ided every page into four parts and printed
one syllable on the middle of each fourth of a page. The results
showed that of the remembered syllables 28 per cent stood on the
left-hand upper fourth, 33 per cent on the right-hand upper fourth, 16
per cent left-hand lower, and 23 per cent right-hand lower. A
fourth-page advertisement which is printed on the outer side of the
upper half of the page thus probably has more than twice the
psychological value of one which is printed on the inner side of the
lower half. The economic world spends millions every year for
advertisements on the upper right-hand side and millions for
advertisements on the lower left-hand side, and is not aware that one
represents twice the value of the other. These little illustrations
of advertisement experiments may suffice to indicate how much
haphazard methods are still prevalent in the whole field of economic
psychotechnics, methods which would not be tolerated in the sphere of
physical and chemical technology.

XXI

THE EFFECT OF DISPLAY

If we turn from the simple newspaper advertisement to the means of
propaganda in general, we at once stand before a question which is
often wrongly answered. The practical handbooks of advertisements and
means of display treat it as a self-evident fact that every
presentation should be as beautiful as possible. In the first place,
we cannot deny that the ugly and even the disgusting possess a strong
power for attracting attention. Yet it is true that by a transposition
of feelings the displeasure in the advertisement may easily become a
displeasure in the advertised object. But, on the other hand, it is
surely a mistake to believe that pure beauty best fulfills the
function of the advertisement. Even the draftsman who draws a poster
ought to give up the ambition to create a perfect picture. It might
have the power to attract attention, but it would hardly serve its
true purpose of fixing the attention on the article which is
advertised by the picture. The very meaning of beauty lies in its
self-completeness. The beautiful picture rests in itself and does not
point beyond itself. A really beautiful landscape painting is an end
in itself, and must not stir up the practical wish to visit the
landscape which has stimulated the eye of the painter. If the display
is to serve economic interests, every line and every curve, every form
and every color, must be subordinated to the task of leading to a
pract