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Over the past century, much has been learned  about how to create persuasive advertising. Those new to this research may be interested in answers to commonly asked questions.

1. What is the purpose of the AdPrin.com site?

2. What is evidence-based advertising?

3. What do you mean by effective advertising?

4. How can knowledge best be summarized for practitioners?

5. Are advertising principles a new development?

6. How can I find out which of the advertising principles will be effective for my ad?

7. Does it help to analyze historical data to learn what advertising principles have been the most effective in the past?

8. Surely experts have a good grasp on what works, so isn’t expert opinion a good basis on which to develop principles?

9. Where does experimental research in advertising come from?

10. How do you recommend keeping up with the academic literature?

11. The site lists 185 principles. Why not boil them down to the top ten?

12. Are you sure that all of the principles are useful?

13. Do you need to use all of the relevant principles?

14. Might the principles be used to deceive customers?

15. If every advertiser uses these principles, won’t all ads look the same and wouldn’t that be boring?

16. Isn’t the key issue whether the consumers will like an ad?

17. What is the best way to learn evidence-based advertising?

18. Has advertising been getting more effective over time?

19. Does advertising really work?

20. Why should I believe that using evidence-based advertising would lead to better advertising?

21. Who supports the site?

1. What is the purpose of the AdPrin.com site?
Answer: To help improve the effectiveness of advertising. Scott Armstrong, who had been teaching advertising at the Wharton School since the early 1970’s, began to develop a website to support his academic teaching in the late 1990’s. In keeping with the philosophy of his advertising course, the site was concerned with “evidence-based advertising.” As people from outside the University of Pennsylvania also began to visit the website, he decided to make it relevant to advertisers, ad agencies, and consumers in addition to his students. The site won the MERLOT Award for the "Best Internet Site in Business Education” in 2004. The site has been improved substantially, primarily since 2008, to take its current form as AdPrin.com.

2. What is evidence-based advertising?
Answer: This term does not refer to the use of evidence in advertisements. Rather, it refers to using scientific evidence to derive actionable advertising guidelines or principles. By using knowledge based on evidence, people should be able to create more effective advertising.

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3. What do you mean by effective advertising?
Answer: For well over a century, experts have correctly stated that the purpose of advertising is to persuade. For commercial companies, then, the objective is to produce a good ROI (Return on Investment) on the expenditures for an advertising campaign.

4. How can knowledge best be summarized for practitioners?
Answer: Useful information is summarized into “principles.” These principles help the advertiser to analyze the conditions, and then to design a persuasive advertisement.

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5. Are advertising principles a new development?
Answer: David Ogilvy provided the inspiration for the use of principles. In Ogilvy on Advertising, he provided many generalizations, such as “do not put a period at the end of a headline”. He did not, however, specify conditions as with “do not put a period at the end of a headline when you want the person to read the body copy”. Extensive research has provided the evidence that has allowed us to incorporate conditions. The AdPrin.com site principles represent the first attempt to summarize the cumulative knowledge on how to make advertising effective.

6. How can I find out which of the advertising principles will be effective for my ad?
Answer: In complicated situations, the most effective way to determine which principles are effective is to use experimentation. Fortunately, there is already a strong base of experimental findings that can be used and which are summarized in the principles described on this site.

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7. Does it help to analyze historical data to learn what advertising principles have been the most effective in the past?
Answer: Only in simple situations. And, for the most part, advertising is complex. When situations are complex, it is difficult to use non-experimental data to assess which procedures are the most effective. This is because advertisers vary their approach based on the situation, and because it is difficult to determine which of the many variables are having an effect.

8. Surely experts have a good grasp on what works, so isn’t expert opinion a good basis on which to develop principles?
Answer: The primary contribution of the experts is to suggest creative ways to persuade through advertising. Advertising by Bernbach, Hopkins, Ogilvy and others was highly creative and effective. They relied not only on their judgment, but also on prior research. We have used their insights as starting points for many of the principles.

9. Where does experimental research in advertising come from?
Answer: In the early 1900s, advertising agencies sometimes published their research findings. Since the mid-1900s, with few exceptions, academics have produced virtually all of the experimental research on advertising. Academia encourages publication of such research, as well as full disclosure of the data and experimental methods.

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10. How do you recommend keeping up with the academic literature?
Answer: Useful and relevant information is difficult to find in academic literature because it is spread over many journals and many decades. In addition, the titles and abstracts are often uninformative. Once relevant papers are found, they are usually difficult to understand. We hope that researchers and others will submit useful papers that relate to advertising principles for posting on this AdPrin.com site on the page “New findings on principles.” Remember that the objective of this site is to provide all useful knowledge about persuasion through advertising.

11. The site lists 194 principles. Why not boil them down to the top ten?
Answer: The conditions for each ad (e.g., type of product, type of consumer, objectives) differ substantially. Proper treatment depends on these conditions. Medicine offers an analogy: would it be sensible to pick the top ten drugs and use those to treat all diseases?

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12. Are you sure that all of the principles are useful?
Answer: No. We hope that the principles will be revised as further studies reveal better procedures and a better understanding of the conditions under which the principles are most effective. We might even find that some principles are not very useful.

13. Do you need to use all of the relevant principles?
Answer: No. The principles operate pretty much independently of one another. That said, the more consistent with the principles an ad is, the more effective it is likely to be.

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14. Might the principles be used to deceive customers?
Answer: The principles focus on the long-term profitability of an advertisement, not short-term deception of the consumer. There is little conflict when companies formulate their objectives in terms of long-term success. It is important that customers themselves understand these principles so that they can make more informed decisions. Government regulators should also understand the principles, in order to be better equipped to develop effective policies regarding advertising practices.

15. If every advertiser uses these principles, won’t all ads look the same and wouldn’t that be boring?
Answer: The purpose of the principles is to expand the ways in which advertisers can be creative. In addition, applying the principles themselves requires much creativity. For example, if a principle suggests that the use of humor would be effective for a product, no two ad creators are likely to use exactly the same humor.

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16. Isn’t the key issue whether the consumers will like an ad?
Answer: “Liking” does not have much of a relationship to persuasion, and should not be used as an objective for advertising. Under many conditions, disruptive ads can be more successful in persuading people. That said, “liking” might be an appropriate element in the design of an ad.

17. What is the best way to learn evidence-based advertising?
Answer: Here are a number of ways to approach this, starting with the most effective:

a. Apply the principles when designing ads, and then get feedback from others as to your success.

b. Conduct AdPrin Audits of a number of ads and describe how to improve them.

c. Engage in experiential exercises (that is, try to solve a relevant advertising problem without assistance, then learn about other ways to solve the problem, and apply those techniques).

d. Explain to others how to apply various principles.

e. Do self-administered practice exams. (We plan to post such exams on the Educational materials page).

f. Read about the principles and plan applications.

g. Listen to lectures about the principles and take notes on how you can apply them. Ask questions that will help you to design applications.

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18. Has advertising been getting more effective over time?
Answer: Probably not. In fact, many experts and customers believe effectiveness has been getting worse in recent decades. Many people believe that the 1960’s produced the most effective advertising.

19. Does advertising really work?
Answer: Yes. The key issue is how to make it even more beneficial for advertisers and customers.

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20. Why should I believe that using evidence-based advertising would lead to better advertising?
Answer: Prior to 1940, it made little difference which doctor treated a patient for a disease. The diagnosis and treatment of disease depends on so many conditions that doctors, who had to rely on their experience, were unable to provide effective treatments. Thanks to the emergence of evidence-based medicine, there have been enormous improvements in the treatment of diseases such that people now live longer and healthier lives. We believe that such a transformation would contribute to advertising effectiveness as well.

21. Who supports the site?
Answer: In the early years, the site was fully funded by The Wharton School as the site was primarily for Wharton students. The Wharton School continues to support the educational materials on the site. The outreach activities have led to additional expenses, however. Since 2006, most of the funding has come from Scott Armstrong’s research budget at Wharton and from his personal funds. In addition, the Directors of AdPrin.com, Scott Armstrong and Kesten Green, have volunteered their time. Advertising on the site has produced only small amounts to date. Some of the royalties from sales of Persuasive Advertising will be used to support the site, so please consider buying a copy.

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