Radio advertising that delivers
measurable results and profitable new customers

« Previous | Main | Next »

February 25, 2008

Something Every Direct Response Radio Marketer Should Read

"In what they term the Blissful Ignorance Effect, researchers at the university's Tippie College of Business found that people who have only a little information about a product are happier with that product than people who have more information."

We've stated many times that one of the keys to creating a successful direct response radio ad is to not try to do too much in the ad. After all, you have just sixty seconds. Further, what you do put in the ad is important. Often we find that clients are focused on the features of their product or service, and want those included in the ad. This happens to the exclusion of the benefits.

But why - why is less information better, and why are benefits better than features? To some of us who've heard this for a long time, the answer might seem self-evident. But here, too, humility is a good thing.

Guy Kawasaki points us to research that might explain why ads jam-packed with features don't work.

For human behavior geeks like us, there is a lot in this article to get excited about. It's fun to see how silly we behave so much of the time, actually going around mindlessly engaging in self-deception to bring about more happiness.

"We found that once people commit to buying or consuming something, there's a kind of wishful thinking that happens and they want to like what they've bought," said assistant professor of marketing Dhananjay Nayakankuppam. "The less you know about a product, the easier it is to engage in wishful thinking. But the more information you have, the harder it is to kid yourself. This can be contrasted with what happens before taking any action when people are trying to be accurate and would prefer getting more information to less."

Now, let's tie this back to your radio ads. The most illuminating line in this article is this:

"The less you know about a product, the easier it is to engage in wishful thinking. But the more information you have, the harder it is to kid yourself."

This tells you that when it comes to creating radio ads, it's better not to get too detailed because your customers will fill in the blanks. The challenge, then, of creating successful radio ads lies in how you craft your ad to lead prospects to the perception of your product you want - and better for you if it's an accurate one. You get the best results if you provide just enough information so they can fill in the more subtle blanks the way they hope they are. Do that, and they'll pick up the phone and call (or go to your web site) with a disposition to try or buy. Too much detail will backfire, though, because you're providing the information in a way that YOU think everyone will (should) want it.

Posted by Jeff Small & Brett Astor at 02:52 PM | Permalink