Adapted from AdPrin.com

Are Adjectives Persuasive?

Adapted from AdPrin.com 2

Experiment with food menus

Entrees at a restaurant were varied with some having more descriptive adjective, such as

____ a) Grilled Chicken or

____ b) Tender Grilled Chicken

Assume 100 units of “a” were sold. How many of “b” do you think were sold?

Click for the answer.

Evidence

• Diners rated the meals with more descriptive adjectives as better quality and better value, and they reported that they would be more likely to order them in the future (Wansink, Painter, and van Ittersum 2001)

• When asked for their preferences for paint colors, 193 subjects showed a strong preference for fancy names (e.g., Dark coffee) versus generic names (e.g., Brown) (Skorinko et al. 2006)

• For more information see AdPrin.com

127 for “b” In the 15th century, barkers around St. Paul’s Cathedral in London used “elegant language and plenty of adjectives” (Persuasive Advertising p 195)

Adapted from AdPrin.com

Based on this exercise, write a small application step for yourself, and set a deadline, preferably within one week. If you are working with someone else, share your application plan and the results of your application.

• For example, looking at recent ads for your organization, are there opportunities for adding adjectives?