Direct and Indirect Approaches to Advertising Persuasion

While research suggests that advertisers can affect a particular belief intended to be changed (the intended belief) either directly by mentioning it or indirectly by mentioning other beliefs associated with it, the consequences of the two approaches are not deafly understood. Also, relatively little attention has been paid to visual elements that are not equivalent, but related, to verbal content. This study investigated the impact of 1) the directness of verbal claims (direct or indirect) and 2) the existence of visual cues about the intended belief (present and absent). It was found that persuasion was enhanced by visual cues that suggest the intended attribute. Results also indicated that when visual cues were absent, indirectly induced persuasion showed more stability over time than directly induced persuasion. Implications of the findings for understanding advertising effects are discussed.