RATIONAL APPEAL: THE RESEARCHERS INTERPRETATION OF HOW ADVERTISING WORKS

Abstract

The presentation of the communication message requires that an appeal be made to the target audiences. Rational advertising stems from the traditional information processing models of decision making where the consumer is believed to make logical and rational decisions; such approaches are designed to change the message receiver’s beliefs about the advertised brand and rely on their persuasive power of arguments or reasons about brand attributes.  This paper theoretically explored the concept of rational appeal and identified its dimensions/executional styles. These dimensions of rational appeal include factual, slice-of- life, demonstration and comparative advertising.