ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses understanding of the psychological processes that underlie consumer responses to comparative advertising. In 1971, the Federal Trade Commission began sanctioning—and even encouraging—the use of comparative advertising. A comparative ad is more likely to elicit comparative cognitive responses, because it contains information regarding how the comparison brand compares to the advertised brand. A major criticism of direct comparative ads has been that consumers might miscomprehend them or forget them due to proactive or retroactive inhibition. The chapter focuses on the relative effectiveness of comparative ads that are in compliance with government regulations. Advertisers can use either direct or indirect comparative ads to communicate their brands’ unique selling propositions. Direct comparative ads describe the advertised brands as being superior to named comparison brands. The advertised brand has a very low market share relative to the comparison brand, because most consumers purchase the comparison brand and not the advertised brand.
