This advert for Diesel shows an attractive man sitting in an
armchair with an older man lying at his feet, appearing to worship the younger
man’s shoes. By combining the techniques of attractiveness, contrast and an
extreme situation, this advert is successful in trying to persuade people to
buy Diesel shoes.
Using an attractive model helps sell the Diesel brand. Joseph
(1992) found that physically attractive people in adverts were more likely than
unattractive people to have a positive impact on the products they are being
associated with. In this case, the attractive model is creating a positive
image of the shoes; giving the impression that Diesel shoes are worn by
attractive people, and you too could be attractive if you bought them.
Furthermore, using attractive models increases people’s perceptions of the
expertise the model has of the product, (Bower & Landreth, 2001). This
means we will trust that the attractive man is a credible source, giving an
impression of a quality product that we would be silly not to buy.
Attractiveness not only suggests that this is a good product, but also that the
model is an expert we can trust.
The contrast between the attractiveness of the two men also
aids the persuasive message. Tormala & Clarkson (2007) found that after
being exposed to a high credibility source, people rated a persuasive advert
with a moderate credibility source as less persuasive than people who were
initially exposed to a low credibility source. The perceptual contrast effect
is used here: pairing an attractive man with an unattractive man means each
makes the other look more extreme. With regard to the credibility argument,
this means the attractive man will appear to be even more of an expert source
of knowledge, and create an even better image of the product.
The extreme situation template is used here to create an
unrealistic image of how much other people will love your new Diesel shoes. For
example, having a man on the floor, rubbing his face on someone else’s shoes is
an exaggeration, but it gives the impression that these are THE shoes to have,
and that they will gain you respect from other people, (Goldenberg, Mazursky
& Solomon, 1999).
The main technique used here is attractiveness, but by also
using contrast and an extreme situation, Diesel are exaggerating the persuasive
message even further, which is what makes this advert so effective.
References
Bower, A., & Landreth, S. (2001). Is beauty best? Highly
versus normally attractive models in advertising. Journal of Advertising, 30, 1-12.
Goldenberg, J., Mazursky, D., & Solomon, S. (1999). The
fundamental templates of quality ads. Marketing
Science, 18 (3), 333-351.
Joseph, W. B. (1982). The credibility of physically
attractive communicators: A review. Journal
of Advertising, 11, 15-24.
Tormala, Z., & Clarkson, J. (2007). Assimilation and
contrast in persuasion: The effects of source credibility in multiple message
situations. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 33, 559-571.
Katherine Stevens
Good!
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