Analysis Of Dove's Feel-Good Campaign

Introduction

In June 2013, Dove, a personal care brand, launched a feel-good campaign that would unite 300 American military families for Father's Day. Dove's feel-good campaign included a commercial that acquainted viewers with Staff Sargent John Gallagher, one of the 300 Father's reunited with their families as part of the marketing campaign Dove's Men + Care Mission: Care.

Dove's Men + Care Mission: Care campaign is a strong example of the application of the ELM persuasion technique as it satiates the need for cognition using video marketing that beguiles sympathy (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). These types of campaigns, which extract vicarious sympathy, have become a trademark for Dove; with their uplifting messages that aim to convince consumers' of their personal power to change the world through their agreement to use Dove's brand personal care products.

Dove's Men + Care Mission: Care utilizes the Elaboration Likelihood Mode of persuasion as part of their strategy to increase profit margins. In Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility, Joseph Scudder explains the function of the Elaboration Likelihood Mode (ELM) is to persuade viewers that a message is not only relevant, but consistent with the viewers ideas. According to Scudder, the primary elements of ELM that influence persuasion are motivation and cognitive ability. Further, Petty and Cacioppo conclude there are two “routes” in the ELM; peripheral and central.

Central Route

The ELM of persuasion is comprised of two routes for attitude change: central and peripheral. The central route of persuasion is composed of higher-level processes that are responsible for decision making (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). These higher-level processes include analyz...

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...aign demonstrates implementation of the ELM by using elements of motivation and cognitive processing that demonstrate both the central and peripheral routes. Dove's Men + Care Mission: Care Campaign's seductive social message is centralized on creating an image of family and caring, and subsequently power to improve lives. Dove wants the audience to use cognitive processing to sympathize with Staff Sargent John Gallagher and his family, while simultaneously thinking about the brand shaped through a manufactured halo effect. The ELM of persuasion suggests that viewers who sympathize with an advertisers message are more likely to accept the arguments, therefore, Dove's Care campaign forces viewers to accept the message that Dove's personal care brand is about family and that purchasing their products serves families the way Staff Sargent John Gallagher serves his.