Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [1]
To date, much of what is known about advertising has been hidden in obscure academic papers. The objective of this book is to put useful knowledge about persuasion into an understandable and easy-to-access format. Therefore, I use everyday language. For example, customers “think about a product” instead of “engage in cognitive processing of stimuli.”
Many of the principles have profound effects, some of which are counterintuitive. At points in the book, you will have the opportunity to predict the outcome of some of the studies underlying the principles. I hope you will find much evidence that contradicts your current beliefs. Such evidence will be useful to readers who heed Winston Churchill’s warning, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”
While typical practice and expert opinions are consistent with many of the principles, empirical evidence provides the most valuable support. This book draws upon thousands of research studies that reveal when the principles are most effective and how to apply them.
Understanding evidence-based principles can improve the ability of novices and experts to develop persuasive advertising. It will help advertisers appreciate the challenges that their advertising agencies face as well as contribute to good long-term relationships between sellers and buyers. As you will discover, some commonly accepted practices that appear to be persuasive could be detrimental in the long-term.
Each year advertisers spend enormous sums to market their products and services. Understanding and applying the Persuasive Advertising principles will enable them to accomplish the job of marketing more effectively and at a lower cost.
Acknowledgments
Gerry Lukeman, Chairman Emeritus, Ipsos ASI took an interest in the book starting in November 2006. Over the next three years, he guided me towards the interests of practitioners, provided access to unpublished findings from the files at Ipsos ASI, and greatly improved the organization and clarity of the writing. He was merciless when I lapsed into academic bafflegab. He added examples and provided access to people in the advertising field. His contributions had a profound influence on the book.
Dr. Sandeep Patnaik, Research Director at Gallup & Robinson, took the lead in evaluating the principles by analyzing “quasi-experimental data” on tested print ads. We were initially uncertain about the value of this project. As it turned out, this original research proved to be immensely valuable. There was a close correspondence between the results of the quasi-experimental and experimental analyses.
The book also presents previously unpublished commercial research. Dave Walker, Senior Vice President, Global Research Director for Ipsos ASI, analyzed data from tested TV commercials. He also helped in summarizing the findings from these data.
Although I never met him, I owe much to David Ogilvy. He translated his knowledge into guidelines that were easy to use. In 1994, I started with Ogilvy’s guidelines and began the development of a decision-support system for advertising. This led to the conclusion that the guidelines needed to be refined so as to provide a more complete description of the actions that advertisers can take, as well as the conditions under which these actions apply. I refer to these as principles.
I tried to trace the historical development of the persuasion principles. When I discuss historical facts prior to 1930, it is safe to assume that they came from Presbrey (1929). Historical facts from 1930 onwards are from a variety of sources. In many cases, it was difficult to trace the stories to their origins. Many historical facts came from the Internet, often from a number of alternative sources, and these are not cited specifically.