The Waste in Advertising Is the Part That Works

This Study shows that 'waste'—the perceived extravagance of an advertisement—contributes to advertising effectiveness by increasing credibility.

The Waste in Advertising Is the Part That Works

Tim AmblerLondon Business School

E. Ann HollierCogent Consortium

We are grateful to DiscoverWhy for their assistance with this project and to Hernan Bruno for research assistance.

INTRODUCTION

According to the Marketing Leadership Council (2001), blue chip marketer respondents estimate that, on average, 26 percent of marketing budgets are wasted. This may be an improvement on the conventional wisdom that half of all advertising dollars are misspent, but the implication remains that waste should be minimized.

This article explores a contrary view, namely that waste contributes to advertising effectiveness by...

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