While the quality of pictures, design, and copy are essential in an advertisement, one significant factor affects the quality of the ad: The advertising appeal enables you to attract customers. It provides evidence or causes an emotional response that causes the target customer to buy the product.
Advertising Appeal Meaning
Advertising appeal refers to how a brand draws a customer’s attention and convinces them to make a buying decision. An appeal is used as part of a company’s marketing mix. There are different types of appeals, such as personal appeal, humor appeal, fear appeal, emotional appeal, sexual appeal, and rational appeal.
But generally, they can be categorized into three:
- Emotions. An example is fear-based marketing.
- Logic
- Popularity.
In this article, we will focus on advertising appeal, which is also known as rational appeal in advertising. We will guide you on how to use it for the success of your brand.
Characteristics of a Good Marketing Appeal
A good marketing appeal should have the following characteristics:
- Believable: Consumers who view the ad should believe they will get the promised benefits.
- Distinctive. The appeal should show the consumer how the brand is unique and better than what the competition offers.
- Meaningful. The appeal should show why the product is beneficial to the target buyer.
What Are Rational Appeals?
Also known as a logic appeal, appeal to credibility, or logos appeal, rational appeal uses factual evidence to convince a customer to buy a product. It is based on the reasoning that you can attract the customer’s mind if you can’t attract the customer’s heart.
In this form of advertising, you use the product’s benefits, features, and even data to convince a customer to buy the product. A rational appeal advertising example can be seen in insurance companies, car sellers, drug companies, cleaning products, etc. This form of advertisement also works for products with technical features.
When to Use Ads Containing Rational Appeal
If the product you sell has emotional qualities, consider using ads with rational appeals, even in your social media ads. People who come across such an ad will consider it more authentic because it will be free of emotions.
The rational appeal is practical when advertising a product with essential features that draw the buyer’s attention. For instance, if you sell a self-driving Tesla car, you have no business capturing people’s emotions. By simply telling them about the car’s advanced features, it can be possible to draw their attention.
How to Use Rational Appeal In Advertising
As noted earlier, rational appeal addresses the mind and not the heart. Therefore, you will need facts, benefits, data, graphics, infographics, and statistics to make sense to your audience. Using direct and consequential images that are easy to understand can also be beneficial. On the other hand, you should avoid less common facts that may not attract an audience.
Types of Rational Advertising Appeals In Advertising With Examples
Here are ways in which you can package your rational appeal message.
Pain Solutions
People are usually very motivated when searching for a product to solve their immediate problem. Therefore, if you can package your product as a solution to their pain, you will draw their attention. Your pain solution should acknowledge their pain point and solve their problems. A rational appeal advertising example in this category is a drug product a physician recommends.
Product or service difference
How does your product stack up against the competition? Also known as competitive advantage appeal, this form of appeal makes either a direct or indirect comparison with another product. It then claims superiority in one way or the other.
Also known as comparative appeal, an excellent rational appeal example is when a detergent ads show that their product cleans better than the competition’s. Another comparative appeal example is a soft drink company showing that its products have a higher nutrient composition than the competition.
Testimonial appeal
This advertising appeal is commonly used on media like TV and radio. Instead of the product’s manufacturer showing why their product works, it involves a customer giving testimonials of how the product works for them. The person sharing the benefits also explains how product buyers can benefit.
Better price appeal
In this form of appeal, the ad’s main message is that it is available at a better price. This appeal can be used to announce a discount or a lower product cost.
Expert opinion
Involving an expert to give product views can also appeal to potential customers. A rational advertising appeal example in this category is when a dentist recommends toothpaste while giving its advantages.
Similarly, a doctor can recommend a new drug or treatment method. Another example is when an engineer gives the advantages of a new technology. When an expert recommends a product, this helps to increase its credibility. It also helps to remove consumer worries about the use of a product.
Celebrity endorsement
This is a tactic that is now commonly employed in influencer marketing. It’s not strange to see celebrities like Beyonce endorsing a product. Since people are obsessed with celebrities such as Ronaldo, their words matter and affect people’s buying decisions.
This form of advertisement works best when the product being promoted can be associated with the image or expertise of the celebrity. For example, Ronaldo advertising sports shoes or gym equipment.
Scarcity appeal
This type of rational appeal creates the impression that a product is available for a limited time. This evokes the need to hurry before the product goes out of stock. It uses words that create a sense of urgency, such as limited stock, hurry now, limited offer, etc.
A scarcity advertising appeal example is when Coca-Cola ran a campaign with names on the bottle tops. People started searching for the names of their families and friends. Since it was a limited offer, they had to buy in a rush.
Final Thoughts
Advertising is an art in itself. Depending on your product and the message you want to convey, you can use either emotional appeal, rational appeal, or other appeals. If you choose rational or logical appeals, you can use one of the above methods. We also recommend you read our guide on creating Snapchat ads for millennials.
