The Use of Portraits and Performance Statements of Service Providers in Marketing Communications

Previous research has found ad size, information content, and the use of color to be critical in Yellow Pages advertising. In addition, we suggest that the presence of an assurance cue and service owners’ portraits also help in enhancing ad effectiveness, and that the effectiveness of these cues varies across service types. Our findings demonstrate that the use of portraits and personal performance statements as cues of service quality are effective as compared to an ad without such cues, but the impact of each and synergistic effects on attitude toward the ad and behavioral intentions vary across service types.