Explaining the joint effect of source credibility and negativity of information in two‐sided messages

By referring to different stages of an attribution process, this study examines how source credibility effects and opposing effects of negative information in two‐sided messages can be disentangled. The findings show that disclosure uniqueness (i.e., whether disclosures in a two‐sided message are given voluntarily or not) leads to both inferences on source credibility and inferences on product uniqueness. The inference on product uniqueness requires more cognitive effort on the part of the consumer than the inference on source credibility. Therefore, the effects of disclosures in two‐sided messages on brand attitudes depend on the cognitive load of consumers. Consumers make either an inference on the source or on both the source and the product. The results add to previous attribution research and the two‐sided message literature, showing that consumers under cognitive load can fail to make inferences on negative brand attributes in two‐sided messages. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Message Reframing in Advertising

Various communication techniques such as humor or two‐sided argumentation are frequently used in advertising. One technique that is common but has not been conceptualized is the deliberate change of perspective of specific product or brand attributes. Based on the reframing method used in neuro‐linguistic programming (NLP) this technique is conceptualized as message reframing, defined as a communication technique that changes the conceptual and/or emotional setting or viewpoint in relation to how a brand is experienced by placing it in a different frame that fits the same brand equally well or better. The effects of message reframing in contrast to conventional advertisements as well as in contrast to humor and two‐sided argumentation are hypothesized and tested in an experimental study. The results reveal that message reframing outplays traditional advertising techniques regarding attention toward the ad, perceived novelty, attitude toward the ad, and attitude toward the brand. Moreover, message reframing does not show the deterioration of source credibility commonly observed in humorous messages, and leads to higher attention, perceived novelty, and attitude toward the ad than two‐sided messages.     

The Effects of Rhetorical Figures and Cognitive Load in Word‐of‐Mouth Communications

Advertising messages often are intended to ignite large‐scale word‐of‐mouth campaigns among consumers. Drawing primarily from memetic theory, cognitive fit theory, and perceptual fluency, this research examines how rhetoric and cognitive load interact to enhance or diminish desirable effects such as retention of the original intent of the message (copy‐fidelity) and engendering a desire to pass the message along (fecundity). Certain types of rhetoric are shown to aid this process by making some messages more attractive for retransmission and increasing retention of the original message, while cognitive load modifies which types are effective in accordance with cognitive fit and perceptual fluency. The results suggest that low‐deviation high‐complexity message forms (known as reversal) are the most effective for creating positive word‐of‐mouth outcomes and limiting potentially negative outcomes. Additionally, the results show that destabilization messages are more likely to yield mutated word‐of‐mouth messages that consumers still feel a strong desire to pass along to others. For practitioners, the results indicate what message forms should be used to effectively spark word‐of‐mouth campaigns.     

The Effect of Consumer Persuasion Knowledge on Scarcity Appeal Persuasiveness

Past research identifies demand-related scarcity appeals and supply-related scarcity appeals as effective persuasive influences on consumer behavior. The present research uses a persuasion knowledge approach to examine the persuasiveness of demand- versus supply-related scarcity appeals in advertising messages. Study 1 shows that supply-related scarcity appeal ad messages are less likely to activate persuasion knowledge than demand-related scarcity appeal messages. Study 2 demonstrates that message specificity moderates this effect. In line with an elaboration likelihood model perspective, results show that stating the appeal in specific (versus vague) terms decreases the persuasiveness of supply-related scarcity appeal ad messages.     

What to Get and What to Give Up: How Different Decision Tasks and Product Types Affect the Persuasiveness of Promotion‐ versus Prevention‐Focused Messages

Prior research has distinguished between ad message frames that are promotion‐focused (i.e., eager‐sounding and achievement‐oriented) and those that are prevention‐focused (i.e., vigilance‐hued and safety‐themed). In three studies, the authors investigate the relative persuasiveness of promotion‐ versus prevention‐focused messages in the context of different decision tasks (i.e., acquisition vs. forfeiture) and different types of featured products/attributes (i.e., hedonic vs. utilitarian). Studies 1 and 2 focus on message structures conducive to imagery‐based processing. The results show that promotion‐focused messages are relatively more persuasive than prevention‐focused messages in acquisition tasks than in forfeiture tasks in the case of hedonic products (and products with salient hedonic attributes). Relative persuasiveness of the two message frames is not affected by decision task in the case of utilitarian products (or products with salient utilitarian attributes). Study 3 uses message structures suited for analytical processing. In this study, interestingly, the relative persuasiveness of prevention‐focused (vs. promotion‐focused) messages is greater in forfeiture tasks than in acquisition tasks in the case of utilitarian products. Relative persuasiveness of the two message frames is not affected by decision task in the case of hedonic products. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.     

Same Service,Different Ad Claims: The Moderating Role of Need for Cognition

Advertisers can choose among different ad claims when framing commercial messages about a new service offer. Two alternative ad claims are functional ad claims, focusing on product or service attributes and benefits, and experiential ad claims, focusing on future experiences with the product or service. This article proposes that different ad claims evoke different memory structures (semantic vs. episodic), and that different memory structures require different types of cognitive processing (system 1 vs. system 2). In two experiments using need for cognition as a dispositional trait of level of cognitive processing, this article shows that a new service entrant with experiential ad claims will be less favorably evaluated when consumers engage in more effortful, or system 2, processing, than when consumers engage in less effortful processing (system 1). For functional claims, however, the evaluation of the new service does not differ between the two types of cognitive processing (system 1 vs. system 2).     

AN ANALYTICAL SOLUTION FOR THE TWO‐SIDED PARISIAN STOPPING TIME,ITS ASYMPTOTICS,AND THE PRICING OF PARISIAN OPTIONS

In this paper, we obtain a recursive formula for the density of the two‐sided Parisian stopping time. This formula does not require any numerical inversion of Laplace transforms, and is similar to the formula obtained for the one‐sided Parisian stopping time derived in Dassios and Lim. However, when we study the tails of the two distributions, we find that the two‐sided stopping time has an exponential tail, while the one‐sided stopping time has a heavier tail. We derive an asymptotic result for the tail of the two‐sided stopping time distribution and propose an alternative method of approximating the price of the two‐sided Parisian option.     

Critical Theoretical Considerations of Public Relations Messaging Around the Globe: Tools for Creating and Evaluating Campaign Messages

This study employs several critical theories in order to demonstrate their explanatory power in understanding public relations communication, globalization within campaign communication, and, in particular, some sample campaign messages drawn from public relations research and practice. In particular, critical theories of cultural studies, semiotics, and postmodernism inform the design and understanding of public relations messages through the tools of analysis they offer and through the rich vocabulary they provide. This study argues that public relations is the logical business communication discipline to develop theory and research into campaign message design and globalization issues utilizing the critical paradigm.     

The Effect of Sequential Structure in Charity Advertising on Message Elaboration and Donation Intention: The Mediating Role of Empathy

Abstract

This study examines how a sadness-happiness sequential structure affects how individuals process a charity advertisement. Cognitive elaboration is measured by capturing eye-movement. A negative-positive sequential structure in the charity advertisement induces individuals to focus on the incoming messages, thus evoking positive emotions and empathy for the needy person. Empathy plays a mediating role by mitigating the negative emotions induced by the negative element of the advertisement. The study’s results demonstrate that a negative-positive sequence in a charity advertisement enhances message elaboration, thus increasing individuals’ receptivity to charity advertising messages.     

Affect and persuasion: The influence of pleasantness and arousal on attitude formation and message elaboration

In contrast to past research that viewed affect as unidimensional, this study examines the effects of affect's two primary dimensions, pleasantness and arousal, on ad-based persuasion outcomes (attitude favorability) and processes (degree of elaboration, thought positivity). After assessing their naturally-occurring levels of pleasantness and arousal, subjects were exposed to a persuasive communication and assigned to an involvement (low/high) by message strength (low/high) design. GLM analyses revealed that higher pleasantness accentuated the typical involvement X message interaction on attitude favorability, and that higher involvement enhanced message elaboration only when accompanied by higher pleasantness. Path analyses further suggested that (1) higher pleasantness enhanced message elaboration under higher involvement but decreased it under lower involvement, (2) under higher involvement, both pleasantness and arousal positively impacted thought positivity, and, (3) higher arousal decreased message elaboration only for the weaker message. The importance and implications of a broader than unidimensional view of affect in persuasion are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Single vs simultaneous equation models in capital asset pricing: The role of firm-related variables

An alternative modeling system that more adequately describes the returns-generating process than the usual single equation CAPM is provided in this paper. Firm-related variables are introduced directly into the model using a simultaneous equation system while avoiding the estimation problems of previous attempts. While not empirically testing this system with the single-equation “multi-beta” models, the relationships between the alternative processes are explored.     

Effects of Matching and Mismatching Messages on Purchase Avoidance Behavior following Major Disasters

Following major disasters, purchase avoidance behavior toward products that are caused by stigma often results. For example, after the Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster, consumers have avoided products from Fukushima. Attempts have been made to diminish this purchase avoidance behavior, but they have been found to be ineffective. The reasons for ineffectiveness of strategies within this context were empirically examined based on matching and mismatching effects of messages. In two studies (Study 1, N = 113; Study 2, N = 364), the effects of affective messages and cognitive messages were compared, and the effectiveness of affective messages was found to be consistently weaker than that of cognitive messages. Message producers often present affective messages with the expectation of observing the matching effect. However, findings suggest that these presentation strategies will fail, and that the mismatching effect should be used instead. The best method of message presentation to reduce purchase avoidance behavior in a disaster area is discussed.     

Why Forward Viral Fashion Messages? The Moderating Roles of Consumers’ Fashion Traits and Message Orientation

Businesses are now using social media as platforms for viral marketing. However, little is known about the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of fashion consumers who engage with this marketing instrument. This study examines the factors that influence consumers’ use of social media and their behavioral intentions to forward viral fashion messages. An attitudinal model was proposed through the integration of uses and gratification theory and the elaboration likelihood model. Individuals’ fashion trait and message orientations were specified as moderating factors. An online survey was administered to collect data, and 381 college students participated in the study. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings showed that individuals’ intention to forward a message was affected by favorable functional and expressive attitudes towards the message, while motivations of using social media had only slight effects on individuals’ attitudes. Group comparisons showed significant moderating effects from identified individuals’ fashion trait and message orientation.     

Alert or oblivious? Factors underlying consumer responses to marketing stimuli

Recently published studies have introduced consumer researchers to uses of priming theory in marketing messages. A two‐factor model of assimilation and contrast effects has been proposed which focuses on aspects of message context and cognitive resource differences between consumers. However, these accounts do not consider an important additional factor pertinent to the production of category‐based contrast effects in response to marketing communications. This article discusses recent priming research and presents theoretical discussion in support of the putative third factor of consumer wariness for predicting judgmental outcomes of priming effects in consumer market settings. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Parent-protecting advertising in product line extensions: Role of communication strategy,message type and extension type

Product line extension, the introduction of new products under the same brand name in a given product category, is a growing practice of product innovation in many industries. However, when companies launch line extensions, information of the new products positively or negatively affects consumer evaluations of the parent products in the same line, generating the so-called spillover effects. Through two experimental studies, the current research explores how marketers can employ appropriate communication strategies and message types in advertising to induce favourable spillovers or to avoid negative spillovers in product line extensions. Experiment 1 investigates the interaction between communication strategy and line extension type. Results reveal that for vertical high-end extensions and for horizontal line extensions, ads using relational strategy that focuses on the relatedness between products in the line increase consumer valuation of the parent product; for vertical low-end extensions, ads with elaboration strategy that stresses the uniqueness of the extensions avoid negative spillovers on parents. Experiment 2 further examines how message type moderates the spillover effects in elaboration ads. Results show that, compared with numerical messages, literal messages engender smaller valuation decreases on the parents and consequently alleviate undesirable spillover effects for most types of product line extensions.     

The Moderating Influence of Involvement on Two‐Sided Advertising Effects

Involvement as a moderator of message sidedness effects has produced inconclusive and contradictory findings. This study examines these contradictions by investigating the conditions in which involvement moderates the persuasiveness of two‐sided advertising. Based on meta‐analytic results and using two experimental studies, the findings show that high involved consumers are influenced by the negativity of the message, while low involved consumers are influenced by the amount of information. Furthermore, the influence of negativity on high involved consumers is conditional when there are low degrees of negativity in the message. In comparison, varying the degree of negativity does not affect low involved consumers.     

The Effects of Audience Knowledge on Message Processing of Editorial Content

Marketing communications practitioners of modern enterprises recognize that creating mediated messages to audiences is a strategic communication to be leveraged, not simply managed. This study investigates how audiences' knowledge structures affect their message processing of editorial content. A set of laboratory experiments finds support for the proposed hypotheses in the domain of subjective and objective knowledge and message processing of editorial content. While audiences' objective knowledge determines how much elaboration they actually are able to perform, their subjective knowledge facilitates general thoughts. Audiences' knowledge structures direct how they process received messages while objective knowledge rather than subjective knowledge predicts audiences' conation; high levels of objective knowledge have a detrimental impact on audiences' purchase intents.     

Corporate social responsibility: review and roadmap of theoretical perspectives

Based on a survey and content analysis of 462 peer‐reviewed academic articles over the period 1990–2014, this article reviews theories related to the external drivers of corporate social responsibility (CSR) (such as stakeholder theory and resource‐dependence theory) and the internal drivers of CSR (such as resource‐based view [RBV] and agency theory) that have been utilized to explain CSR. The article discusses the main tenets of the principal theoretical perspectives and their application in CSR research. Going beyond previous reviews that have largely failed to investigate theory applications in CSR scholarship, this article stresses the importance of theory‐driven explanations of CSR and the complementarity of different theories. The article demonstrates that the current mainstream theorizing of CSR is dominated by theories related to the external drivers of CSR and is less developed with regard to the internal dynamics. The article outlines several productive avenues for future research: the need for multi‐theory studies and more research at multiple levels of analysis, particularly at the individual level of analysis. It suggests that CSR scholarship can benefit from combining theoretical insights from a range of established theoretical lenses such as institutional theory and RBV, and can gain new insights from theoretical lenses such as Austrian economics and micro‐level psychological theories.     

The Paradox: An Application of a Clinical Psychological Concept to Marketing

This article has taken a concept from the clinical psychological and psychiatric literature, paradoxical communication, and demonstrated how the concept could be utilized in an advertising context. Paradoxical communication requires a relationship in which the receiver of the message is powerless relative to the sender, and the receiver is not able to communicate about the message to the sender. This relationship may be inherent in mass media. Finally, paradoxical messages demand behavior that, by its very nature, can only be spontaneous (e.g., “I want you to dominate me”). Paradoxical messages have been said to lead to schizophrenia in children and also to be therapeutic in treating symptomatic behavior. From these two diverse situations, two alternative paradoxical messages were developed for use in mass media advertising contexts.