What Makes a Super Bowl Ad Super? Five-Act Dramatic Form Affects Consumer Super Bowl Advertising Ratings

Abstract

Grounded in dramatic theory, this study presents an expanded model of dramatic form for empirical investigation of television commercials. A two-year content analysis of 108 commercials found significant association of dramatic form with consumer favorability in Super Bowl advertising rating polls. Results demonstrated that average consumer ratings were higher for commercials that followed a five-act dramatic form and a positive association of the number of acts in commercials with consumer favorability ratings. The paper discusses the relationship of five-act plot development with advertising function as well as the theoretical implications of narrative theory and its impact on consumer response.

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