The strategic use of rhetorical proofs in transformational advertising : A case study about SAS’ ‘We Are Travelers’

Abstract: Whether classifying an advertisement as informational, transformational or a mix of both comes down to the message strategy and for it to be successful it essentially needs to be persuasive. In order to persuade consumers one must turn to rhetorical theory (Phillips & McQuarrie, 2004). Surprisingly, there are few empirical studies about the use of the three persuasive proofs; ethos, pathos and logos, within advertising. Therefore, the authors believe that a better understanding of how transformational advertising can be stimulated through the strategic use of the three rhetorical proofs is worth pursuing. The empirical setting was a single case study built around the first ‘We Are Travelers’ (WAT) commercial made for SAS by the three advertising agencies: Åkestam Holst, &Co and Los & Co. In Stage 1 of the analysis the likelihood of transformational advertisement was assessed, in Stage 2 the WAT-commercial was analysed by means of a systematic content analysis and in Stage 3 eight expert interviews were conducted. The findings show that pathos dominated the advertisement, ethos was only used subtly and logos could not be seen by the audience at all. Logos, however, played a crucial element ‘behind the scenes’ and worked in synergy with ethos and pathos, which demonstrate what Aristotle (2014) calls the most efficient communication. The authors can thus conclude that the WATcommercial is classified as high transformational/low informational and the success of the WAT-commercial adds empirical evidence that indicate a commercial appealing to pathos can out-perform more rational-based campaigns (Binet & Field, 2007).