RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Waste in Advertising Is the Part That Works
JF Journal of Advertising Research
JO J Advert Res
FD WARC
SP 375
OP 389
DO 10.1017/S0021849904040413
VO 44
IS 4
A1 Ambler, Tim
A1 Hollier, E. Ann
YR 2004
UL http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/44/4/375.abstract
AB 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.