Methodological Issues in Advertising Research: Current Status,Shifts, and Trends

This article presents some self-reflective considerations on the methodology applied in advertising scholarly publications, based on a review of articles in four leading journals: Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Advertising, and Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising. This article first identifies two approaches in the positivist paradigm that exert strong impacts on the development of advertising research: the message effects research tradition in the communication field and the consumer psychology research tradition in marketing. With this background, the article next introduces several research questions to explore which methods have dominated advertising research, the role of theory building in affecting the adopted methods and the number of reported studies, differences across the journals, and the degree to which researchers integrate different methods or approaches (quantitative and qualitative) in their research. A content analysis of articles published in these four advertising journals from 2001 to 2015 helps address these research questions and reveals the current status, shifts, and trends in advertising research since the turn of this century.     

International diversity of authorship in advertising research

Although advertising is a global discipline, several of the world's regions remain under-represented in the leading advertising journals, with North American dominance of review boards and authorship in these journals. Introducing this special issue of the International Conference on Research in Advertising (ICORIA), this paper assesses the international diversity of authorship in advertising research by looking at the nationalities of author teams of articles published in the leading advertising journals over the last 10 years. Among advertising journals, international diversity of authorship is clearly greatest in the International Journal of Advertising (IJA), and the even greater international diversity of this ICORIA special issue highlights the Journal's international orientation. The fact that diversity of authorship also relates to article citations and therefore to research performance further emphasizes the need for more international diversity of authorship in advertising research.     

Knowledge Flows Between Advertising and Other Disciplines: A Social Exchange Perspective

Knowledge flows between advertising and other academic disciplines are examined to identify the structure of scientific knowledge, the extent of social exchange and the scientific status of the field. Bibliometric analysis is used to identify who is citing our research and who we cited. Cocitation patterns for the leading advertising journals (Journal of Advertising [JA], Journal of Advertising Research [JAR], International Journal of Advertising [IJA], Journal of Interactive Advertising [JIA], and Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising [JCIRA]) and the top 50 citing and cited journals with citation relationships from 2005 to 2014 were examined. Findings revealed that advertising is citing advertising scholarship the most, followed by marketing, consumer research, psychology, and communication. This suggests a “maturing field” where scholars look within the discipline's body of knowledge. In turn, advertising research is cited by advertising, marketing, business (general), communication, and psychology. The overall citing-to-cited ratio suggests that advertising is more a “receiver” than “provider” of knowledge to other disciplines; however, there is variation across the advertising journals. The positioning of advertising journals in the larger disciplinary framework shows close relationships to consumer research and interactive communication. The most common focus among the top-cited articles is digital media, with few articles focusing on traditional advertising. The implications of our findings for the field of advertising are discussed.     

Disclosure of Vlog Advertising Targeted to Children

Influencers can disclose vlog advertising by implementing a platform-generated disclosure or by generating their own disclosure. This study aims to investigate whether and how these two types of disclosures differentially affect children's responses toward the sponsored content and the influencer. To do so, a two (platform-generated [PG] disclosure: no PG disclosure versus PG disclosure) by three (influencer-generated [IG] disclosure: no IG disclosure versus no commercial interference disclosure versus commercial interference disclosure) between-subjects experimental study was conducted among 190 children (aged ten to twelve). The results show that both types of disclosures increased children's recognition of vlog advertising; however, children's advertising literacy (i.e. their understanding of influencer marketing and skepticism toward the ad) was less activated when the influencer specifically indicated that there was no commercial interference of the brand. In addition, besides being more beneficial for influencers (by not negatively affecting children's evaluations of the influencer), an IG disclosure also showed to be more favorable for brands, as it increased brand effects among children, whereas a PG disclosure decreased these brand effects.     

Children,Smoking and Advertising: The Evidence is There for Those Who Wish to See it (A Reply)

In a recent article in this journal, Colin McDonald (1993) criticized our research on cigarette advertising and children's smoking. This paper refutes each of his criticisms and shows that our research and that of others in this field provides a convincing argument that cigarette advertising does influence children's smoking. These arguments are now widely accepted, with the only prominent disagreement coming from those with most to lose—the tobacco industry.     

Trends in the use of statistics in major advertising journals over four decades

The use of statistical techniques in data-based articles appearing in the International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research and Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising was analysed over four decade intervals (i.e., 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s) and by journal. Among the trends, the study found: (1) nearly seven of every 10 journal articles reported statistical analyses (68.8% or 541 of 786); (2) the trend for statistically based articles was remarkably consistent over the time intervals and held true for the different advertising journals with one exception; (3) the use of different statistical techniques changed over time, with statistical techniques becoming more diverse and sophisticated through the years, but more so in some advertising journals than in others; (4) statistics were correctly applied in the majority of the research reports relative to ‘study purpose’; (5) the use of different statistical techniques varied by method of data collection generally and within articles appearing in three of the four journals; and (6) the presence or absence of hypotheses and/or research questions in the advertising studies was differentially associated with the application of different statistics. The inquiry serves to move advertising research forward in two ways: first, it documents how statistical analyses have changed over time and, second, it provides insight into where the field might be headed regarding the use of statistical techniques.     

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.     

Introduction to the Special Thematic Symposium on the Ethics of Controversial Online Advertising

The field of marketing and consumer ethics has evolved considerably over the past 20 years, yet research on specific areas of advertising ethics remains limited. This limitation persists despite developments in digital technologies, and the impact they have had on advertising practice generally and online advertising more specifically. Online media are becoming increasingly populated by advertising content, as consumers continuously navigate ever-evolving mediascapes. Thus, there is a need to examine the ethical issues associated with the use of controversial advertising online, as well as consumers’ responses to such ads. This special thematic symposium addresses this literature gap, which is at the intersection of consumer ethics, e-marketing, and controversial advertising. The two papers in the special thematic symposium present new research in this area, along with some initial ethical implications as well as potential for future research.     

Lancaster,Kent M. and Thomas C. Martin (1988). ADLAB,Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, 31 Pp. and software for IBM,Macintosh, and compatibles. $12.00

Abstract

Prior research on advertising literature consists primarily of studies of journal article authorship and author productivity, journal content and quality, and citation patterns. Absent from this stream of research is direct evidence of the influence of individual authors and their works in the form of peer evaluation and readership. For this study, a priori lists of influential books and articles were used in a survey of U.S. advertising educators and academic researchers. The results reveal a core of research-based and practice-oriented contributions of widely recognized importance and influence. The findings also provide (1) valuable lists of readings for current and future students and educators; (2) direct evidence of the quality of individual literary contributions; and (3) useful insights into the theoretical, intellectual, and practical foundations of the field.     

The Moderating Effects of Status-Consumption Motive and Age in the Relationship between CSR Advertising Appeal Type and Purchase Intentions

The primary purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence the effectiveness of benefit appeal types (i.e., help-other vs. help-self) in Corporate Social Responsibility advertising. To that end, we designed and administered a between-subjects experiment where participants viewed one of the two CSR advertisements crafted with help-self and help-other benefit appeals. Results provided evidence supporting the moderating effects of status-consumption motives and age on purchasing intentions. Additional analysis suggested consumers younger than 48 years old were more likely to be persuaded by a help-other ad appeal when they didn't have strong desires for status consumption. Results were discussed in light of the self-concept theory and value-expressive framework in CSR advertising.     

European Views of Advertising

Abstract

The effects of brand beliefs and attitude-toward-the-ad (A_ad) on immediate and delayed measures of attitude-toward-the-brand (A_b)were investigated for individuals who were more- and less-involved with the message of a print advertisement. Results suggest A_ad's and brand beliefs' influence on immediate and delayed measures of A_b depend on individuals' involvement with the message. As expected, for individuals who are more-involved with an advertising message, both beliefs and A_ad influenced A_b. This relationship held even after a one-week delay. For those less-involved with the advertising message, however, beliefs had no significant influence on brand attitudes, measured immediately following advertising exposure or after a one-week delay. A_ad was shown to have a significant influence on brand attitudes in both time conditions. Implications for theory and practice, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.     

Perspectives on Advertising From the Geographical Literature: A Critical Review

In recent years, geographers have been devoting increasing attention to the field of advertising, and in particular to advertising imagery. The authors of this article offer a critical review of articles with substantial advertising content that have appeared in geography journals, and assess their relevance to advertising practitioners, scholars and students. These writings are reviewed under three headings: considerations of place and space; issues related to gender and race, and aspects of international advertising. Although many geographers are critical of advertising, there is nevertheless much in their work to interest an advertising readership.     

Construct Measurement in Advertising Research

This article presents an initial inquiry into measurement practices in advertising research based on a review of all research articles published in the Journal of Advertising (JA), the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR), and the International Journal of Advertising (IJA) between 2012 and 2014. The analysis focused on the measurement of attitude toward the ad (A_Ad), attitude toward the brand (A_Brand), and brand purchase intention (PI_Brand) because these are the most frequently studied constructs in advertising research. The results show there are weaknesses with the theoretical foundation of measures, in that constructs are often not defined and the measures are not taken from measure development studies. Moreover, there is great diversity in the items included in measures, the number of items in the measures, and in the answer scales used to capture responses, which casts doubts on the comparability of results from different studies. The implications of current measurement practice for advertising research are discussed and suggestions are made for how authors, editors, and reviewers can contribute to improved measurement practice.     

Customer Relationship Stage and the Use of Picture-Dominant versus Text-Dominant Advertising: A Field Study

This research reports the results of two field experiments designed to help determine what format of email advertising is most effective with customers at different lifecycle stages. The experiments examine customer response to picture-dominant versus text-dominant advertising. Although the relative effectiveness of picture- versus text-dominant advertising has received some attention in previous research, the issue of which type would be most effective at different points in the customer's relationship with the brand and for different metrics has not been explored. The two field experiments were executed by a major fashion retailer that sells clothing and accessories for special events. The first experiment was conducted with prospective customers and focused on advertising for the retailer's primary product, which typically occurs first in the purchase cycle. The second experiment was conducted with customers who had already purchased the primary product and focused on advertising for an accessory typically purchased later in the cycle. The investigation was conducted from a customer relationship management perspective, examining the financial impact of each type of advertisement at different stages in the customer's relationship with the brand. At the aggregate level we find only minor differences in the performance of the picture-dominant versus text-dominant advertisements. However, we find that the retailer can greatly improve revenue by customizing ad format based on observed customer traits.     

Advertising targeting young children: an overview of 10 years of research (2006–2016)

A review of 138 published academic articles was conducted to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of academic research of the past decade (2006–2016) on advertising directed to young children up to 12 years old. The research overview resulted in a conceptual framework comprising five research domains that were found to be most prominent. For each of these five domains, an overview, discussion and future research agenda is presented. We conclude that much of the research of the past decade included food advertising and its effects. Progress has been made in the domain of children's advertising processing, specifically with regard to advertising literacy. Despite the growing importance of embedded advertising, many of the new ad formats remain neglected (e.g. native and mobile advertising). Additionally, only a few studies investigated which executional factors (e.g. humour) are effective in advertisements to target children and social influences are also less often considered.     

Productivity and impact in advertising research since the millennium: a profiling and investigation of drivers of impact

What does it take to become a top advertising scholar in productivity? What drives impact in advertising research? This article sets out to answer these two questions by assessing the productivity and impact among scholars and their work in advertising since the millennium. As a two-part study, we begin by benchmarking and profiling the top 1% scholars in the field based on their research publications in the three top advertising journals (Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, and International Journal of Advertising). Next, we employ a three-perspective conceptual model to identify the salient drivers of impact in advertising research. By content analyzing 1443 articles in the three journals published between 2000 and 2014, we show that certain universalistic and particularistic factors (to a lesser extent) significantly predict paper citations. Our findings reveal how advertising academia is advancing and showing signs of internationalization in the new millennium, which provides implications for the field's advancement and scholarship.     

Shedding New Light on How Advertising Literacy Can Affect Children's Processing of Embedded Advertising Formats: A Future Research Agenda

Advertisers are continuously searching for new ways to persuade children; current methods include fully integrating commercial content into media content, actively engaging children with the commercial content, and increasing the number of commercial messages children are confronted with at one moment in time. This poses a challenge for how children cope with embedded advertising. This conceptual article aims to develop a theoretically grounded framework for investigating how children process embedded advertising. More precisely, it sheds light on previous research and conceptualizations of advertising literacy and provides suggestions for future research. The article examines conceptual and methodological issues and discusses the need for research on how to improve children's coping with embedded advertising by emphasizing the value of persuasive intent priming and implementation intentions. To conclude, future research directions are discussed regarding strategies to strengthen children's coping skills and their dispositional (i.e., associative network consisting of cognitive, moral, and affective beliefs related to advertising) and situational (i.e., actual recognition of and critical reflection on advertising) advertising literacy.     

Global and Cultural Characteristics of Humor in Advertising:

Extending theoretical frameworks tested in other national markets, this study provides an in-depth look at the structural and content characteristics of television advertising that uses humor in Japan. Similar types of humor structures are found but important content differences are observed as well. In addition, structural characteristics previously shown to be associated with higher levels of perceived humor in U.S. television advertising, are not found to affect perceptions of humor in Japanese television advertising. The study's implications for academics and international marketing managers interested in improving performance in the Japanese market are discussed.