Applying Aesthetics to the Design of Promotional Material: The Theory of Requiredness in Direct Mail Advertising

Abstract

The theory of requiredness, which is similar to the information-theoretic concept of subjective (un)certainty, is applied to the problem of measuring the effectiveness of promotional material. This theory specifies that, in the case of a complex passage of prose, high levels of predictability will lead to high levels of enjoyment and recall for that passage. It is also hypothesized that enjoyable passages will be more memorable than unenjoyable passages. In order to test this theory of requiredness, a model is estimated using 109 subjects, and predictions are made to a validation sample of forty-seven. The moderately successful prediction results provide empirical support for all three hypotheses derived from this theory of aesthetics. Implications for promotional managers and scientific researchers are also discussed.