ABSTRACT

Purpose

This exploratory inquiry examined 35 types of textual modes (stories, metaphors, puns, etc.), imagery, and claims in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) print advertising. This framework for ad content could form the foundation for further efforts with other media.

Methodology/Approach

A content analysis compared B2B advertising with that of B2C firms. It also compared B2B firms with and without B2C advertising experience. Print ads are a well-established context and thus provided a stable research platform that shares fundamental elements with digital ads. Qualitative surveys of advertising industry workers, content analysis of award winning ads, and analysis of the creators’ comments on the award winning ads expanded the research.

Findings

The results from 270 print ads showed that advertisers in general failed to employ many of the elements examined. B2B ads lagged behind B2C ads in employing some elements as well. Further, those B2B advertisers without B2C experience lagged those with B2C experience. The ads also appeared formulaic since they used a small set of elements intensively. The causes for this proved complex and ambiguous.

Research Implications

These insights can help researchers target important ad elements for research projects. Also, the framework used here may serve to aid researchers in creating frameworks for evaluating ads across other media.

Practical Implications

Ad designers should be able to take better advantage of less used tools of persuasion and create ads that are less formulaic. Advertisers may find tools here for evaluating the ads created for them.

Originality/Value/Contribution

The results should provide researchers and practitioners with a clearer view of print ad content. The results may also facilitate improved management of ad creation. The framework developed for classifying textual modes, imagery, and claims in print ads may also be adaptable to classifying content in digital and other advertising to facilitate integrated marketing communications.

中文翻译：

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探索 B to B 和 B to Print 广告中的文本模式、图像和声明

摘要

目的

这项探索性调查检查了企业对企业 (B2B) 和企业对消费者 (B2C) 印刷广告中的 35 种文本模式（故事、隐喻、双关语等）、图像和声明。这个广告内容框架可以为与其他媒体的进一步合作奠定基础。

方法论/方法

一项内容分析将 B2B 广告与 B2C 公司的广告进行了比较。它还比较了有和没有 B2C 广告经验的 B2B 公司。平面广告是一个成熟的环境，因此提供了一个稳定的研究平台，与数字广告共享基本元素。广告行业从业者的定性调查、获奖广告的内容分析、创作者对获奖广告的评价的分析扩大了研究范围。

发现

来自 270 个平面广告的结果表明，广告商总体上未能采用许多被审查的要素。B2B 广告在使用某些元素方面也落后于 B2C 广告。此外，那些没有 B2C 经验的 B2B 广告商落后于那些有 B2C 经验的广告商。这些广告也显得公式化，因为它们集中使用了一小部分元素。事实证明，造成这种情况的原因复杂而模棱两可。

研究意义

这些见解可以帮助研究人员针对研究项目定位重要的广告元素。此外，此处使用的框架可以帮助研究人员创建评估其他媒体广告的框架。

实际影响

广告设计师应该能够更好地利用较少使用的说服工具，并制作不那么公式化的广告。广告商可以在此处找到用于评估为他们制作的广告的工具。

原创性/价值/贡献

结果应为研究人员和从业人员提供更清晰的平面广告内容视图。结果还可以促进对广告创建的改进管理。为对平面广告中的文本模式、图像和声明进行分类而开发的框架也可适用于对数字和其他广告中的内容进行分类，以促进整合营销传播。