The art of persuasion: Are consumers interested in abstract or concrete features?

August 24, 2009

What types of messages are most persuasive? For example, would you be more likely to buy a TiVo if an ad described it as offering you freedom or if it explained how you could replay sports events? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says the key to an effective message is finding the fit between the consumers' goals and the level of abstraction.

"Informing people that TiVo promotes freedom of expression is an abstract, high-level benefit of the brand, whereas the replay and slow motion features represent concrete, low-level benefits," write authors Angela Y. Lee (Northwestern University), Punam Anand Keller (Dartmouth College), and Brian Sternthal (Northwestern University). "Our research indicates that whether consumers are more persuaded by abstract or concrete benefit information depends on their goals."

For example, the researchers found that when consumers aimed to fulfill aspirations and satisfy achievement goals, more abstract messages (like highlighting the TiVo's freedom aspects) stimulated favorable brand evaluations.

On the other hand, consumers who sought to fulfill their responsibilities and satisfy their security goals, concrete messages (such as the replay and slow-motion features of TiVo) were more persuasive.

People experience a heightened sense of engagement when they process information that fits with their goals, the authors explain. When the level of abstraction fits the goal, people understand messages better and are more easily persuaded.

And, it seems, this message fit can benefit people in tasks beyond choosing products. "Our research shows that not only do people become more engrossed in fit information, they are also energized by fit messages to perform better in a subsequent task (e.g., solving anagrams), even if the task is unrelated to the message."

More information: Angela Y. Lee, Punam Anand Keller, and Brian Sternthal. "Value from Regulatory Construal Fit: The Persuasive Impact of Fit between Consumer Goals and Message Concreteness." Journal of Consumer Research: February 2010 (published online July 21, 2009).

Source: University of Chicago (news : web)

• Corban - Aug 24, 2009
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  In other words, advertisers are still stuck with a moving target. This research says nothing! It would be more relevant if they could create a spectrum of products between concrete and abstract, showing what a company should focus on.
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• Dean_Cording - Aug 24, 2009
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  No, what the research shows is that companies need to provide a range of concrete and abstract messages for their product to accommodate all consumers.
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• superhuman - Aug 25, 2009
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  "Informing people that TiVo promotes freedom of expression is an abstract, high-level benefit of the brand

  
  No, it's pure BS.
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