Members in the Media
From: USA Today

Gross ads disgust consumers into action

USA Today:

If you don’t like stories that are totally gross, stop reading right now.

Did you stop reading? Of course not. And it works the same way for advertisements, marketers are discovering. That, at least, according to a five-year study to be released Tuesday by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

Again and again, the study found, advertisements that try to simply “scare” consumers into actions — such as buying protective sunscreens or avoiding dangerous drugs — are far less effective than ads that also “disgust” consumers into taking the action. The best way to elicit disgust: Display totally gross images.

Read the whole story: USA Today

More of our Members in the Media >


APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.

Please login with your APS account to comment.