Reactions to creative variations of a direct response Ad

Abstract

For print advertising in general and direct marketing in particular, the role of communication style (i.e., how we say something) and organization (i.e., the sequential positioning of requests) as vehicles for effective understanding, retention of information, and persuasion, has long been assumed important. Style, perhaps even more than organization, has a strong intuitive appeal; more personal, forceful, or colorful ad messages are believed to have a greater impact on reader reactions than their counterparts. Yet, such were not the findings of this study. With few exceptions across a variety of print ad presentations, style and organization, both individually and in combination, were found to have very little effect upon how readers reacted to those ads. Results of this nature “run contrary” to what many copywriters believe and, therefore, bring into further question the assumed role that these factors play in the communication process.