A laboratory study of the effect of verbal rhetoric versus repetition when consumers are not directed to process advertising

Rhetorical figures appear frequently in the headlines of magazine ads. This paper examines the effect of repetition on ads containing two types of rhetorical figures: easyto-understand rhymes and challenging puns. The findings indicate that high levels of repetition may not be necessary when ad headlines contain such rhetorical figures, even under conditions where subjects are not directed to process the ads. Moreover, in contrast to some prior work, rhymes appear to be at least as effective as puns when consumers are free to ignore ads. Overall, the research supports the idea that getting the ad message right is probably more important than simply repeating the message a greater number of times.