coercion and they end up complying with the code of behavior expected of them. For example, many people are not willing to pay taxes but because they fear being arrested, they are forced to comply. Where individuals in authority are concerned, people will be influenced to conform because these people are seen as authority. For example, teachers are an authority to be obeyed by individuals. Therefore, by understanding these theories it is possible to come up with tailor made messages intended for a given audience. For example a company making pens which do not leak their ink due to too much ink can design an advertisement message featuring kids being caned or by their teacher for having inked shirts.
This may create an impression in the minds of the kids that the pen being advertised is the only brand, which will not result in caning because of dirty uniform. With Mellissa’s burning food detector, we can feature a lady laughing at her colleague whose food has burnt and the going on to show her Mellissa’s burning food detector which she has installed in her kitchen. This can create an impression that those who have not installed Melissa’s burning detectors in their homes are behind the times and have not conformed to current trends and hence are less stylish.
In my message above, I want to introduce Melissa as a friend of women who helps them to prepare family meals. Both men and women share in these family meals. Therefore, if a meal can be delivered when it is in good condition and not burnt the better the happiness to the whole family both male and female residents. In addition, consistency is very important and that is why I have repeated the name Mellissa in my message above in order to ensure it sticks in the memories of my audience.