Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [121]
Subjects were asked to rate the truthfulness of 60 statements on topics such as politics, sports, and the arts. Each subject gave ratings on three occasions at two-week intervals. The average truth ratings for the repeated statements increased as much for false statements as for true ones (Hasher, Goldstein, and Toppino 1977). Similar results were obtained in two experiments in which there was a few days delay between repetitions (Bacon 1979).
Another study reported on three experiments in which repetition occurred after a one-week delay. As with five prior studies that were cited, repetition of statements involving “facts” (e.g., Bolivia borders on the Pacific Ocean) led to increased belief in their truthfulness. The increase in believability was as strong for false statements. In addition, repetition led to increased belief in opinions where it is difficult to assess truth, such as “The MX missile system is an unnecessary escalation of the arms race” (Arkes, Hackett, and Boehm 1989).
In another lab experiment, 423 subjects were shown 40 statements (e.g., “Leonardo da Vinci had two wives at the same time”). Twenty of the statements were repeated after delays of one, three, or five weeks. Repetition led to an increase in perceived truth, partly because of familiarity and partly because the statements were thought to be coming from different sources (Arkes, Boehm, and Xu 1991).
In three lab experiments, repeated statements were seen as more familiar and more valid, regardless of whether the statement was initially believed to be true, false, or neutral (Boehm 1994).
6.13.2. Consider cosmetic variations rather than exact repetition
When traveling in Spain in 2006, I was checking in for a flight. The agent had a strong accent, it was early morning, and I was a weary traveler. In checking to see whether I could obtain a better seat assignment, I was startled when the agent asked, “Do you like American cheese?” Seeing that I was perplexed, she repeated the exact same words; I gave up and said “yes.” Now, the truth is that while I do like American cheese, I could not understand why it was relevant. As it turned out, she was asking if I liked “emergency seats.” Fortunately, I also like emergency seats, but a variation in the wording would have helped me.
In the early 1900s, P&G was said to have had a long-running policy to never repeat an ad after it had been run. To ensure that it did not interfere with the consistency of the message, it made only slight changes.
Cosmetic changes involve small changes in background, illustrations, wording, testimonials, and so on, while the basic strategy remains constant. The ads retain a consistent look and feel.
Cosmetic variations can aid reception of the message. Slight variations in the repeated message help people to understand it. This is especially helpful for older customers or when the customer might not be familiar with an accent.
Cosmetic variations help to get the message ingrained in memory. Absolut Vodka did this effectively. As of the year 2000, it had produced over 600 versions of its ads, which consisted primarily of its name shown on a picture of its bottle. With the help of this campaign, Absolut increased sales by a factor of 140 times in a period of 15 years for a product that is odorless, tasteless, and colorless.
Some people believe that the alarm that people will cause the world to warm dangerously is an example of the repetition of false claims. It led to a high level of public belief in the alarm during the 1980s and up to about 2007, when it was a low-involvement issue for most people. But belief in the alarm declined when it became a high-involvement issue; because of the high costs of proposed policies, people learned more