Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [5]
Lynch and Horton (2009), Web Style Guide
Knowles and Linn (2004), Resistance and Persuasion
Messaris (1997), Visual Persuasion
O’Keefe (2002), Persuasion: Theory and Research
Petty and Cacioppo (1984), Attitudes and Persuasion
Pratkanis and Aronson (2000), The Age of Propaganda
Rossiter and Bellman (2005), Marketing Communications
Rossiter and Percy (1997), Advertising, Communications and Promotion Management
Stiff and Mongeau (2003), Persuasive Communication
Tellis (2004), Effective Advertising
Zimbardo and Leippe (1991), The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence
Without the numerous review papers, this book would not have been possible. For example, Grewal et al. (1997) reviewed 77 studies on comparative advertising. When such reviews were available, I relied on them rather than going to the original sources (a decision made after calculating my expected lifespan).
Social scientists often cite research that they have not read, with the result that incorrect quotations are propagated throughout research studies. For example, by examining a sample of 50 papers that cited one paper, we found that 95 percent of those did so incorrectly (Wright and Armstrong 2008). To put you at ease on this, I hereby certify that I have read all of the relevant sections of the books and articles that I cite in this book.
To help ensure that the academic papers were summarized accurately, my research assistants and I attempted to contact all of the researchers whose work is cited in this book. We sent e-mails to each author we could locate, with my summaries of their research, and asked whether I had summarized their findings faithfully and whether I had missed any relevant studies. In cases where authors did not respond, we sent a follow-up e-mail. This process lasted several years. I estimate that we reached about 80 percent of the authors. Some of the authors were deceased and we were unable to locate others. Of those we were able to contact, over 90 percent responded. In most cases, the authors agreed with the summary of their work. In many cases they offered useful corrections, added to the clarity of the summary, and suggested additional research studies.
The book also presents previously unpublished research on the effectiveness of various principles for TV advertising. Dave Walker at Ipsos ASI conducted these analyses.
Sandeep Patnaik and I conducted original research for this book to provide additional evidence on the effectiveness of various principles. These analyses were conducted on print ads that had been tested by Gallup & Robinson.
Presenting the principles
I have tried to translate the research findings into everyday language. Here is an example I encountered in one of the papers I cited for this book: “Interestingly, increases in set incidence entropy and increases in verbal incidence entropy were associated with lower miscomprehension levels (Beta = -0.2103 and -0.3669, respectively).”
I do not report statistical significance. After wading through the literature on the value of significance testing and doing my own analyses, I concluded that tests of statistical significance are detrimental to the advancement of knowledge (Armstrong 2007a, 2007b). They are also detrimental to decision-making (e.g. see Hauer 2004). In my work on this book, I found no case in which statistical significance tests played a useful role in the development of an advertising principle and many cases where they were misleading. For a review of the history and evidence on the use of tests of statistical significance, see Ziliac and McCloskey (2008).
The book is organized so that relevant principles can be located quickly via end-of-chapter checklists. In addition, the Glossary explains some of the important terms that are frequently used in this book. The references are linked to the pages on which they are discussed. There is a map of the principles and a guide to the checklists on the inside back cover. Finally, subject and name indexes are provided.
Types of evidence
Casual observation provides