Effects of ethnic advertising on consumers of minority and majority groups: the moderating effect of humor

The effects of portrayals of ethnic endorsers in advertising are ambiguous. These portrayals strengthen the ethnic identity of ethnic minority groups, thus leading to positive responses toward the ad. They can lead to negative responses, because these portrayals can be perceived as stereotyped. Humor is a tool that can increase positive effects of identity-building and reduce negative effects of stereotyping. In this study, we investigate how humor moderates the effects of ethnic advertising on consumers from ethnic minority and majority groups. We find that humor supports the effects of traditional portrayals for both groups. Moreover, the effect of traditional portrayals combined with humor is strongest for the minority group. These findings provide evidence for the positive effects of humor in ethnic advertising and thus provide new insights to the stereotyping, ethnic advertising, and humor literature. The findings have practical implications for advertising using ethnic endorsers, humor, or targeted at ethnic minority groups.     

Using self-referencing to explain the effectiveness of ethnic minority models in advertising

Advertising research has generally not gone beyond offering support for a positive effect where ethnic models in advertising are viewed by consumers of the same ethnicity. This study offers an explanation behind this phenomenon that can be useful to marketers using self-reference theory. Our experiment reveals a strong self-referencing effect for ethnic minority individuals. Specifically, Asian subjects (the ethnic minority group) self-referenced ads with Asian models more than white subjects (the ethnic majority group). However, this result was not evident for white subjects. Implications for academics and advertisers are discussed.     

A longitudinal analysis of the changing roles of gender in advertising: a content analysis of Super Bowl commercials

Although the prevalence of gender stereotypes in advertising is well established, relatively little research has examined gender stereotypes in the context of Super Bowl that is arguably the most important event in US television advertising. This study systematically examines gender representations across various product categories in Super Bowl commercials over a 20-year period (1990–2009). Our findings detect and discuss shifts in the cultural notions of gender constructed in advertising messages targeting the largest and the most demographically diverse audience in US television. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.     

Missed opportunities? Reaching the ethnic consumer market

Changing population demographics within the UK have become a source of increased interest to marketers as companies have realized the importance of targeting their products and advertising efforts towards minority and ethnic groups. In addition, as the UK’s ethnic minorities grow in both numbers and in terms of prosperity, so does the commercial significance of this market. A clearer understanding of both the nature of changing markets and the relative importance of different minority ethnic groups as consumers is imperative to facilitate both consumer understanding and business development; marketers need to understand better how to target these people, what they have in common with the mainstream and where the differences lie. This paper seeks to describe current understanding of ethnic consumers and their impact on the marketplace while highlighting an area where future research is potentially of considerable benefit.     

Japan's demographic revolution? A study of advertising practitioners' views on stereotypes

This article presents results from a survey of advertising practitioners in Japan focusing on their opinions about the communication objectives and stereotypes, specifically the effectiveness of older spokespersons, their general views on older models in advertising and the effectiveness of older models by product category. We find that these opinions are rather positive. The intention to use a larger number of older models is affected by the perceived effectiveness of older spokespersons and the expected increase in older models and client interest. When targeting an older audience, older spokespersons are seen as particularly effective for the product category of health/medical, but for a general audience it is financial services/insurance. Regardless of product category, they are perceived more effective when targeting an older versus a general audience and when targeting aged 50–64 versus 65 plus.     

Likeability as a measure of advertising effectiveness: the case of financial services

Television advertising for financial services accounts for over one-third of total financial services advertising expenditure, yet there is evidence to suggest it is not very well done. Given the difficulties advertisers have to overcome in terms of promoting an intangible product in accordance with tight restrictions on advertising content and format to a largely uninvolved audience, it becomes all the more imperative to study how viewers judge financial services commercials. This paper presents the findings of a study which seeks to establish which elements, if any, of a financial services commercial first make it likeable to its target audience, second motivate the viewer to seek more information about the service being advertised and, third, have an effect on the image the viewer has of the advertiser. Some interesting findings from the research point to the similarities between the emerging factors for viewers' affective reactions to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and financial services commercials and the extent to which likeability mediates the influence which advertisement execution features have on subsequent behavioural intentions.     

Methodological Issues in Cross-Linguistic and Multilingual Advertising Research

This article discusses methodological issues related to language in advertising research. We introduce a framework that distinguishes between cross-linguistic research settings, where several languages are used in the study and different samples of respondents are studied in their own language, and multilingual research settings, where only a single language is used and multilingual respondents are studied either in their native or nonnative language. We review key principles that govern cross-linguistic and multilingual effects in advertising research to formulate guidelines for research design and data analysis. In the cross-linguistic context, these principles address nonuniform cross-linguistic differences in responses (related to nonequivalence of individual questionnaire items) versus uniform response effects (related to nonequivalence of verbal response category labels). In the multilingual context, we bring together evidence that shows how—even when comprehension is not a problem—stimuli, questions, and response categories may be processed differently in respondents' native versus nonnative language.     

The impact of cultural symbols and spokesperson identity on attitudes and intentions

In today's multicultural societies, ethnic targeting is an increasingly important marketing strategy. Two main approaches to target ethnic minorities have emerged in recent years: messaging consumers when their ethnic identity is most salient, and doing so with spokespeople or models with the same heritage as the targeted minority. In this paper, we conduct conceptual replications of two influential articles representative of these research streams: Forehand and Deshpandé (2001) and Deshpandé and Stayman (1994). Our studies show that the effects of such practices on minority consumers are not homogeneous. The findings identify generational status (first vs. second generation) as an important boundary condition for these ethnic targeting strategies. This has important conceptual and practical implications for choosing an effective ethnic targeting strategy.     

Advertising Research

Abstract

The study reported examined effects of strength of ethnic identification, media placement, and ad racial composition on attitudes and purchase intentions among African-Americans. The effects of the independent variables were assessed via a two (strong ethnic identifier vs. weak ethnic identifier) by two (racially targeted vs. nontargeted media) by four (black model, white model, black-dominant integration, white-dominant integration) experimental design in the context of two personal care products: foundation, a race-based product, and perfume, a racially neutral product. Results indicate that strong ethnic identifiers generally have more positive evaluations of ads that feature African-Americans in positions of dominance and are placed in racially targeted media, whereas weak ethnic identifiers have more positive evaluations of ads that feature whites in positions of dominance and are placed in nontargeted media. In addition, the type of product advertised, whether it be specifically related to physical racial features or racially neutral, effects audience members' evaluations.     

Dissociating explicit and implicit effects of cross-media advertising

Knowledge of cross-media advertising effects is mainly based on explicit psychological measures, such as self-reports. To fully understand the mechanisms responsible for the success of cross-media advertising, it is important to also use implicit measures. We used both types of measures to assess whether exposure to different media combinations affects the cognitive and evaluative impact of advertising. Results show that participants performed better on all explicit and implicit measures of memory and brand preference after exposure (versus no exposure) to target ads, which validated the use of these measures. Comparison of cross-media versus single medium exposure showed differences on the explicit level, but not on the implicit level. This suggests (1) that cross-media advantages may be driven by explicit rather than implicit memory mechanisms, and (2) that implicit advertising effects may require more drastic manipulations than context changes, such as varying the combination of media used for exposure to advertising.     

Advertising “like a girl”: Toward a better understanding of “femvertising” and its effects

This paper investigates the impact of femvertising (female empowerment advertising). More specifically, it hypothesizes that femvertising (vs. traditional portrayals of females in advertising) will reduce ad reactance among a female target audience, and that this in turn will enhance ad and brand attitudes. The results of three experimental studies indicate that this is indeed the case, and that the results hold across print and digital media, for five different product categories, and for femvertising focusing on challenging female stereotypes in terms of physical characteristics as well as the roles and occupations used to portray women in advertising. Although previous studies of the effects of female portrayals tend to focus on social comparison and self‐identity, the current paper considers the role of psychological reactance to (more or less) stereotypical portrayals in explaining these effects. The results suggest that marketers have much to gain from adapting a more proactive and mindful approach to the female portrayals they use in their ads.     

农村电视媒体广告投放策略研究

农村电视受众分布广泛、基数庞大,如果不讲究策略地进行广告投放,会导致广告到达受众与品牌的目标受众重叠度低,造成广告资金的很大浪费。基于对8省19市3800户农村居民的抽样调查数据,本文首先从宏观层面总结了中国农村电视受众的整体特征,即高接触率、高收视时长、核心受众高端化的“三高”特点。接下来本文以企业广告投放的决策过程为主线,从人群定位、时间段选择、频道选择、节目选择等四个层面,通过实证研究数据对农村电视媒体的广告投放策略进行了具体分析。     

Advertising in English in Nonnative English-Speaking Markets: The Effect of Language and Self-Referencing in Advertising in Romania on Ad Attitudes

As a potent symbol of globalization, English has become one of the most popular foreign languages used in advertising in many nonnative English-speaking markets. This study aims to explore the effect of language used in advertising (English versus local) and self-referencing on consumers' ad attitudes in Romania, a country where the population is not necessarily speaking English fluently. The results indicate that multinational brands benefit from using English in advertising, whether a high or a low level of self-referencing is used. For local brands, different language formats do not vary in their advertising effectiveness. However, if English is to be used to advertise a local brand to give a “modern” flavor to the product, a high self-referencing format should be used.     

Young adults' perceptions of product placement in films: An exploratory comparison between the United Kingdom and Hong Kong

Even though young adults are a major audience of films and the main target group for product placement, very few studies explore how youngsters across cultures perceive and interpret this marketing communication tool. This study explores this issue through thirty-two in-depth interviews conducted in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. The comparative analysis focused on four aspects: (1) young consumers' movie consumption habits and their exposure to product placement; (2) their general views towards product placement and advertising; (3) their perception of different execution styles of product placement and its impact and (4) the regulatory and ethical concerns of product placement. Results indicate that the young generation actively engages in interpreting brand integration in films and they were generally positive about it. Although interpretations of product placement are reported on an individual basis, this study suggests that culture may also affect how individuals perceive product placement. This exploratory study raises important issues about cultural differences in the perception of brands placed in films and provides insights for further research in the area of product placement.     

Modeling the Audience's Banner ad Exposure for Internet Advertising Planning

Exposure models focusing on reach and frequency where an audience is exposed to an ad message are the foundation of audience measurement. Given that a certain fundamental assumption of conventional exposure models is not relevant in the Internet advertising context, this paper suggests that the audience's on-line banner exposure can be best analyzed by its Web site visits. The negative binomial distribution (NBD) model, having long been applied in analyzing repeat behaviors, is proposed to serve as a banner ad exposure model. An empirical validation indicates that the model performs well in both data fitting and prediction.     

消费社会语境下的广告文化批判

消费社会是以商品的大规模消费为特征的社会,从消费社会的角度来看,广告文化具备符号化、视觉化、时尚化和鼓励炫耀性消费的特征。在消费社会,广告通过建构商品符号意义,强化、误导目标受众的身份认同,刺激消费者的欲望,来助推消费心理,夸大其对心理满足的功能。它深深地受到商品逻辑的制约,反过来以商品逻辑瓦解原有的社会价值结构和秩序,并在与媒介的同谋中,广泛而持续地干扰媒介传播,刺激着消费社会以及社会文化的负面发展。     

Limitations and Strengths of Pan-Asian Advertising Media: A Review for International Advertisers

Economic growth in Asia has led to a proliferation in the supply of pan-regional media. Most of these are elitist media targeting affluent businessmen and travellers. The increasing importance of the Chinese-speaking market spurs the growth of Chinese language pan-Asian media. The emergence of satellite television networks popularizes pan-regional media to a broader audience, although its penetration is still small in comparison to local media. When selecting pan-regional media for advertising in the region, advertisers are advised to use data from pan-Asian audience surveys, publication audit figures and competitive advertising expenditure reports in examining the cost-efficiency of each media vehicle. In choosing between pan-regional and local media, advertisers should consider the homogeneity and socio-economic status of their target audience, the importance of international recognition and consistency in image for the brand, geographic strengths, and other added values of the media.     

The Development and Testing of a Child-inspired Advertising Disclosure to Alert Children to Digital and Embedded Advertising

Via three studies, this article aims to develop and test an advertising disclosure which is understandable for children (ages six to 12 years old) and which can alert them to different types of advertising in multiple media formats. First, cocreation workshops with 24 children (ages eight to 11 years old) were held to determine a selection of disclosure designs based on insights from the target group. Second, two eye-tracking studies among 32 children (ages six to 12 years old) were conducted to test which of these disclosure designs attracted the most attention when the disclosures were integrated into a media context. These studies led to the selection of the final advertising disclosure: a black rectangular graphic with the word Reclame! (i.e., Dutch for “Advertising!”) in yellow letters. Finally, a two-by-two, between-subjects experimental study (disclosure design: existing versus child-inspired advertising disclosure; advertising format: brand placement versus online banner advertising) with 157 children (ages 10 and 11 years old) was performed to test the effectiveness of the child-inspired disclosure by comparing it with existing ones. This study not only showed that children recognized, understood, and liked the child-inspired disclosure better than the existing ones, but they were also better able to recognize advertising after exposure to this child-inspired advertising disclosure.     

Corporate crisis advertising: A framework examining the use and effects of corporate advertising before and after crises

While corporate advertising has been widely studied as a promotional tool, few studies have examined how it can be used in a corporate crisis situation. In 2013, Kim proposed a conceptual framework for examining stakeholders’ evaluation of pre-crisis corporate advertising, using the inoculation and reactance theory. The framework, published in Journal of Marketing Communications, suggested that pre-crisis advertising can increase audience resistance towards negative news of an organization and decrease audience resistance towards future corporate advertisements from the organization. The present study expands on Kim’s work to develop the corporate crisis advertising (CCA) framework. In addition to the inoculation and reactance effects discussed in Kim’s model, CCA aims to discuss the effects of corporate advertising on improving organization’s prior reputation based on halo effect, and how post-crisis advertising messages can be evaluated based on crisis theories. Our proposed framework provides a comprehensive view of the use of corporate advertising both before and after a crisis and is useful for organizations to understand the impact of corporate advertising on stakeholders’ evaluation of the organization in a crisis situation. Potential applications of CCA are discussed and directions for future research suggested.     

How do 3-dimensional images promote products on the Internet?

The study investigates 3D virtual advertising as it affects the online shopping environment. It examines the vividness of mental imagery as a mediator, and consumers' need for touch and product type as moderators of the effects. An experiment conducted with 207 study participants and two product types, a watch and a jacket, indicates overall that 3D advertising outperforms 2D advertising in effectiveness. The vividness of mental imagery appears to directly influence attitudes and intentions by mediating the effects of 2D versus 3D. As expected, the 3D and 2D formats consistently differed more in their effects for geometric products than for material products. Consumers' NFT affected only intentions to revisit, interacting with product type and site type. For the watch product, 3D advertising is more persuasive for both high and low NFT consumers. Comparatively, for the jacket product, 3D strongly impacts low-NFT consumers only, but has no significant difference for high-NFT study participants.