Advertising Principles

Advertising: Mass communication or direct-to-purchaser communication that is non-personal and paid for by various firms, nonprofit organizations, and individuals identified in the advertising message who hope to inform or persuade members of a particular audience. While the general public frequently views advertising as encompassing all forms of promotional communication, most advertising practitioners limit what they call advertising to paid communications conveyed by a mass medium. The latter definition distinguishes advertising from other forms of marketing communications, such as sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.

Advertising principles are condition-action statements. That is, they specify what should be done in each type of situation. Ads that follow the principles are expected to be more persuasive.

Advertising principles can be used to: 1. Aid creativity in developing advertising campaigns 2. Evaluate ads to determine which ad is most effective 3. Show what actions can be taken to improve the ads

There are over 400 evidence-based principles that could possibly be used to develop a persuasive ad. Each principle depends on the situation:

• The principles are presented by starting with strategy issues:

-information -influence -emotions -mere exposure-

• Then tactical principles are presented, divided into those that focus on:

-reducing resistance -gaining acceptance -crafting the message -attracting attention-

• Then there are principles that are specific to media, grouped as

still media: print (e.g. magazines, newspapers, flyers, billboards) motion and sound media: TV, streaming video and radio

To learn more AbOUT persuasion through advertising as a set of evidence-based principles: visit http://www.advertisingprinciples.com

• Armstrong, J. Scott. 1, "AdPrin".