The Relationship:
Cognitive Dissonance and Advertising

Dr. Festinger's original theory of cognitive dissonance has an essential theme that has been picked up by the advertising community - dissonance nearly always exists after an individual makes a decision involving two or more
alternatives. (Festinger 1957)(Winsor and Hesperich, 2001) Positive characteristics of the rejected alternatives as well
as negative features of the chosen alternative give rise to this state of dissonance within the individual. A consumer would obviously be in such a position after most costly or involving product purchasing decisions (Winsor and Hesperich, 2001). Persuasion through dissonance is a moniker that reflects the way advertising can be used to affect attitudinal change as a product of dissonance.  Below are examples of pre-purchase and post purchase cognitive dissonance in the field of advertising (the most common example being the post decision dissonance example, which is the most often referred to when discussing cognitive dissonance).

Next page...before the purchase