In general, the more unusual the proposed course of action, the greater the necessity for providing a base of confidence. Hence, the newer the product the greater the time, energy and money which must be spent in establishing confidence by means of ad vertising. To a prospective purchaser of jewelry, the words, "Tiffany—Diamond $2,000," may establish practically all the confidence necessary for making a sale. The house of Tiffany is known to be entirely reliable; and diamonds are practically standardized as to price, particularly when guaranteed by a jeweler whose honesty and skill are unquestioned. Con fidence may be secured in two ways, thru testimonials or prestige.
5. Confidence advertiser views the field, and judges the amount of confidence that buyers must have before they will exchange their money for something that, from their point of view, may or may not be good. Sometimes indorsements are used freely at the beginning of the advertisement, forming a background of confidence. Again, indorse ments are brought to the notice at the very time that decision and action are to be impelled. Such adver tising proceeds on the basis that not until the reader is asked to part with his money will he really be able to employ confidence-getting references to the best advantage. Advertisers take advantage of this prin ciple when some impelling phrase, backed by an un questioned testimonial, is placed above the coupon that is to be filled out in ordering.
6. Confidence thru prestige.—If testimonials are..
given by the unknown or the unimportant members of a community they will have little or no effect. When the suggestion that neighbor Brown • has just installed an all-gas kitchen may secure no favorable action on the part of the prospect, the suggestion that the Reverend Dr. Smith or Mayor Grant has done so, may lead him on to do likewise at once. The power of prestige lies in its ability to excite admir ation and therefore imitation.
A good illustration of securing confidence thru prestige is found in the advertisement of Community Plate, page 83, which emphasizes a list of prominent women who are users. The fact that so many of the best known hostesses use this plate is enough to lead many purchasers of table silver to ask for the particu lar kind advertised.
The Perfection Springs Advertisement, page 85, is another illustration of confidence thru prestige.
Other factors that may be classed as means of se curing confidence by prestige are : (1) age, as `Rogers Brothers-1847"; (2) size or location of plant or buildings, illustrated in the H. W. Johns
Manville Company advertisement, which gives the location of all its factory branches, number of ployes and selling agencies; (3) the guarantee as illus trated by the Holeproof Hosiery Company; (4) plau sibility in the advertisement, which in itself invites confidence. An advertisement that rings true is not flamboyant and avoids gush of any sort.
7. Securing action thru argu ment has three phases: firstly, the statement of a part of or the whole case that it is desired to prove; secondly, the arguments more or less intimately asso ciated to prove the leading statement or proposition: thirdly, the summary which is substantially a restate ment of the proposition as given at first. In adver tising, the "offer" or the statement of what the ad vertiser will do, commonly follows.
Altho clearness and logical arrangement toward a climax are necessary in presenting arguments, the chief thing is to emphasize a supreme point by which, so to speak, a prospect is "swept off his feet." An extended argument should have some point that will turn the scale.
For example, an advertisement of an automobile designed for a reasoning man, will dwell upon its com mercial value, stability, durability and simplicity of mechanism, but will emphasize certain factor which distinguishes it from others, i.e., its speed or its economy of fuel. Any play upon the emotions such as pride, self-esteem or prestige in owning a car would be folly, and so would the recommending of joy rides or running races on impulse, for a reason ing man who is in the market for a car will understand the danger of loosened bolts, of clogged spark plugs and other disorders.
When the price of milk was raised recently in New York State, Borden's Farm Products Division issued "reason-why" copy in various New York City news papers. A diagram showed "What Becomes of Your Milk Dollar." The conclusion was that only cents were retained as profit to the distributor. There were eight paragraphs of copy dwelling on the expense of inspection, of handling the milk in a sani tary way, but the chief point thruout was service. There, was no play on the emotions, simply an appeal to the reason, a demonstration that Borden's is the kind of milk to buy because of the service that you get all along the line and that Borden's has a reason for existing because your dollar is spent for your benefit.