Joe's AdBlog: advertising strategy

Weber's Law: Just Noticeable Difference: Differential Threshold

The differential threshold
The minimal difference that can be detected between two similar stimuli is called the differential threshold, or the just noticeable difference (the j.n.d.). A nineteenth-century German scientist named Ernst Weber discovered that the j.n.d. between two stimuli was not an absolute amount, but an amount relative to the intensity of the first stimulus. Weber’s law, as it has come to be known, states that the stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different. For example, if the price of a half gallon container of premium squeezed orange juice is $5.50, most consumers will probably not notice an increase in 25 cents, and it may take an increase of 50 cents or more before a differencial in price would be noticed. However, a 50 cent increase in the price of gasoline would be noticed very quickly by consumers because it is a significant percentage of the initial cost of gasoline.

According to Weber’s law, an additional level of stimulus equivalent to the j.n.d. must be added for the majority of people to perceive a difference between the resulting stimulus and the initial stimulus. Read the articles listed below in the order that they appear for more information.

This is from the book "Consumer Behavior." It's by Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk. If you want to really know in depth information about consumer behavior, get the book.

Articles Related to Above Topic. Read in Order.

Definition of Perception. Relevance to Marketers and Advertisers

Element of Perception: Sensation: Response to Stimuli

Absolute Threshold of Sensation: Adaption to Advertising: Getting Used To Something

Sensory Adaption: Changing Advertising Campaigns To Reduce

Weber's Law: Just Noticeable Difference: Differential Threshold

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Emotional Appeals: Fear, Humor and Abrasive Advertising Appeals

Advertising Appeals
Factual appeals, or “reason why” appeals are good when you are trying to reach well educated consumers. Emotional appeals are usually more effective in convincing less educated consumers. There are different types of emotional appeals, of which the most popular include: fear, humor, and abrasive advertising appeals.

Fear is an appeal that is used fairly often by marketers. They can be a pretty effective means of persuading a consumer if the fears created aren’t to strong. Usually, mild fears work pretty well for the right products.

Humor is an emotional appeal that is used very often by marketers. About 24 percent of all TV in the U.S.A use this type of appeal. It is usually a pretty effective tool for the right products and services. What is I mean is don’t start using humor is funeral home ads or something. It usually works the best with those members of the audience who are younger, better educated, upscale, and professional.

Abrasive Advertising
Annoying and unpleasant advertisements can be very effective. Research shows that the abrasiveness of a commercial that uses this type of appeal will wear out over time and the brand name will remain in consumers’ memories. I’m not sure how ethical this type of appeal can be at times, but I guess it works in some product areas.

Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:

Use of Resonance in Advertising/Marketing Messages

Message Framing and Advertising/Marketing Message

One-sided VS Two-sided Messages

Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages

How Order Effects Marketing Messages

Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages

Emotional Appeals In Marketing Messages

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How Order Effects Advertising and Marketing Messages.

Order Effects
The order in which advertisements are presented has an effect on how those advertisements are received by the audience. If you are running a television ad campaign and the sales person convinces you that having your ad play in the middle of the commercial break, don’t take it. Unless, of course, they have some kind of discount offer available. The most effective advertisement are those that are that the beginning and those that are the ends. This is true in magazines, newspapers, TV and more. Order is also important in advertisement design. Make your important points first to capture the attention of the viewer. Then list the rest of the points in order of what you consider important. Research also indicates that having the brand name in the beginning is beneficial for recall. This depends on your specific advertisement, however. If you are doing a TV commercial and want to create suspense or surprise, then it might be better to wait for the brand name to appear.

Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:

Comparative Advertising In Marketing Messages. Effective?

Comparative advertising
Comparative advertising can be a very effective tool in your marketing strategy if used correctly. United States is one the countries in the world that allow this type of advertising to take place. Most other countries have laws against comparative advertising. I have only had this blog a short time and already I have had people from probably 50 countries around the world reading this blog. Make sure you check with your country’s government before attempting this type of advertising.
Anyways, back to comparative advertising. Comparative advertising is a technique that marketers use in advertising in which direct comparisons are made about that product and a competing product. For example if you made an MP3 Player that had more space than an IPOD (yeah, I know, like that will happen soon), the advertisement would say “50 more Gigabytes of storage than the IPOD has,” or something along those lines. (Of course, in this that example, one would worry about the honestly of the advertising company. It’s hard to make something better then what Apple puts out. Which leads to the point, make sure your comparison is honest, like all your other advertising.)

Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:

One-sided versus two-sided messages in marketing message structure

One-sided versus two-sided messages
Should you only tell your customers about the benefits of your product or service? Or should you tell them about the good points and the bad points? This depends on whether you have a friendly customer base, or an unfriendly customer base. By friendly I mean customers who already use the company’s products and customers who probably wont hear arguments against the product. Unfriendly consumers would be those who don’t currently use the company’s products (new customers to the company, for example) and those who are likely to hear claims that oppose your claims (if you happen to know for example that your competitor is running an ad campaign at the same time as you are).

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