TY - JOUR T1 - The Waste in Advertising Is the Part That Works JF - Journal of Advertising Research JO - J Advert Res SP - 375 LP - 389 DO - 10.1017/S0021849904040413 VL - 44 IS - 4 AU - Tim Ambler AU - E. Ann Hollier Y1 - 2004/12/01 UR - http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/44/4/375.abstract N2 - This Study shows that ‘waste’—the perceived extravagance of an advertisement—contributes to advertising effectiveness by increasing credibility. It draws especially on the ‘Handicap Principle’ in biology: animals use wasteful characteristics to signal their exceptional biological fitness. It hypothesizes that excesses in advertising work in a similar way by signaling ‘brand fitness.’ TV advertisements were evaluated online for perceived advertising expense, message, brand familiarity, quality, reliability, and likelihood of choosing. High perceived advertising expense enhances an advertisement's persuasiveness significantly, but largely indirectly, by strengthening perceptions of brand quality. ER -