The Reason Why

Prepared by J. Scott Armstrong (details on him at jscottarmstrong.com). Please inform Scott about errors and also make suggestions (armstrong@wharton.upenn.edu) Scott has taken these slides from adprin.com, a site that he founded. That site contains interactive versions of these slides, along with linked references, videos, and webcasts, all in PPT and PPTX format that you can download.

May I Use the Xerox Machine?

Predict the percentage of people who would let someone in line ahead of them for each of the following reasons, then go to the next page for the findings: 60% (1) Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine? ______ (2) Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I am in a rush? ______ (3) Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?

Adapted from AdPrin.com

(1) Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox 94% machine? ______ (2) Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use 93% the Xerox machine because I am in a rush? ______ (3) Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies? 60%

Application to advertising:
Provide a reason, whether it is a reason for the price or a motivation for the purchase, for higher recall.

Adapted from AdPrin.com

History of the Reason Why

In 1904, the largest ad agency in the US revolutionized advertising, that up to then had focused on gaining attention. They taught workshops for copywriters on using the reason why approach. Later research showed when the reason why is so important. See the next slide.
Adapted from AdPrin.com

May I use the Xerox machine - Part 2

Predict the percentage of people who would let someone in line ahead of them for treatments #2 and #. Then click for the findings from the experiment: 24% (1) Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use the Xerox machine? ______ (2) Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I am in a rush? ______ (3) Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?

Adapted from AdPrin.com

(1) Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use the Xerox machine? 42% ______ (2) Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I am in a rush? 24% ______ (3) Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies? 24%

Application to advertising: For high-involvement products, the reason should be strong. For low-involvement decisions, subjects do not think carefully about the reason.
Adapted from AdPrin.com

Evidence
For 37 pairs of print ads in which one ad offered a relevant reason to buy the product while the other ad offered no reason, print ads with a reason why had about twice as much recall.
For example, a Polaroid camera ad claiming that the cameras tiny flatter flash helps prevent a harsh flash look, had better recall than another Polaroid ad that provided no reason.
For further evidence, see Persuasive Advertising p 64-66 and AdPrin.com
Adapted from AdPrin.com

Based on this exercise, write a small application step for yourself, and set a deadline, preferably within one week. If you are working with someone else, share your application plan and the results of your application. For example, make a list of reasons for people to use your services and use only the strong ones in your advertising.

Adapted from AdPrin.com