Heath, Brandt, and Nairn (2006) test whether emotional content or factual content is what links advertising to favorability toward the brand.

On their CEP copy test, favorability toward brands is strongly correlated with emotional content in the advertising and is not correlated with factual content. Drawing on psychology, the authors argue that high attention weakens the emotional effect, so relationship-building advertising may work better when it is processed at lower attention.

Method

The test uses a copy-testing system the authors call the CEP test. It relates favorability toward the brand to the emotional content and the factual content of the advertising.

Main findings

  • Emotion tracks favorability. Favorability toward brands is strongly correlated with emotional content in advertising.
  • Facts do not. Favorability is not correlated with factual content.
  • The attention claim is an implication. The authors argue from psychology that high attention weakens the effect of emotional content, so advertising meant to build the relationship might be more effective if processed with less attention.

Why this is in the Darwin index

This is the relationship paper beside Akpinar and Berger (2017), which also separates emotion from information. Heath, Brandt, and Nairn tie favorability to feeling rather than to facts, and they treat high attention as a possible cost to that route.

Source of record: doi:10.2501/S002184990606048X.