Comparison of noncomparative advertising, direct comparative advertising and indirect comparative advertising
| Dimensions of comparison | Noncomparative advertising | Direct comparative advertising | Indirect comparative advertising | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refers to | Ads in which “the brand’s performance along salient attributes is discussed without reference to the competition” (Miniard et al., 2006, p. 53) | “[A]dvertising that makes explicit reference to one or more named competitors” (del Barrio-García et al., 2020, p. 74) | Ads implicitly referencing a multitude of other brands (del Barrio-García et al., 2020) | Ads implicitly referencing a fictitious/anonymous brand that cannot be identified (del Barrio-García et al., 2020) | Ads implicitly referencing a specific identifiable brand without naming it |
| Illustrative examples | Apple’s “Privacy. That’s iPhone” campaign (https://d2oto3d7z6t29c.cloudfront.net/entries/transformed/d1/5f/702529_ffb09daeb1d14f7a8c8e84bad0310343.jpeg) | Verizon vs. AT&T on 3G coverage (www.youtube.com/watch?v=klFbchu1nYI) Apple’s 2002 switch campaign (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj7lLt9Ztic) | Lay’s chips: “40% less fat than regular chips” (www.lays.com/sites/lays.com/files/2022-08/1%20Lays%20Kettle%20Cooked%20Fat%20Reduced%20%281%29.png) Apple’s 2018 switch campaign (www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjyzXVDJZ-g) | Dove campaign “Doesn’t your skin deserve better care?” (www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/business/media/in-criticizing-rival-products-a-dove-campaign-is-called-unfair.html) | Burger King’s campaign comparing the Whopper burger to McDonald’s Big Mac Burger (e.g. https://socialbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/burger-ad.png) Dollar Shave Club comparing itself to Gillette (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI) |
| Comparison in the ad | None | With a specific named brand that is referenced explicitly | With all competitors (other brands) | With a fictitious/anonymous brand (brand X) | With a specific brand that is implicitly referenced (not named) |
| Goal | Highlighting merits of advertised brand in competitive void (Miniard et al., 2006) | Differentiating the advertised brand relative to a specific brand (Pechmann and Ratneshwar, 1991) | Differentiating the brand relative to all competitors or to a specific brand coincidentally activated in consumers’ minds (Miniard et al., 2006) | Differentiating the brand relative to a specific brand purposely activated in consumers’ minds | |
| Mechanism | Mentioning salient attributes, strengths and performance of advertised brand (Miniard et al., 2006) | Specifically naming a brand and favorably comparing the advertised brand to it based on all attributes or specific products/attributes (Wilkie and Farris, 1975) | Using terms like “ordinary brands”, “other brands” (Beard, 2013, 2015, 2016; Brown and Jackson, 1977; del Barrio-García and Luque-Martínez, 2003; Jackson et al., 1979) | Using terms like “brand x”, “the market leader” (Miniard et al., 2006) | Visual referencing (based on brand elements such as logos, colors, labels etc.) Verbal referencing (based on phrases or slogans associated with the other brand) |
| Advantages relative to other advertising types | Avoids accidentally advertising competitor brands Avoids accidentally associating the two brands rather than differentiating them | Clearly names a specific competitor, thus potentially increasing the effect of the ad (Beard, 2015; Pechmann and Ratneshwar, 1991) | Avoids appearing as too aggressive or unfair (Beard, 2013, 2016) Avoids potential legal issues associated with DC ads (Hançar, 2023) | Increases effectiveness of ad by evoking a specific competitor (Miniard et al., 2006) while avoiding appearing as too aggressive or unfair (Beard, 2013, 2016) and avoiding potential legal issues associated with DC ads (Hançar, 2023) | |
| Dimensions of comparison | Noncomparative advertising | Direct comparative advertising | Indirect comparative advertising | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ads in which “the brand’s performance along salient attributes is discussed without reference to the competition” ( | “[A]dvertising that makes explicit reference to one or more named competitors” ( | Ads implicitly referencing a multitude of other brands ( | Ads implicitly referencing a fictitious/anonymous brand that cannot be identified ( | ||
| Apple’s “Privacy. That’s iPhone” campaign ( | Verizon vs. AT&T on 3G coverage ( | Lay’s chips: “40% less fat than regular chips” ( | Dove campaign “Doesn’t your skin deserve better care?” ( | ||
| None | With a specific named brand that is referenced explicitly | With all competitors (other brands) | With a fictitious/anonymous brand (brand X) | ||
| Highlighting merits of advertised brand in competitive void ( | Differentiating the advertised brand relative to a specific brand ( | Differentiating the brand relative to all competitors or to a specific brand coincidentally activated in consumers’ minds ( | |||
| Mentioning salient attributes, strengths and performance of advertised brand ( | Specifically naming a brand and favorably comparing the advertised brand to it based on all attributes or specific products/attributes ( | Using terms like “ordinary brands”, “other brands” ( | Using terms like “brand x”, “the market leader” ( | ||
| Avoids accidentally advertising competitor brands | Clearly names a specific competitor, thus potentially increasing the effect of the ad ( | Avoids appearing as too aggressive or unfair ( | |||
Source(s): Authors’ own work
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