1.2 PSYCHOLOGY 7 Active listening involves absorbing the information someone shares with you and reflecting back through questions and body language that you heard them. Behavioural sciences are disciplines dealing with the subject of human actions and include the fields of sociology, anthropology, psychology, and the behavioural aspects of other sciences. What other factors can you think of? ONLINE RESOURCES Subliminal communication to attain: raggiungere to entail: comportare to exploit: sfruttare firm: azienda to fulfil: realizzare insight: conoscenza, comprensione motif: motivo, tema peer: pari predictable: prevedibile 26 PSYCHOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION Effective communication The psychological dimension represents a strong support for communication because it helps us understand how people communicate with each other, and what the different ways of communicating and interpreting communication are; moreover, it can also support us in developing better communication methods. A psychological approach makes communication more successful through active listening and clarity; it helps us understand the how and why behind messages. It s about recognising the hidden thoughts, emotions, and motivations that play a significant role in how information is received and interpreted. Companies and people We have already seen that whatever piece of information we leave behind is extremely important for businesses: it gives them an insight on who we are, what we need, and what we want, so that they can respond to our demand and target us with their products. Once data has been collected about us so that companies know where we stand, it is absolutely crucial for them to learn how to relate with us in the best possible way so as to optimise their strategy and win us over. Psychology is what helps them achieve precisely that; it answers the question: how can they effectively communicate with us so as to fulfil our desires and at the same time attain their objectives and maximise their profits? COMMUNICATION AND PSYCHOLOGY Marketing and psychology To effectively build connections with us the consumers , it is necessary to understand our behaviour and the motivations behind our purchasing decisions. That is why marketing managers have turned to behavioural sciences , in particular social psychology, to understand the complexities of our choices. An individual s preferences are influenced by many factors, including age, education, socio-economic status, peers and geographical location; by taking these factors and many others into consideration, advertisers are then able to create messages that can influence our behaviour as target consumers favourably. Key motifs Communication is very personal and subject to individual choices, but especially when it is aimed at large groups of people, there are some key motifs that obtain predictable responses. Marketers are very well aware of this, so they exploit them to their advantage to obtain the reaction they aim for. We are going to explore some of these motifs over the next pages.