-type message format and six-type message content was developed. The picture message was the best message format. Product, brand and … least effective message content type. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of this study is the …

differences in literal-symbolic message content in B2B advertisements. There has been much discussion—mainly in the consumer … message content, literal messages also failed to predict advertising performance. If the ‘fact, benefit laden’ assumption … advertising, the Literalism-Symbolism scale developed here provides a reliable measure to evaluate literal and symbolic message …