Advertising: Persuasive Principles Exam Study Sheet

A comprehensive collection of practice flashcards covering vocabulary and core concepts from the MKTG3121 Advertising course, spanning weeks 1 through 12, including persuasive modes, attitude models, the ELM, creative templates, and media strategy frameworks.

Persuasive Advertising

Advertising that seeks to influence what people think, feel, and ultimately do, mapping to cognitive, affective, and conative attitude components.

Argumentation (Persuasion Mode)

A mode of persuasion where a clear claim and visual or factual proof lead the audience to reason to a conclusion, such as a crashed Volvo proving safety engineering.

Huerstic Cues

shortcut signals that bypass deep thinking

Emotional appeals

influence via feelings

central/peripheral routes

how the audience processes the message

Social norms

shifts what people see as normal/acceptable ex dove diverse women as the norm → a broader, more inclusive view of beauty

Tri-component Attitude Model

The A-B-C of attitudes consisting of the Affective component (feelings/emotions), Behavioural/conative component (action/response), and Cognitive component (beliefs/thoughts/knowledge).

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A model describing how people process messages through either the Central route (high motivation and ability, careful thinking) or the Peripheral route (low motivation and ability, quick cues).

Central Route

The processing route used when viewers are persuaded by strong evidence, data, reasoning, and detailed attributes, such as L'Oréal's "This is an ad for men" which led to a $+15\%$ revenue increase.

Peripheral Route

The processing route used when viewers are persuaded by shortcuts like source attractiveness, celebrity, music, jingles, or emotion, scarity cues such as humour in Heinz ads.

Maslow-style needs

• Self Actualization

• Self-Esteem

• Love and Belonging

• Safety and Security

• Physiological Needs

Bain's Elements of Value

• Social-impact elements

• Life-changing element

• emotional elements

• functional elements

Explicit

arguement is spelled out

Implicit

viewer infers it

Deductive

general promise → conclusion

Inductive

example→ general claim

Internal / Cognitive Heuristics

Affect: If it makes me feel good, it must be a good choice

Scaritiy: If its rare or limited it must be valuable

Framing: That sounds good vs that sounds risky

Price-Quality: Higher prices means better quality

Familiarity: If I recogonise it, it must be safe or food

Represeentativeness: This look like X, so it must be like X

External / Social Heuristics (Cialdini)

Scarcity: If its’s rare or limited, it must be valubale

Consistency: I’ve done this before, so I should keep it doing it

Authority: If an expert reccomends it, I can trust it

Reciprocity: They gave me something I should give back

Social proof: I others are buying it

Liking: If I like the person/brand, I’ll trust & buy

Creative Brief Logic

A four-step seed for advertising strategy: Objective → Promise → Support (why) → Campaign idea.

Creative Brief: POW-IB-BP

1. Problem or opportunity? What barrier do we remove or bond do we strengthen?

2. Communication objectives? What should the audience think / feel / do? Anchor to the journey (Awareness → Consideration → Trial/Adoption → Repeat/Maintenance → Advocacy). Make them measurable.

3. Who are we talking to? A rich portrait of the target — attitudes, beliefs, motivations, pain points, behaviours (a picture, not numbers).

4. Human insight we can leverage? A human truth holding a tension that the benefit can resolve.

5. Single benefit we will emphasise? Choose ONE: functional, experiential, or symbolic.

6. Single-minded proposition (SMP)? The one promise the audience takes away — answers the insight tension.

7. Why should consumers believe the promise? Reasons to believe (RTB) — ladder to a supporting attribute or benefit; must be credible.

8. Brand personality? Human characteristics → direct the tone of voice.

Single-minded Proposition (SMP)

The one promise an audience takes away from an ad that answers the tension found in the human insight.

Reasons to Believe (RTB)

The supporting attributes or benefits that make an advertising promise credible to the consumer.

Unification (Creative Template)

A template where an available element of the medium is used to deliver the message.

Activation (Creative Template)

A template where the viewer is used as a resource to reveal the message.

Metaphor (Creative Template)

A template that exploits existing symbols or cognitive frameworks in the viewer's mind, such as depicting a tea bag as a pillow.

Subtraction (Creative Template)

A template where elements of the medium usually considered indispensable are excluded.

Inversion (Creative Template)

A template showing how horrible the world would be without the product.

Extreme Consequences

An extreme/negative situation that happens as a consequence of using the product

Extreme Efffort

Exaggerated effort a company (or consumer) will go to

Extreme Worth

Takes one attribute/benefit and exaggerates its worth

Absurd Alternative

An outlandish, impractical alternative to the product

Copywriter's Toolkit (H-B-S-C-C-S-S-C)

Headline: Opening phrase/sentence; large or prominent; catches attention

Body copy: Main text; explains the idea or selling point

Subhead: Begins new sections in long copy; leads on from headline; often stresses benefits

Call-out: Floats around the visual (often with a line/arrow) to highlight an element

Caption: Explains what you're looking at in a photo/illustration

Strapline: Short phrase that sums up the idea of the ad

Slogan: Distinctive catch-phrase / motto for a campaign, brand or company

Call to action (CTA): Line at the end encouraging the reader to respond

What do you judge an ad on

Appropriateness and orignality

Appropriateness

Problem/Opportunity: is the purpose clear; does it reinforce/change an attitude to drive the behaviour?

• Objectives: clear, recognisable goal?

• Target audience: clear who it talks to; will they connect?

• Insight: motivating insight with a tension the benefit resolves?

• Benefit: clear attribute/benefit; right category of benefit?

• Proposition: single-minded and clear?

• Reasons to believe: credible, linked to the proposition?

• Personality: matches consumers' understanding of the brand's tone?

• Route / heuristics / appeal: do the persuasion route and cues match the message and audience?

Originality (the Big Idea)

Built from a strong creative idea?

• Strategic link to the brand promise & positioning?

• Campaign-able? (many executions can flow from the one big idea)

• Are some executions stronger than others — how/why?

• Is the advertising clichéd?

Media Channel

The broad category or type of media, such as Print, Television, Radio, or Social Media.

Media Vehicle

The specific platform within a channel, such as the magazine "Delicious" or the TV program "MasterChef Australia."

Media Environment

The specific context or content where an ad sits, which shapes credibility, attention, and contextual relevance.

Why Environment Matters

the environment shapes credibility, attention and how the message is processed. A vehicle works best when

• the audience already has an interest in the category

• the product fits naturally into the content

• the ad doesn’t feel intrusive;

• the vehicle supports credibility and aspiration

Cusotmer Journey Mapping

The 5 stages of the customer journey: Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, Post-purchase, and Advocacy.

PEAE Method

Point (name theory), Explain (define theory), Apply (point to ad element), and Evaluate(limitations & strengths).