Strategy and Structure in Bank Advertising: An Empirical Test

Reports on the results of an empirical test to evaluate the effectiveness of alternate forms of bank advertising, the alternative forms of which differ in terms of main message strategy and overall method of presentation (structure). Examines the relative effects of verbal only advertisements compared to those which combine both pictures and words. Specifically focuses on the differences between informational and transformational strategies. Examines alternative forms of the latter to include both male and female models, and studies several alternative measures of advertising effectiveness. Results suggest that an informational strategy is more effective for bank advertising than a transformational strategy. Advertisements which include both verbal and pictorial components were superior. No statistically significant differences were observed when male versus female models were employed.