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Likeability and advertising effectiveness
The document discusses the relationship between ad likeability and overall advertising effectiveness, referencing both the infamous Mr. Whipple Charmin ads and KFC's recent ads featuring Colonel Sanders. Analysis of over 70 ads showed that despite high dislike ratings for the 'live Colonel', it did not negatively impact overall effectiveness or purchase intent. This raises questions about whether the findings are outliers or part of a general trend in advertising effectiveness.
Likeability and advertising effectiveness
- 1. Likeabilityand AdvertisingEffectiveness Thishas beenanissueof much debate overthe years. We are all familiarwiththe “Don’tsqueeze the Charminads” fromMr. Whipple fromdecadesago,one of the mosthatedads of all time.Nevertheless, we alsoknowthat these adsdidsell a lotof Charmin. The keyquestion,however,iswhetherMr Whipple wasaspecial case or outlier;orif advertisingdislikeorlikeabilityisgenerallynotafactor in assessinganad’soverall effectiveness? One case we can turn to isthe KFC ads,whichrecentlybroughtbacka “personal Colonel Sanders”into theiradvertising,afterbeingabsentforsome time.Here,ourinvestigationwill focusondatacoming froma copytest firm,AdvertisingBenchmarkorABX. Withan overall adeffectivenessratingcalledthe ABXindex andalsoratingsfor ad dislike/likeabilityandother“call-to-action”featureslinkedtothe ad, such as “purchase intent”,we lookatthe data in more detail. Here,we dividedover70ads into3 groups.Group 1 is the “live Colonel Sanders”. Group 2 is a still picture or image/symbol of the Colonel viathe KFClogo. Group 3 is whenthe Colonel iscompletely absent. Total Effective- nessABX Index Ad Dislike Ad Purchase Intent Group 1 Colonel Live 113 125 205 Group 2 Colonel Image Only 118 67 214 Group 3 Colonel Absent 113 88 193 As youcan see,the “live Colonel” hasa highlevel of dislike. However,there isnoevidence thatthis had anyimpact whatsoeveronoverall adeffectiveness; andthe “purchase intent”, afterseeingthe ad, was actuallytiltedtowardahigherscore. This,therefore,appearsverysimilartowhatwe foundyears ago withMr.Whipple. The debate needstocontinue withmore evidence. Isthislikeabilityfindingreallyanoutlieroristhis more of a general finding? Opinions?