Metaphors and Body Copy in Online Advertising Effectiveness

The present study elaborates on the effect of visual and verbal metaphors in online advertising effectiveness. It suggests that the advertising copy execution (hard-sell vs. soft-sell) moderates the relationship between the metaphors used and consumers’ ad and brand evaluations. One laboratory and two real-world experiments using Google Ads provide the empirical underpinnings of the study. The findings suggest that a metaphor, in the presence of a soft-sell rather than a hard-sell copy, leads to positive attitudes and increases click-through rate (CTR), while a literal advertisement improves attitudes and CTR when it incorporates a hard-sell rather than a soft-sell copy. Pertinent managerial implications with respect to the design of effective online advertisements are underlined.