Tropes in Advertising: A Web-Based Empirical Study

Jason Stella, Bowater School of Management & Marketing [HREF1], Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC, 3125.
email: jste@deakin.edu.au

Stewart Adam [HREF2], Associate Professor in Electronic Marketing, Bowater School of Management & Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC, 3125.
email: stewart.adam@deakin.edu.au

Keywords

Tropes, rhetorical figures, advertising, marketing, World Wide Web.

Abstract

This study examines the role of one type of rhetorical figure, tropes, which are creative devices that entail the arrangement of words in paradoxical relationships. Specifically, its focus lies in investigating whether the influence simple and complex tropes have on persuasion, as reported in previous research by Toncar and Munch (2003), are generalisable beyond the sample they used. In the extant literature, it is argued that by fully understanding the effects of certain types of tropes, advertisers may better apply their persuasive messages. The study finds that, when using subjective measures as initiated by Toncar and Munch (2003), tropes have no influence on persuasion. While it is noted that further research is needed to increase the generalisability of this study, this result holds true when both simple and complex trope types are used.