Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [103]
The problem/solution approach “is less successful when people are already aware of the problem and solution. The famous early-1970s Alka-Seltzer ad— “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”—dwelled on the discomfort people feel the morning after having eaten too much, a problem familiar to most people. While the campaign was hugely popular, it was unsuccessful in selling the product; Alka-Seltzer switched ad agencies.
Do not dwell on the negatives when you state the problem to customers. They might associate those negative feelings with your product. State the problem quickly; then move to the solution. A 1985 TV ad for Alaska Airlines violated this. Almost 80 percent of the dialogue between two purchasing agents explained how other airlines cut corners by serving bland food. The positive part consisted only of, “At Alaska Airlines, we spend a little more on food, and you can taste the difference.”
A 2000–04 campaign used the problem/solution approach to reduce automobile thefts in England. The theme behind the campaign was, “It’s easy to outsmart the vehicle criminal.” It showed how vehicle thieves justify their actions: “It’s all insured anyway,” or “Why should they have all of this when I have nothing?” It portrayed thieves as marginal people who capitalize on mistakes by others. The solution involved taking preventive actions, such as hiding valuables and always locking cars, even when buying gas. The campaign was associated with a 37 percent reduction in vehicle crimes between 1999 and 2005. The savings were estimated to be almost 30 times the cost of the campaign. The campaign won an IPA Effectiveness Award (Green 2007).
Evidence on the effects of advertising a new problem or solution
This principle is based primarily on received wisdom. Our small-scale analysis of quasi-experimental data found that the problem/solution approach was only useful when the problem or solution was new to the target market, in which case it was very effective:
Print ads describing a new problem/solution approach had better recall. Our WAPB analysis found 12 pairs of print ads in which one ad described a new problem/solution, while the other ad did not. Recall for the problem/solution ads was 1.78 times better than for the other ads.
It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of the problem/solution approach by using non-experimental data, especially when we do not know if either the problem or solution was new. That said, the problem/solution format was the most persuasive of the 160 features of TV commercials that Stewart and Koslow (1988) analyzed. However, other analyses of non-experimental data have not found it to be persuasive.
6.2. Demonstration
It is 1893 and you have just developed a new product that you call an automobile. How do you advertise it? The Duryea brothers of Springfield, Massachusetts, put their money into car racing. Newspapers provided objective coverage of the cars’ performances in these races. Manufacturers used the same formula to introduce airplanes. When you have news about important features or benefits, especially those that are difficult to believe, it often helps to create public demonstrations and let the mass media tell your story. If the product is good, the mass media can tell it in a way that is more objective than if the claims come from an advertiser.
6.2.1. Demonstrate product benefits
In a 1961 TV commercial by the Haloid Corporation, a little girl came into her father’s office, took paper from him, went to a machine, and made copies. The ad ran only once because competitors suspected a hoax and went to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to report this “false advertising.” George Lois, who created the ad, then reproduced it under the eye of the Federal Trade Commission; this time he used a chimpanzee instead of a little girl. (Historical note: Haloid renamed itself as Xerox shortly after that.)
Demonstrations seem most effective when the product is new to the customer and the claim stretches believability. Demonstrations can relate to the use of the product or to its benefits. There