An Involvement Explanation for Nostalgia Advertising Effects

This study seeks to offer additional insights regarding why positive “nostalgia effects” in advertising may be observed, that is, why nostalgic ads tend to elicit more favorable consumer responses than do non-nostalgic ads. Using the personal relevance component of advertising involvement as a theoretical foundation, the study supports hypothesized expectations that nostalgic ads are capable of inducing greater levels of self-reflection and advertising involvement. Furthermore, hypothesized effects were shown to be more pronounced when a “personal” nostalgia-themed ad (eliciting “a yearning for a realized, lived past”) was used, as opposed to when an “historical” nostalgia-themed ad (eliciting “a yearning for a distant past, never experienced”) was used. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed and directions for future research are offered.     

Marketing by CPAs

Abstract

Until the late 1970s, the AICPA discouraged commercial advertising and some other marketing tactics by practicing accountants. This study contacted 600 CPAs in the U.S. in an attempt to discover what kinds of marketing they employ, how useful they think it is, and how appropriate do they feel the AICPA's rules and regulations are in regard to marketing an individual CPA's services. Most thought the AICPA was fair. Accountants doing the most marketing tend to be younger males. “Conflict of Interest” was the area of most current concern in light of the ongoing problems of public accounting firms doing both auditing and consulting for the same client. “Newspaper” was the preferred advertising medium. Most of those surveyed were pleased the AICPA relaxed its restrictions on marketing and advertising, even though many CPAs still do not market their services to any great extent. This may change as younger accountants fill leadership positions in U.S. accounting firms.     

Contextual advertising in games: Impacts of game context on a player’s memory and evaluation of brands in video games

Contextual advertising is growing in digital marketing communication. Previous research on traditional media has shown that the surrounding context affects advertising effectiveness. Similarly, the context in a game may influence a player’s processing of brands advertised in that game. To examine the effects of contextual advertising in games, the present article affords two independent experiments investigating how positive and negative game contexts influence players’ memories and attitudes with respect to brands advertised via billboards in games. Drawing from literature on the limited capacity model, the authors demonstrate that positive and negative game contexts decrease brand memory since they require a high level of cognitive effort. The authors also find that varying a game context influence the perception of brands advertised in the game via the contextual priming mechanism and that positive contexts generate more positive brand attitudes than negative or neutral contexts. The findings have important implications for consumer researchers and marketers, as they indicate how contexts in games can be utilized to establish brand awareness and increase positive brand perceptions in contextual advertising using games.     

Have “Millennials” Embraced Digital Advertising as They Have Embraced Digital Media?

Consumers’ attitudes toward advertising ethics are of interest to marketers who understand that negative attitudes can be harmful to brands. Today advertisers increasingly depend on internet advertising. This study compares attitudes of Millennials (the first generation to use digital media more than traditional media) toward internet advertising with attitudes toward advertising in traditional media. Similar to previous generations who had more negative attitudes toward TV advertising, which was their most frequently used medium, Millennials’ attitudes appeared to be more negative toward internet advertising. Thus, we conclude that advertisers must work to engender positive relationships with Millennials through more ethical internet advertising and other innovative strategies.     

A typology of viral ad sharers using sentiment analysis

Viral advertising is the most popular manifestation of viral marketing phenomena. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate sentiment analysis as a promising tool to quantify consumer responses towards branded viral video advertisements and thereupon, propose a sentiment-based typology of viral ad sharers. Results of this experimental study (1) suggest that sentiment-based measures of consumer responses offer better prediction of consumers’ ad sharing intentions compared to the traditional and widely used thought-listing method; and (2) help identify four distinct segments of viral ad sharers (based on the relative strength of ad- and brand-related sentiments), namely: “Active”, “Brand-fanatic”, “Content-hungry”, and “Dormant”, labeled as ABCD typology of viral ad sharers. This study highlights that for creating successful viral campaigns, marketers should consider the distinctive characteristics of these four segments of viral ad sharers (based on their processing of ad content and brand information) to identify the right seeds to initiate a viral campaign.     

Priming skepticism: Unintended consequences of one-sided persuasion knowledge access

Scholars have historically assumed that consumers' persuasion knowledge is invariably linked to skepticism about advertising and marketing. As a result, studies have often used skepticism-focused stimuli to prompt persuasion knowledge access. However, as originally conceptualized, persuasion knowledge also includes an understanding of persuasion tactics that are trusted and believed, which suggests that accessing persuasion knowledge does not necessarily make consumers more skeptical. In this paper, we propose that, for at least some persuasion knowledge research questions, skepticism-focused interventions may be too “one-sided” because they bias participants to consider only the skeptical side of persuasion knowledge. The purpose of the present research is to test whether the “one-sided” persuasion knowledge interventions that are used in persuasion knowledge research encourage skepticism more than balanced interventions that focus consumers on the negative and positive motives that may underlie persuasive communication. Across three experiments with three distinct subject pools and over 2,500 participants, we demonstrate that one-sided versus balanced manipulations of persuasion knowledge can have differential effects on consumer skepticism. This is an important finding because skepticism-focused operationalizations are frequently employed in persuasion knowledge research.     

How can the word “NEW” evoke consumers' experiences of novelty and interest?

This paper examines the role advertising cues play in inducing subjective perceptions of product novelty and how they can evoke consumer interest toward an advertisement. Specifically, it uses behavioral and psychophysiological measures to: (1) investigate the effect of novelty cues on consumers’ subjective appraisal of novelty; (2) demonstrate that novelty cues may evoke the emotion of interest; and (3) differentiate the effect of the emotion of interest on liking and arousal. Across two experimental studies, we demonstrated that simply adding the word “new” in an advertisement increases behavioral (i.e., viewing duration) and psychophysiological responses (i.e., cardiac activity) of interest. However, the word “new” did not evoke liking and arousal. This suggests that novelty cues in an advertisement will make the consumers perceive the product to be novel and further evoke consumer interest.     

Deceptive advertising and third-person perception: The interplay of generalized and specific suspicion

The present research examines the extent to which consumers perceive deceptive advertising claims as effective (i.e., affect one's purchase decision) for themselves and others. Results in two experiments suggest that consumers tend to consider an advertising claim more effective for others than for themselves, when they realize the claim is highly deceptive. In contrast, when perceived deceptiveness is moderate or low, the self–others difference is moderated by consumer dispositional difference in skepticism toward advertising. The effect appears to be driven by the interplay of generalized and specific suspicion, which has a stronger impact on consumer judgment about the effect of deceptive advertising on the self than on others.     

An experimental investigation of the Egyptian consumers’ attitudes towards surrealism in advertising

This study investigates Egyptian consumers’ attitudes towards surrealism in advertising held by a sample of 976 participants. An experimental approach was taken to establish the interaction between Surreal advertisements and product category attitudes. This interaction was found to be statistically significant. A 2 × 2 anova was conducted to evaluate the effect of sex on attitudes towards surrealism in advertising. The results indicated a significant interaction between advertisement type and sex. However, the impact of surrealism in advertisements on persuasion, as measured by consumers’ attitudes towards the advertisement and brand, was not found to be moderated by consumers’ social class/income. These results lend strong support to the advertisement adaptation hypothesis and suggest that advertisements produced in one country cannot be standardized or directly translated for use in another, particularly if they are culturally different.     

Global Issues in Selecting Athlete Endorsers for National Markets: A Macroinvestigation

ABSTRACT

Little advertising research explores the role of culture in selecting celebrity endorsers. The purpose of this study is to explore how the selection process of athlete endorsers is shaped by national contexts. Based on interviews with advertising practitioners in 10 countries, the study reveals similarities in practitioners’ thinking across countries on a variety of matters related to athlete endorsement. It reveals the importance given by practitioners to the “cultural attractiveness” of national athlete endorsers when using them to connect with their national audience and shows that the selection process depends greatly on various cultural pressures linked to sporting traditions of each country. The study also shows how practitioners believe that athlete endorsers should be used mainly to generate brand and advertising awareness principally under pressure from clients’ emotional input.     

Advertisers’ perceptions regarding the ethical appropriateness of new advertising formats aimed at minors

Although they are key stakeholders, advertisers’ views on the usage of novel (integrated and/or interactive) advertising toward minors has remained largely unexplored in academic research. This study aims to fill this gap by examining advertising professionals’ opinions about the ethical appropriateness of using novel advertising formats aimed at children and teenagers, how to advance advertising literacy in minors, and their views of practices that are potentially privacy-invading, by means of both a quantitative online survey and qualitative in-depth interviews with Belgian advertising professionals. Results show that advertisers perceive that from 12 years onward, minors are capable to understand novel advertising formats and it is ethically justified to use them. Remarkably, advertisers would inform minors already from the age of 10 years onward about the commercial intention behind new advertising formats. Advertisers have strict opinions about collecting information online from minors. They advocate a combination of laws and self-regulation and governmental and educational campaigns to raise awareness and develop advertising literacy.     

Korean Advertising Practitioners’ Perspectives on Celebrity Endorsement

Practitioners’ perspectives have been neglected to some extent. Research on practitioners’ perspectives is important because it will provide valuable information, especially on how theories have been reflected in practice. The study investigates Korean advertising practitioners’ perspectives on celebrity endorsement in advertising campaigns. By comparing the perspective between advertising practitioners and that from their counterparts on the client side, this study may provide insights into their respective roles in advertising campaigns. This study finding suggests that Korean advertising practitioners consider a celebrity's likeability as the most important criterion when selecting a celebrity endorser. The most important reason why they employ a celebrity endorser is that celebrity endorsement helps generate awareness of the brand. In addition, concerns over celebrity endorsement as well as limitations and suggestions for future research have been discussed.     

Women's bodies,menstruation and marketing “protection:” interpreting a paradox of gendered discourses in consumer practices and advertising campaigns

This essay explores the various associations, conflicts, and resolutions that converge in consumer research to produce an advertising campaign for a feminine hygiene product. Ethnographic research identified a correspondence in beliefs and values among women who discuss menstruation as a natural process of rhythms and flow in their changing bodies. Building off the work of gender discourses in advertising, this paper claims women's “natural” discourse located in research differs from “protection” discourse in advertising, which holds a binary view of menstruation and associates menstruation socially with shame and secrecy. The research reveals that while women adopt a “natural” discourse of menstruation, discourses of “protection” still dominate marketing. Paradoxically, women incorporate both discourses in assemblages of constructing “feminine identities.” This research proposes a correspondence model that regards the consumption of consumer personal-care products in terms of embodiment rather than binary categories as a way to interpret such paradoxes.     

The impact of creative media advertising on consumer responses: two field experiments

Abstract

Creative media (CM) advertising is an advertising strategy wherein a non-traditional medium is creatively used for advertising purposes. This novel advertising strategy is gaining marketers’ interest; however, little is known about its persuasive effects on consumers’ cognitive, affective and behavioural responses and the processes that underlie them. Therefore, to convey a genuine experience to consumers, two field experiments with a one-factor (advertising type: creative vs. traditional) between-subjects design were conducted within a supermarket context. Results showed that creative (vs. traditional) media ads not only improve consumers’ affective and behavioural responses but also consumers’ cognitive responses. Even though no mediations were found through perceived surprise or perceived persuasive intent, results do provide evidence for the notion that perceived humor and perceived value are the underlying mechanisms through which affective and behavioural responses to creative media advertising can be explained.     

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.     

Television Advertising Avoidance: Advancing Research Methodology

New technologies have led to increased television advertising avoidance. In particular, mechanical avoidance in the form of zipping and zapping has gained momentum in recent years. Channel switching or “commercial zapping” studies employ diverse methodologies, including self reports, electronic monitoring, laboratory, and in-home observation which has led to a diversity of reported results. This article proposes advancing and standardizing the methodology to comprise a two-phase hidden observation and survey method. A number of research phases have led to the development of this method to collect both mechanical and behavioral avoidance data. The study includes a detailed outline of the hidden observation approach. The survey phase opens up the potential for the collection of viewer data that may further illuminate television advertising avoidance behavior.     

The unbearable lightness of advertising: culture,media and the rise of advertising in socialist Bulgaria

This article offers a historical analysis of the conceptualization of advertising both as a propaganda tool and as a means of encouraging consumption in socialist Bulgaria. By exploring the public discourse on the function and importance of advertising in the popular media over the last 50 years, it seeks to explore the approach used to define the need for advertising, offering an insight into the complex ways in which socialist ideologies recognized the “inevitable” logic of the market – on one hand, acknowledging the need for consumption and on the other, recognizing the utility of advertising, which promotes and supports this very consumption as it sustains the operation of a commercially viable social system.     

Disentangling the impact of temperature on consumers' attitudes toward nostalgic advertising

Although the effect of temperature on consumers is ubiquitous, little is known about how temperature affects consumers' attitudes toward nostalgic advertising. Drawing on embodied cognition theory, this study explores the effect of temperature on consumers' attitudes toward nostalgic advertising through the mediator of the affective system. Based on two experiments involving personal and historical nostalgic advertising, our results show that when exposed to comfortable temperature, consumers follow the “assimilative effect” of temperature; warm temperatures trigger more positive attitudes toward nostalgic advertising when compared with cool temperatures. However, when exposed to uncomfortable temperatures, consumers follow the “complementary effect” of temperatures; cold temperatures lead to more positive attitudes toward nostalgic advertising than hot temperatures. Furthermore, the affective system plays a mediating role between temperature and consumers' attitudes toward nostalgic advertising. This study contributes to the literature on temperature in marketing and provides a practical guide for companies to implement nostalgic advertising strategies.     

And now a word from our sponsor: Do consumers perceive advertising on traditional television and online streaming video differently?

Despite the increasing popularity of online streaming television (OTV), there is little information regarding how perceptions of the new medium differ from traditional television (TV) viewership. The research employed online interviews among young adult viewers of OTV and traditional TV to determine whether young adult consumers (aged 18–34) regard advertising viewed within online TV programming differently than they regard advertising viewed within traditional TV programming. While advertising has long been accepted by American consumers as a necessary element of most mass communication, this research suggests that viewers of OTV programming do not regard advertising as a means to subsidize the cost of online content. Rather, young adults appear to regard advertising as an intruder in the OTV environment. Furthermore, the results indicate that Ducoffe's Advertising Value model (1995) does not predict attentiveness to advertising viewed within the OTV context. Therefore, while OTV advertising may be held to a higher creative standard than traditional TV advertising, there is no indication that entertainment value contributes to an improved attitude toward advertising in the OTV environment.     

An Investigation of Egyptian Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Ethical Issues in Advertising

This article investigates Egyptian consumers’ attitudes toward ethical issues in advertising held by a sample of 306 participants. The subjects completed a 20-item instrument originally designed to measure respondents’ attitudes toward controversial issues in advertising. The study validates the scale in an Arab non-Western context. The results revealed that Egyptian consumers have negative attitudes toward ethical issues in advertising. There are significant differences between males’ and females’ perceptions of ethics in advertising. Finally, the study detects a significant difference between Muslims and non-Muslims in Egypt regarding their attitudes toward ethical issues in advertising. These results lend strong support to the adaptation hypothesis and suggest that ads produced in one country cannot be standardized or directly translated for use in another, particularly if they are different culturally.