Abstract
Effect of metaphor types on children's of print advertisements
Im, Hyun bin/ Major in Advertising & Public Relations Graduate School of Mass Communications Chung-Ang University
Lee, Sang Bin, Ph. D./ Professor of Psychology Chonbuk National University
Lyi, DeRyong, Ph. D./ Professor of Advertising and Public Relations Chung-Ang University
This study supposes that metaphors are to be classified into verbal and pictorial metaphors. The purpose of this study is to find the different effects of metaphor types which are exclusively verbal metaphor form, exclusively pictorial metaphor form, and verbal and pictorial mixed metaphor form in print advertisements.
The study had a 2×4 design. All factors were between subjects: print advertisement (non-metaphor form vs. exclusively verbal metaphor form vs. exclusively pictorial metaphor form vs. verbal and pictorial mixed metaphor form), grade (third, sixth). Questionnaires were designed to evaluate recall of brand name and advertised content, attitude of advertisement and product, purchase intention, and comprehension level of metaphors in print advertisements. A total of 313 children participated in the study: 158 third and 155 sixth graders. The stimulus product was a colored pencil and the metaphor was a rainbow.
Findings of the study were as follows:
First, the sixth graders interpreted more metaphors correctly than the third graders and they also better recalled the advertised content and brand name than the third graders.
Second, metaphors seemed to enhance children's recall of advertised brand name and their comprehension of advertisements. The comprehension of children who saw verbal and pictorial mixed metaphors was better than any other groups, even though the result was not significant.
Third, within each grade level, metaphors enhanced children's recall of advertised content significantly.