This study shows that “waste”—the perceived
extravagance of an advertisement—contributes to advertising
effectiveness by increasing credibility. It draws especially on the
“Handicap Principle” in biology: animals use wasteful
characteristics to signal their exceptional biological fitness. It
hypothesizes that excesses in advertising work in a similar way by
signaling “brand fitness.” TV advertisements were evaluated
online for perceived advertising expense, message, brand familiarity,
quality, reliability, and likelihood of choosing. High perceived
advertising expense enhances an advertisement's persuasiveness
significantly, but largely indirectly, by strengthening perceptions of
brand quality.