Super Bowl ad likeability: Enduring and emerging predictors

US advertisers love the Super Bowl because it reaches a huge and highly receptive audience. One metric that Super Bowl advertisers watch closely is ad likeability as this is correlated with sales success. Tomkovick, Yelkur, and Christians (2001, Journal of Marketing Communications 7: 89–108) studied ad likeability for Super Bowl ads in the 1990s. In this paper, we replicate and extend their research using USA Today's measurement of Super Bowl ad likeability in the decade of the 2000s as our dependent variable of interest. Our findings on 438 Super Bowl ads show that humor, animals, and product category were enduring predictors of ad likeability. Product information and the presence of children in Super Bowl ads were found to be emerging predictors of ad likeability. Most notably, the amount of product information provided in Super Bowl commercials was inversely related to ad likeability. Implications for advertisers are presented, as are conclusions, study limitations and directions for future research.     

Super returns to Super Bowl ads?

This paper uses a natural experiment—the Super Bowl—to study the causal effect of advertising on demand for movies. Identification of the causal effect rests on two points: 1) Super Bowl ads are purchased before advertisers know which teams will play; 2) home cities of the teams that are playing will have proportionally more viewers than viewers in other cities. We find that the movies in our sample experience on average incremental opening weekend ticket sales of about $8.4 million from a $3 million Super Bowl advertisement.     

Portrayals of Minorities and Women in Super Bowl Advertising

Portrayals of women and minorities advertising have long been of interest to advertising scholars. While research has found that the overall representation of these groups has increased, some stereotypes persist, and so do questions about the quality and prominence of portrayals. This study examines portrayals of minorities and women in Super Bowl advertising, the main “pop culture” showcase for US advertising. A content analysis of 10 years of Super Bowl ads is conducted and a multinomial logit regression model is employed to delve deeper into the content analysis results. Findings show that while the overall representation of women and various minority groups is strong, a deeper analysis shows that these groups are seldom depicted as primary characters by themselves and that some subtle stereotypes persist. We also find that ads featuring female principal characters are more likely to feature home settings, sexual appeals, emotional messages, and music as a major element and that it is less likely for female (vs. male) celebrities to be used. Minority principal characters are more likely to be celebrities and be included in ads with music or for technical products but are less likely to be included in ads featuring corporate social responsibility messages.     

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.     

Super Bowl advertising: field testing the importance of advertisement frequency,length and placement on recall

This study investigates the effects of length, frequency and pod placement on advertising recall in a non-laboratory setting. Subjects were surveyed the day after Super Bowl XXVIII to determine recall of advertisements shown during the game. The results indicate that length and frequency positively and significantly influence advertisement recall.     

The effects of pleasure and arousal on recall of advertisements during the Super Bowl

This study investigates whether pleasure and arousal levels of viewers watching a sports program affect advertisement recall. The results suggest that programs that evoke strong emotional reactions, such as the Super Bowl, may inhibit the recall of advertisements and brands. Specifically, these findings seem to support the Intensity (arousal) theory and may have important implications for advertisers who promote their products or services on sports‐related event programming. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The impact of pre-commercial break announcements on audience identification of official Olympic sponsors: a case study

Research has demonstrated the importance of media context as a situational factor in advertising effectiveness. This preliminary study investigated the impact of a previously overlooked television context factor, the pre-commercial break announcement, during televised coverage of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in the USA. Broadcast advertising is not part of the official Olympic sponsorship package and advertisers must negotiate television schedules in addition to sponsor fees. During the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the official US television network, NBC, included numerous pre-commercial break mentions spotlighting official sponsors as well as other advertisers who purchased commercial time during the event. This study investigated the impact of pre-break announcements on viewers' ability for distinguishing between official sponsors and regular programme advertisers. It was determined that these announcements do influence recall and increase the likelihood that any advertiser will be identified as a sponsor, thus compromising the value of an Olympic sponsorship.     

TV advertising engagement as a state of immersion and presence

Despite widespread theoretical and practical interest in advertising engagement, scholars and practitioners share little consensus as to what it is and how it can be measured. Guided by the theories of immersion and presence, this research investigates the experiential nature of advertising engagement in the television advertising context. Using survey data (N = 1,115 cases) on thirteen TV advertisements aired during two Super Bowl broadcasts, a definition of the construct is developed and a parsimonious, reliable and valid four-item scale for measuring experiential TV advertising engagement is produced. As conceptualized, TV advertising engagement is an experience independent of its antecedents and consequences, in which the viewer is psychologically immersed in and present with a TV advertisement. These conceptual dimensions are reflected in the four items of the produced scale.     

An analysis of media violence in commercials aired during the telecasts of sports events

The violence contained in television commercials has received less attention than other areas of media violence research. This study analyzed violent content in the Super Bowl commercials that aired between 2001 and 2009. Twenty-two percent of the Super Bowl commercials appearing from 2001 to 2009 contained some type of violence. A number of quantifications related to types of violence, targets and perpetrators of violent acts, and reasons for violence, among others, are reported. Subsequently, the relationships between the contextual factors of the violence and commercial likeability were examined.     

日本广告自律机制给我们的启示

本文在分析日本广告自律机制的基础上,阐述了日本广告自律机制的特征及意义。在对我国广告监管机制进行反思的同时,提出了构建符合国情的第三方广告自律审查机构的设想。     

Journal of Marketing Communications

The Hispanic market in the USA is a rapidly growing demographic segment that receives considerable attention from marketers. In addition, there is a considerable amount of literature on the Hispanic consumer's attitude towards advertising. Prior research has focused on the Hispanic audience's preference for English language versus Spanish language advertisements and provided normative guidelines for advertisers. This paper analyses the content from advertisements in a Spanish language magazine and dual language (English–Spanish) magazine in order to determine whether they adhere to these normative guidelines. The findings suggest that media vehicle selection does play a part in determining the language content of an advertisement as well as the amount of copy used in English language and Spanish language advertisements. The results also suggest that the amount of advertisements that use a bilingual approach remains small, with advertisers preferring an either/or approach to language selection.     

The Practicality of Super Bowl Advertising for New Products and Companies

Abstract

Companies that advertise during the Super Bowl can reach 40 million U.S. households with a 30-second commercial spot, but the cost can exceed $2 million. This research examines Nielsen television ratings and expenses for related commercial spots and suggests that the Super Bowl is not always the best site for introducing new companies or products to the marketplace. ANOVA test results indicate that younger companies may better affect purchase decisions by advertising more frequently during less expensive programming slots.     

A longitudinal examination of negative political advertising and advertisement attitudes: a North American example

This study examined the cognitive and affective components of advertisement attitudes towards positive and negative political advertising. Simulated advertisements for two US presidential campaigns conducted eight years apart were given to student samples at two state universities. The results indicated that, while overall attitudes had not changed, when examining sponsor‐positive advertisements and opponent‐negative advertisements separately the components of advertisement attitudes had changed over the eight‐year time span, particularly for female subjects.     

Changes in Concentration of Advertising Expenditures Among the Leading National Advertisers in the United States 1970–1988: A Note

This paper investigates the change of advertising concentration between 1970 and 1988. Using six measures of concentration and based on the advertising expenditures of the one hundred leading advertisers in the US reported by Advertising Age, this paper finds that the level of advertising concentration varies in the 1970s and has been steadily increasing since the early 1980s. However, the change of advertising concentration between all of the two-year periods examined is not significant. The findings also suggest that the nature of industry and the country of origin of advertisers do not exhibit significant impact on the level of advertising concentration.     

Effects of Likeability Dynamics on Consumers' Intention to Share Online Video Advertisements

Understanding how consumer evaluations of online advertisements affect their intention to share advertising content online is essential for successful viral advertising. This article examines consumer decisions whether or not to share video advertisements, in particular the role of their moment-to-moment likeability of the online ad. The study uses a theoretical memory-based framework of temporal sequence effects and unique data for 120 advertisements and more than 43,000 consumer evaluations. The authors find that high likeability at the beginning and the end of a video advertisement is important, though consistent with the memory-based framework, the ending effect is greater. A linear trend in likeability does not influence viral potential, but variance in likeability evaluations (the rollercoaster effect) has positive effects on an advertisement's virality. The moment-to-moment effects are mediated by the overall liking for an online video advertisement. Interestingly, the beginning, end and peak effects influence the viral potential even after controlling for the overall liking. The difference of the peak moment becomes important only when controlling for the overall liking, whereas the direct peak and the rollercoaster effects are suppressed by the overall liking.     

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.     

Advertising and the seven sins of memory

A positive intention may be formed as a result of exposure to an advertisement, but if a memory malfunction interferes with that intention, the advertising will be ineffective.This paper considers the implications for advertisers of Daniel Schacter’s ‘seven sins of memory’: transcience, absent-mindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias and persistence. Each of the ‘sins’ is explained in detail and advice provided for advertisers on how to avoid these pitfalls.     

广告促动经济发展

广告是市场经济的产物,在经济环境不断变化的大背景下发展、成熟。广告与经济相辅相成,相互促进。本文从广告与经济的关系着眼,在对二者关系进行分析的基础上,指出了我国经济发展中的问题之一即我国企业的广告投放量明显不足,同时就当前的世界经济情况下企业广告的投放提出了科学、合理的建议。     

"What about the Intended Consequences?"

Research that examines race-stereotyped advertising emphasizes the social impact of these representations and overlooks the potential positive effect on advertising effectiveness. The present research examines the effects of race-stereotyped portrayals on advertising effectiveness among both members and nonmembers of a group that is stereotyped in an advertisement. We integrate research on consumer identity, social categorization, and advertising persuasion to hypothesize the process underlying viewers' attitude formation when exposed to advertising featuring a race-stereotyped portrayal. Results of an experiment conducted in South Africa demonstrate that members of the group that is the subject of the stereotyped portrayal (stereotyped viewers) feel offended. At the same time, results suggest that nonstereotyped viewers experience ambivalence when exposed to stereotyped portrayals. Findings highlight the role of viewers' strength of identification and provide guidance to advertisers with regard to the use of stereotyped portrayals in advertising.     

Estimating the Half-life of Advertisements

The effectiveness of an advertisement wears out over time; eventually, it becomes totally ineffective. The author proposes a concept for measuring the lifetime of an advertisement and derives closed-form expressions for it under certain conditions. In addition, the author distinguishes the proposed concept, the half-life of an advertisement, from the prevalent notion of the duration of advertising effects. More importantly, the information on the half-life of ads is actionable from a managerial standpoint, whereas that on the duration of advertising effect is hypothetical. To enable advertisers to estimate the half-life of their ads, the author describes an estimation approach and illustrates its use by applying it to the advertising of the Dockers® brand of Levi Strauss and Company. Substantively, the lifetime of advertisements for the Dockers® brand is about three months. Thus, advertisers are well-advised to periodically estimate the half-life of their ads, so that they can plan the timing to replace worn out advertisements.