Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [203]
Members of the campaign team can use the checklists. For an independent assessment, you might use members of internal review boards at agencies (as well as review boards set up by clients) or firms that specialize in doing such audits. These could use trained raters, make comparisons against benchmark ads, and use the results to provide new and improved ads.
Use two or more people to independently use the checklist, then compare their judgments. Efforts could then be made to revise the ads so as to avoid violations and to implement additional relevant principles.
I have often used these checklists to evaluate ads. In all cases, there were ways to improve the effectiveness of the ads. To aid in the assessments, an “AdPrinAudit” Excel tool is provided on AdPrin.com.
Drawing upon research that dates back to Benjamin Franklin—and upon modern-day research that began with Schmidt (1971) and has continued since that time (e.g., Dana and Dawes 2004; Armstrong and Graefe 2010), I propose that you use the “index method” to get an overall assessment of the persuasiveness of an ad, whether for print, TV, or the Internet. To calculate the index for an ad, count the number of advertising principles that have been properly applied and subtract the number of principles that have been violated. As the Index is based upon the principles in this book, I call it the “Armstrong Index™.”
The index method is surprisingly useful for complex situations subject to uncertainty, and where there is substantial prior knowledge to draw upon—which is the case for advertising.
Principles map
I am told there are people who do not care for maps, and find it hard to believe.
R. L. Stevenson, writing about Treasure Island
The Persuasion Principles Map (Exhibit E), reproduced on the inside back cover, can help you find relevant principles. In addition, each of the References is linked to the text. Finally, you can find things by using the indexes.
Exhibit E Persuasion principles map
Strategy
1. Information
1.1 Benefits
1.2 News
1.3 Product
1.4 Price
1.5 Distribution
2. Influence
2.1 Reasons
2.2 Social proof
2.3 Scarcity
2.4 Attribution
2.5 Liking
2.6 Authority
2.7 Commitment
2.8 Reciprocation
3. Emotion
3.1 Emotional focus
3.2 Trust
3.3 Self-expression
3.4 Guilt
3.5 Fear
3.6 Provocation
4. Mere exposure
4.1 Brand name
4.2 Product placements
General tactics
5. Resistance
5.1 Distraction
5.2 Perspectives
5.3 Stories
5.4 Barriers
5.5 Brand or company emphasis
5.6 Spokespersons
5.7 Forewarning
5.8 Two-sided arguments
5.9 Indirect versus direct conclusions
5.10 Innuendos
5.11 Customer involvement
5.12 Free trials and samples
5.13 Causes
6. Acceptance
6.1 Problem/solution
6.2 Demonstration
6.3 Evidence
6.4 Data presentation
6.5 Customer endorsements
6.6 Celebrity endorsements
6.7 Expert endorsements
6.8 Comparative advertising
6.9 Negative advertising
6.10 Refutation
6.11 Puffery
6.12 Questions
6.13 Repetition
6.14 Subliminal messages
6.15 Memory devices
6.16 Word of mouth
6.17 Call for action
7. Message
7.1 Arguments
7.2 Clarity
7.3 Forceful text
7.4 Interesting text
7.5 Tone
7.6 Word selection
7.7 Wordplay
7.8 Metaphors and figures of speech
7.9 Simplicity
7.10 Informative illustrations
7.11 Informative color
7.12 Ad consistency
7.13 Disclaimers and corrective
8. Attention
8.1 Alert the target market
8.2 Campaign consistency
8.3 Campaign contrast
8.4 Slogans
8.5 Brand identifiers
8.6 Attractive visuals
8.7 Color for attention
8.8 Humor
8.9 Sex advertising
8.10 Models
8.11 Technical quality
Media-specific tactics
9. Still media
9.1 Headline
9.2 Pictures
9.3 Text
9.4 Structure