Metaphors have physiological effects
May 7th, 2009 by Ingrid Cliff
Words have power. They are a copywriters bread and butter – so we know that the words we choose for our clients can make or break their campaigns. But – many people may not realise that the everyday metaphors we use create actual physiological responses in people.
A study at the University of Toronto in Canada reported in New Scientist asked 30 people to think about a time when they had been socially excluded from a group and the same number to think about a time when they were socially included. The 60 people were then asked to estimate the temperature of the room. The group who had recently thought about the social exclusion estimated the room to be 3 degrees colder on average, while the inclusive group correctly estimated the temperature.
This means there is physiological truth in the metaphor to be given “the cold shoulder” or being “frozen out”. It makes you think about the other metaphors we use – “pain in the neck”, “weight of the world on his shoulders” and so on.
Perhaps copywriters need to issue health cautions along with their metaphors.
Until next time
Ingrid Cliff
We put your business into words
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 8:03 am and is filed under Marketing writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
hello!
I really felt like cold when in depression. that’s why it seems to me that the connection may be as well contrariwise – physical conditions may give ideas for metaphors.
thank you for the information.