Hierarchy of Effects

Hierarchy of Effects

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The idea that advertising works through an ordered sequence of effects, such as awareness, interest, desire and action.

What it is

A 2012 review traces the best-known form, the AIDA model, to writing from 1900 and 1925. A review of more than 250 journal articles and books found little support for any hierarchy among advertising effects, and found that where advertising works depends on context such as goal, category, competition and product life stage. The idea is credited to Robert J. Lavidge and Gary A. Steiner (1961).

In effect

The article on whether the AIDA model is still useful uses it to separate the claim that a message has several jobs from the claim that the jobs arrive in a fixed order.

What it does not say

It is a model of how advertising might work. The review evidence finds little support for a fixed sequence, and context such as the goal, the product category and the competition matters.

Sources

  1. Lavidge, R. J., & Steiner, G. A. (1961). A model for predictive measurements of advertising effectiveness. Journal of Marketing, 25(6), 59-62.
  2. Wijaya, B. S. (2012). The development of hierarchy of effects model in advertising. International Research Journal of Business Studies, 5(1), 73-85.
  3. Vakratsas, D., & Ambler, T. (1999). How advertising works: What do we really know? Journal of Marketing, 63(1), 26-43.
  4. Rehman, F. U., Javed, F., Nawaz, T., Ahmed, I., & Hyder, S. (2014). Some insights in the historical prospective of hierarchy of effects model: A short review. Information Management and Business Review, 6(6), 301-308.