Figures of rhetoric in advertising language

Article Abstract:

A rhetorical figure can be defined as an artful deviation in the form taken by a statement. Since antiquity dozens of figures have been cataloged, ranging from the familiar (rhyme, pun) to the obscure (antimetabole). Despite the frequent appearance of rhetorical figures in print advertisements, their incorporation into advertising theory and research has been minimal. This article develops a framework for classifying rhetorical figures that distinguishes between figurative and nonfigurative text, between two types of figures (schemes and tropes), and among four rhetorical operations that underlie individual figures (repetition, reversal, substitution, and destabilization). These differentiations in the framework are supported by preliminary validation data and are linked to suggested consumer responses. The article also considers the theoretical import of the proposed framework for future research on rhetorical structure in advertising. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Research, Marketing, Terminology, Rhetoric, Advertising copy

---

Selective recall and information use in consumer preferences

Article Abstract:

This study investigated the relation between consumers' memory and use of information in judging brand preferences. The authors used ads to test hypotheses about how pictorial and verbal presentations of previously encountered information and the content of subsequently encountered information affect recall and information use in shaping brand preferences. Even when subjects more easily recalled pictured attributes than verbally described attributes, this picture superiority effect did not influence memory-based preferences. In contrast, externally available information for an alternative brand influenced both recall and preferences. The overall pattern of results suggests that enhancing recallability improves the likelihood that consumers will use a piece of information to compare brands only if other information is unavailable or inadequate. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

---

Levels of subjective comprehension in advertising processing and their relations to ad perceptions, attitudes, and memory

Article Abstract:

Two fundamental orientations toward message comprehension have appeared in advertising research: the traditional objective view, which applies an accuracy criterion to conceptualize and evaluate comprehension, and the subjective view, which applies other criteria related to the individual comprehender and the actual experience of the message. This article develops a framework for four levels of subjective comprehension on the basis of an elaboration criterion. Comprehensive levels are hypothesized to differ in their relations to ad perceptions, attitudes, and memory. Results from an empirical study provide initial support for the framework, including new theoretical insights and explanatory ability beyond the objective orientation. Discussion focuses on implications for advertising theory and consumer research. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: The effects of advertisement encoding on the failure to discount information: implications for the sleeper effect
• Abstracts: The effects of advertisement encoding on the failure to discount information: implications for the sleeper effect. part 2
• Abstracts: Effects of alternative training methods on self-efficacy and performance in computer software training. Five-year follow-up study of departmental terminations as predicted by 16 preemployment psychological indicators
• Abstracts: Consumer memory for television advertising: a field study of duration, serial position, and competition effects
• Abstracts: Awareness of crime-relevant information and the Guilty Knowledge Test. Detection measures in real-life criminal guilty knowledge tests

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.