Similarity as a presenter characteristic in advertising: An empirical study of the VisCAP Model of presenter selection

An important creative decision for advertisers is whether to include a presenter in their advertising, and if so how they will select a suitable presenter. The VisCAP Model of presenter selection was proposed by Percy and Rossiter (1980) to assist advertisers when selecting appropriate presenters in their advertising, with the aim of enhancing branding and persuasion. The four main presenter characteristics of the VisCAP Model of presenter selection form an acronym for VisCAP. Thus, `Vis' refers to visibility and 'CAP' refers to Credibility, Attraction and Power. The presenter characteristic of credibility is further divided into expertise and objectivity, while attraction is divided into likability and similarity. The presenter characteristic of similarity refers to the similarity of the presenter in the advertisement to the target user of the advertised product. The Rossiter-Percy Grid is an advertising planning model which forms the theoretical foundation of the VisCAP Model and takes into account many different types of advertising situations. Components of the two models were tested on working women using a hypothetical personal superannuation service product.

This research examines the presenter characteristic of similarity, a component of one of the four main presenter characteristics of the VisCAP Model. Three hypotheses were tested in the research, two of which empirically tested the VisCAP Model, and one hypothesis which tested the Rossiter-Percy Grid.