An article written by our Dr Molly Pan and Prof. Dennis Tay titled, "The effectiveness of metaphors in Chinese video advertisements for depression: An experimental study", has been recognised as a Editors' Choice article in Lingua, a Science Direct journal of Elsevier.
This research paper delves into the uncharted territory of the impact of metaphors in video advertisements for depression-related products. The study explores how metaphors can shape viewers' perceptions, cognitive and affective elaboration, attitudes towards the advertisement, and even their purchase intentions. The research methodology involved an experimental survey with 299 participants and semi-structured interviews with 29 individuals.
The findings reveal that needs-highlighting metaphors outperformed other conditions in terms of cognitive elaboration, affective elaboration, attitudes towards the ad, and purchase intentions, irrespective of the product types. For experience products, features-highlighting metaphors proved to be the most effective, while for search products, they generated the lowest scores.
The interviews showed that metaphors activated mental images, elicited a range of emotions, and significantly influenced the persuasive power of advertisements. However, it's crucial to note that reinforced negative appeals may lead to negative perceptions.
The article is available HERE (free download till end December 2023).
