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56 THE THEOKr OF BUSINESS ENTEEPRISE
cost, as well aa the pecunbuy value and the mag* nitude, of this organized fabrication of popular
gioTvn into a distinct calling ; ho that the work of a skilled writer of advertiaementH cumparee nut unlavorably, in point of lucralJTeneae, with that ol the avowed writers of popular fiction.
The pejchological principles of advertiBing may be formolated somewhat as follows : A declaration of fact, made in the form and with the incidents of taste and eipreasion to which a person is accnslomed, wUl be accepted aa authentic and will be ac(«d upon if occasion arisea, in BO far aa it does not conflict with opinions already accepted. The acceptance of an opinion seems to be almost entirely a ps«aive matter. The presumption remains in favor of an opinion that has once been accepted, and an appreciable burden of proof falls on the negative. A competent formulation of opinion on a given point is the chief factor in gaining adherents to that opinion, and a reiteration of the ■tatement is the chief factor iu carrying conviction. The truth of such a formulation is a matter of secondary consequence, but a wide and patent departure from known fact generally weakens lis persuasive effect. The aim of the advertiser is to arrest attention and then present bis statement in such a manner that it is easily assimilated into the habits of thought of the person whose conviction is to be Influenced. When this is eifectunlly done a reversal of the conviction M establiflbed is a mailer ol