Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [20]
Strategy
Advertising says to people, ‘Here’s what we’ve got. Here’s what it will do for you. Here’s how to get it.
Leo Burnett, 1940s
The “Strategy” section is organized into four areas:
Information is widely used in advertising. Consider an ad for a car: “This car has 8 cylinders and goes 200 miles per hour.”
Influence presents information in a way that motivates customers. For example, an ad using a scarcity principle might read: “This car is a limited edition—only 300 will be made.”
Emotion comes into play in the process of convincing customers who already have sufficient product information to make a purchase. “Feel the thrill of speed in this sports roadster.”
Mere exposure is applicable when an ad provides no information or emotion—only the product, brand name, or logo. “This concert was sponsored by Honda.”
These basic strategies are not mutually exclusive. All four might be incorporated into a campaign.
1. Information
Advertise: “To inform another; to give intelligence.”
Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755
Most ads include two or more pieces of information and only 16 percent include none. These findings were based on evidence from 60 published empirical studies conducted over 19 years across countries, products, and media (Abernethy and Franke 1996):
Number of pieces of information in ads in all media
Percentage of ads
None
16
One or more
84
Two or more
58
Three or more
33
The information in advertisements mostly relates to the product itself, especially its performance and features. Information on price and how to get the product are also commonly provided (Abernethy and Franke 1996):
Type of information
% of ads
Product
Performance
43
Components
33
Quality
19
Warranties
6
Package
6
Taste
4
Safety
3
Nutrition
3
Price
Price
25
Special offers
13
Distribution
Availability
37
Research
Independent
2
Company
2
Customers should be provided with relevant information. In a survey of subscribers to the Harvard Business Review, 87 percent of the respondents agreed that “advertising should include adequate information for ‘logical’ buying decisions, whether or not the consumers choose to use it” (Greyser and Diamond 1974).
Most customers appreciate ads that provide information and are irritated by those that do not, according to a survey of 400 shoppers (Pasadeos 1990).
TV commercials that scored above the median ratings of “informativeness” had 15 percent better recall and 25 percent higher persuasion rates than those that scored below the median (Walker 2008).
Customers are more likely to be persuaded when they have all relevant information. A meta-analysis on the completeness of arguments found 29 comparative experiments: Complete arguments were more persuasive in 79 percent of them (O’Keefe 1998).
The information principles are organized under the following five headings:
1.1. Benefits
1.2. News
1.3. Product
1.4. Price
1.5. Distribution
1.1. Benefits
People don’t buy products, they buy an expectation of benefits.
Old adage
Customers are most likely to buy when the benefits of doing so are clear. Such benefits come in many shapes and forms, both rational and emotional. Consider this ad for a fictitious product: “Gain the following benefits—exercise, enjoyment of the outdoors, improvement in your environment, savings, safety, and the approval of your neighbors. I speak, of course, of the Armstrong Manual Lawn Mower.”
The principles on benefits have a long history, as Antin (1993) illustrated using this example:
In 1914, when Pyrone advertised its fire extinguisher, they went beyond the brass and nickel-plated casing, beyond the easy-pump action. They did not propose that people buy the extinguisher for its physical or mechanical features. They said that Pyrone saved lives. The benefits were peace of mind, and safety for their families.
In the mid-1990s, the Wall Street Journal ran an ad that was typical of computer ads at that time: “Take our operating