Measuring Soft-Sell Versus Hard-Sell Advertising Appeals

The terms "soft sell" and "hard sell" are well known to advertising scholars and practitioners. Despite wide-spread use of these terms, generally accepted definitions do not exist. Attempts to measure soft-sell and hard-sell appeals have typically been unsophisticated, relying on a single item that classifies an ad into one category or the other. This study is designed to provide a deeper understanding of the concepts "soft sell" and "hard...