[bun_at_work]

Not OP, but the truth is that everyone is highly susceptible to advertising and other methods of mental priming. It is probably true that people are susceptible at different levels, though. However, the brain and our environment interact in highly complex ways that affect our behavior a great deal, and this is what advertising is designed to target. That's why a predominant advertising strategy is to equate the product being advertised with social status, something humans have evolved to be very sensitive to (and other social organisms too).

If you're interested in this stuff, I'd recommend the following books:

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky

and

Media Literacy by W. James Potter