Visual hyperbole is a widely used, yet understudied rhetorical figure in advertising. This experimental study examined the effects of visual hyperbole and hyperbolic headline on ad attitude with two separate mediation analyses. The first mediation analysis included ads with plain visuals and ads with visual hyperboles without verbal information. The results suggest that ads with visual hyperboles are perceived more humorous than straightforward visuals, and perceived humor mediates the effect of visual hyperbole on ad attitude. The second mediation analysis found that hyperbolic visuals with a hyperbolic headline are perceived to be more deceptive than hyperbolic visuals without a headline, and perceived deception mediates headline on ad attitude. The two mediation analyses suggest that the optimal effect is achieved when a hyperbole is communicated through visual only. In addition, ad skepticism was not correlated with perceived deception, suggesting the advantage of visual when communicating something literally untrue.
Sunday March 25, 2018 10:15am - 11:45am EDT
Financial I
