The Effectiveness of Comparative Versus Non-Comparative Advertising

ABSTRACT U.S. service-brand marketers have a long history of going head to head using “strictly” comparative advertising. But how effective are such tactics? What are the outcomes that can occur when prominent non-professional brands directly target one another by name? Acknowledging a dearth of research on this topic, this study investigated the effectiveness of comparative advertising for a prominent service brand. Results revealed a significant interaction between age and advertisement type: Whereas younger consumers responded similarly to non-comparative and comparative treatments, the results showed that older consumers less likely would purchase or recommend the service after viewing a comparative print advertisement.