Persuasive speeches and actions in the business world have become in time the most crucial elements, we might even say existential. Whether through negotiation or through manipulation, the partners or opponents, directs their efforts to obtain material benefits and/or emotional. The contemporary world is invaded with advertisements essentialy aimed (in addition to information) to persuade the consumers to buy products or services, even those which they do not necessarily need. Therefore, in the advertisements we can observe a wide range of persuasive techniques, whether they appear on television, radio, in newspapers, on the street or online display.communication, advertising.

Natalia COGALNICEANU

English

Research Papers in Economics

Review of International Comparative Management                              Special Number 1/2011  233 
 
THE IMPACT OF PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION  
IN ADVERTISING 
 
 
Natalia COGĂLNICEANU 
Academy of Economic Science of Moldova 
 
 
 
Effective advertising is, usually always, persuasive advertising, and while not all 
advertising seeks to persuade, in a competitive situation those who best persuade are 
those most likely to gain benefits. In this paper, I seek to explain the precise ways in 
which advertising successfully persuades consumer’s throught messages, setting out the 
framework for advertisers to adopt and illustrate the theories at work. 
Useful kowledge about persuasion has been obtained over the last 100 years 
from the experience of advertising experts and from empirical studies in advertising 
and other fields including psychology, consumer behavior, law, mass communication, 
politics,  and  propaganda.  The  principles  in  persuasive  advertising  provide 
understandable and easy-to-access guidance for all types of advertising. Including still 
media such as print and Internet, and motion media such as TV, streaming video, 
Internet, and radio. They also apply to other types of persuasive communications such 
as management reports, speeches and press releases. 
The  persuasive  premise  of  an  advertisement  message  is  the  knowledge 
about the purchase behavior and the consumer mind-set. The advertising creators in 
this  regard  are  interested  to  find  out  what  processes  are  taking  place  in  the 
advertising receptors minds in order to be able to predict the purchasing behavior 
caused by these processes. The main objective is to identify the purchase behavior 
patterns of the customers and to use this information in an attempt to improve the 
structure, layout and impact of the advertising messages. 
The intention to persuade others to borrow your point of view or to hinder 
from  taking  one  belongs  to  persuasive  communication.  Although  seemingly 
simple, the processes involved in the persuasion are so complex that even having 
the basis of several decades of research in this area, these proceses are still not yet 
fully  understood. Every  day  people  are  exposed  to  many  messages,  which  are 
ABSTRACT 
  Persuasive speeches and actions in the business world have become in time 
the most crucial elements, we might even say existential. Whether through negotiation 
or  through  manipulation,  the  partners  or  opponents,  directs  their  efforts  to  obtain 
material  benefits  and/or  emotional.  The  contemporary  world  is  invaded  with 
advertisements essentialy aimed (in addition to information) to persuade the consumers 
to buy products or services, even those which they do not necessarily need. Therefore, 
in the advertisements we can observe a wide range of persuasive techniques, whether 
they appear on television, radio, in newspapers, on the street or online display.          Special Number 1/2011                         Review of International Comparative Management  234 
imposed through texts, images, colors, shapes, as well as many other processes and 
techniques that ultimately create a desirable consumer behavior for the employer. 
The probability for a message to act in a persuasive manner increases if 
these recommendations are taken into account:  
1.  increased target audience interest. 
2.  a serious reason for the target audience to pay attention to the message. 
3.  a message that the addressee would consider familiar. 
4.  the use of signs and symbols in order to increase the opportunities for 
understanding and remembering the message. 
5.  strengthen the key elements of the message. 
6.  the recomandation to the addressees to draw their own conclusions. 
Humans do not see an object by a random path, but "touche" with the eyes 
the most important elements of a text. A property of the eyes is to comprise a group 
of  letters,  their  form  and  a  predetermined  length  of  the  rows,  resulting  in 
accelerating  or  slowing  down  the  reading.  Taking  into  account  that  at  an 
advertisement  quick  glance  takes  only  1  second,  it  is  important  to  choose  the 
correct font style, size, distance between letters and lines, lenght of the lines and 
the text placement on the page. 
Following  meticulous  researches  scientists  have  determined  that  the 
trajectory of European human gaze while reading the information is: first of all the 
eye begin to rise in the upper right corner of the page, then it goes down to the 
middle of the page while reading the information consecutively from left to right 
until the end. Thus, the best is memorised the beginning and the end of the text - 
first  and  last  sentence  [1,  p.  52].  At  the  same  time,  some  principiles  were 
determined with reference to the advertisement copy perception based solely on its 
graphic. These principiles are the following [2, p. 91-92]: 
1.  Automaticly  is  rejected  the  long  text,  which  is  not  divided  into 
paragraphs, without text delimitations and subtitiles. 
2.  The text with a border around it captures more attention than the one 
without  it. The  enclosed  text  in  a  square  or  circle  (symmetric  stable 
forms)  creates  a  sense  of  confidence;  the  elliptical  shape  stimulates 
artistic searches and the text contained in a triangle, resting on one of its 
angle stimulates the movement. 
3.  The vertical block arrangements are better perceived as compared to the 
horizontal one. 
4.  In design it is best to use: 
  diagonals in order to give the impression of motion, strength and 
speed. 
  verticals to demonstrate supremacy, majesty and power. 
  horizontals  to  create  a  sense  of  serenity,  sobriety,  security  and 
respectability. 
5.  A rigorous geometric elements placement hinder the perception, a slight 
asymmetry is advisable. Review of International Comparative Management                              Special Number 1/2011  235 
6.  Each font style gives the text an emotional aspect. While choosing the font 
it  is  important  to  remember  that  it  must  correspond  to  the  advertised 
products and services. Thus, complicated fonts with rounded contours may 
increase the ease and delicacy of the product. Simple rectangular outline 
fonts are useful  for texts that advertise simple products, suggesting the 
permanence and safety. A text in capitals and italics is better highlighted 
than  a  regular  one.  The  bold  text  is  perceived  as  cumbersome,  bulky, 
suggesting product safety and is good for advertising washing machines, 
fridges,  electrical  equipment  etc.  Thin  letters  text  express  flexibility, 
sophistication and accuracy that is useful for cosmetic products, perfumery, 
juvaiere, luxurious clothing etc. 
7.  In a text block is recommended to use no more than 3 fonts. It is assumed 
that the most legible character font size is 10 – 12 p. at an interval of 1.5. 
8.  It is necessary to avoid the titles placed above the pictures or drawings as 
well as a too much distance between letters or words. 
9.  Light and opaque elements are better to be placed on the top of the page, 
and the dark and heavy ones (text blocks, usually) at the bottom of the 
page. 
10. Better are perceived black letters on a yellow background, green and red on 
a  white  one.  In  addition,  it  is  important  to  note  that  if  the  words  are 
highlighted less against the background of the page it will be more easy to 
read and perceive the text. 
11. It is beneficial to use in an advertising message that promotes a particular 
product or service verbs that call for action, especially in present tense, and 
less beneficial are those that describe static actions conducted in the past or 
future [3, p. 364]. 
12. Taking  into  account  the  above  statements,  there  are  some  successful 
models often used in advertising messages referring to semantics, which 
are briefly described below: 
a) You are not satisfied with what you have, what you are and what 
you feel. You can get much  more; you can lift one-step above 
and feel better. 
b) Product/service X helps many people, like you to obtain a certain 
result. 
c) Try, you will not lose anything, but you'll get - ... (list of benefits). 
d) Purchase our product (use our service) and you will be taken into 
consideration. 
e) Imagine the future that you deserve. Our product/service will help 
you fulfill your dream and achieve your goal. 
f) Quality  is  guaranteed.  You  can  be  confident/relaxed.  Decide 
immediately. 
Words can obviously make people react or behave in certain ways. The 
problem is: which words? Obviously some words have built-in reactions and they 
can have great power over individuals and through various means and techniques          Special Number 1/2011                         Review of International Comparative Management  236 
can be used in everyday life as well as in advertising. The most powerful word is 
the personal name, followed by "thank you" and "please" (for example, "Please 
take into consideration this offer" or "Thank you for choosing us."). Another strong 
word is "because" (This service will help you, because you will be abble to call 
even with 0 lei on account). In addition there are the words: advantage, economy, 
benefit, trust, comfort, results, value, great, worth, pleasure, security, guarantee, 
freedom, love, law, power, perfectionism, discovery, investment, happiness, money, 
safety, daily, proud, easy, demonstrate, health, income, new, truth, You, etc. [4,  
pp. 46-48]. 
Of particular importance in an advertisement message is given to the title or 
slogan.  Advertising  slogans  are  short  intelligent  phrases  used  in  advertising 
campaigns to capture targets' attention. From TV commercials, print ads and direct 
mail,  to  tradeshows  and  election  campaigns,  the  advertising  slogan  is  the  most 
effective means of forcing your audience to stop-and-think. An effective slogan can 
have a great impact on your advertising and marketing initiatives. This independent 
short  statement  grabs  immediate  attention,  it  affects  your  targets'  emotions  and 
attitudes, and it acts as an incentive to take action. 
In average titles are read 5 times more than the texts. Not mentioning the 
name of the product, service or brand in the title in around 80% of the cases the 
potential buyers will be lost. Further, it is important to note the titles and slogans 
functions [5, p. 265-266] 
1.  They should attract attention otherwise they have no effect. 
2.  The slogan must choose the reader, assuming that it must contain what 
the consumers are interest in. For example, "With Claro, of course you 
have more". 
3.  It has to induce the main idea, for example, "The future's bright - the 
future's Orange". 
4.  In addition, it must reflect the commercial idea. 
5.  Promise  tangible  benefits  while  purchasing  the  advertised 
products/services, for example, "Intel Inside". 
6.  The title must express the novelty of the product that should interest the 
consumer. 
  Here are some recommendations with regard to titles and slogans: 
1.  Titles with a length of more than 10 words are perceived worse than the 
shorter ones. 
2.  Using the slogan in quotes increases its efficiency by 28%. 
3.  Beneficial are perceived the titles that are not delimitated by intervals. 
4.  Directing the reader's attention to the product attributes and not designs. 
5.  To  be  the  extension  of  the  visual  image  of  the  advertised  product, 
service or brand. 
6.  Use the news style, offering information about new ways of using the 
products. 
Referring to the brand names here, we would like to mention a few rules for 
their successful creation. A good brand or company name provides a differentiated Review of International Comparative Management                              Special Number 1/2011  237 
market  positioning,  self-promotes,  highlights  the  uniqueness  of  the  company,  is 
emotional, certainly provides rhythm and inspire [6, p. 4-5]. So, when it comes to 
brand  names,  according  to  the  conducted  studies  by  the  American  consulting 
company Strategic Name Development it has been established that: 
 
Table 1 U.S. brand associations and connotations depending on the letter they begin 
 
The letter with which begin the U.S. brands  associations and connotations 
S  passion, sensuality 
K  safety 
C, S or B  tradition, classic 
X, Z, Q or V  innovation 
L, V, F and W  female 
X, M and Z  male 
 
Source: adapted after [7, p. 3]. 
 
If we look at the "S" shaped letter and ascertain that its association with the 
perceptions of passion and sensuality is appropriate, then we understand why such 
brands as Sara Lee or Stouffers chose these brand names, which also offers them a 
feminine connotation. Example of male brand name is Microsoft Xbox, a classic brand 
with tradition is Cingular. Why brand names beginning with the letter "K", for example 
Kraft, are associated with "safety"? Partly due to clear pronounciation of the letter that 
regardless of the accent or other conditions is pronounced practically the same. As a 
conclusion of the undertaken study it was proved that American companies want to 
look rather stable than sensual, as it was ascertained that the letter "K" appears in the 
brand name 9 times more often than in an normal English text, and the letter "S" – only 
2 times more often. 
When referring to the same research undertaken in Russia the following 
findings were seen: 
 
Table 2 Russian brand associations and connotations depending on the letter  
they begin 
 
The letter with which begin the Russian brands  associations and connotations 
K  angular, abrasive, dynamic, fast 
З  scary, small 
М  cold 
Ч, Ш, Щ, Х, С, Ф  passive, dark, slow, dark, evil 
Л, Д  happiness, well, brilliant 
A  brave, active, good, beautiful 
 
Source: adapted after [7, p. 4]. 
 
However,  these  associations  are  not  universally  valid,  because  the 
companies  that  take  these  names  have  made  great  efforts  to  create  specific 
association  with the brand they promote, so McDonald's is not associated  with 
masculinity, but with burgers and kids. However, the associations presented above 
are valid for the newly created brand names.          Special Number 1/2011                         Review of International Comparative Management  238 
Another way to create a positive association in the brand name perception 
is to include in their names digits. Using such digits as 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 for many 
consumers is the prediction of prosperity and successful shopping. The confidence 
in these digits we form in our childhood. If we remember the stories, we were told 
we  see  that  number  3  is  a  positive  combination  ("Three  Little  Pigs").  In  the 
Romanian proverbs, the  most used  digit  is 7: "Measure 7 times cut  only  one”, 
"Rain before seven, sun before eleven". If we look at Christianity here, we find the 
same positive attitude toward the digits 3, 5, 7, 9, 12. That is why the consumer’s 
majority have a positive attitude toward the product name that has integrated digits 
in their brand names [8, p. 44]. 
Creating a brand name, we should take into account not only the sonik 
perception  aspect  of  the  name,  but  its  graphics  perception,  competitive 
environment,  associations  of  significance  as  well  as  many  other  factors. Thus, 
having bad sonik significance, a brand name with a strong linguistic connotation or 
a superb design could offset this gap. Therefore, ultimately it comes down to the 
combination of all factors, each of them performing an important function. 
Of  course,  this  article  is  just  a  little  insight  into  the  theory  of  message 
persuasion, but these rules are necessary to be taken into account on all advertising 
aspects in order to create a harmony between the structure of the main text, pictures 
and  suitable  slogan.  Thus,  in  this  way,  researchers  in  social  psychology  and 
particularly in the communication field tried to describe the  most persuasive and 
complex communication model patterns as to convince the consumers efficiently. 
 
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The Impact of Persuasive Communication in Advertising

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The Impact of Persuasive Communication in Advertising

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