Transferring game attitudes to the brand: persuasion from age 6 to 14

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to replicate previous findings regarding the differential impact of TV advertising and advergames on children's brand attitudes and pester intentions. Using a large data-set (N = 940, M_age = 9.8, SD = 2.4), with children ranging between 6 and 14 years old, the influence of passive exposure to TV advertising is compared to active exposure to an advergame. In addition, the potential moderating effect of age is explored. In a between-participants experiment, Flemish children were randomly assigned to watch a TV ad, play an advergame, or a no marketing control condition. Results revealed that children who had played the advergame reported significantly more positive brand attitudes compared to children who had watched the TV ad and children in the no advertising exposure control group. Children's pester intent was significantly higher for the advergame compared to the TV ad, but not compared to the no advertising exposure control group. The findings further showed that children's attitudes towards the ad format mediate the impact of the advertising format on pester intent. The advergame was indirectly more persuasive than the TV ad since children reported more positive attitudes towards the advergame compared to the TV advertisement. Moreover, this mediation effect did not differ by children's age. Persuasion knowledge did not mediate the influence of the advertising format on pester intent since children's persuasion knowledge was not significantly related to pester intentions regardless of children's age.     

An investigation of brand placement effects on brand attitudes and purchase intentions: Brand placements versus TV commercials

Brand placements are gradually becoming an important part of promotional toolkit of many major companies. However, despite the increasing volume of research on brand placements during the last decade, several important questions still remain unanswered. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of brand placements in television sitcoms and contrast it with the effectiveness of 30-second commercials. The authors administer a quasi-natural experiment to a sample of research panel participants to investigate how brand placements in television sitcoms affect their attitudes and purchase intentions. Results of the study suggest that people have a more positive attitude toward brand placements than toward traditional television commercials. Moreover, placements can be more effective than 30-seconds commercials when targeting audiences with low attitude toward advertising. Finally, a combination of a brand placement and a commercial within one program doesn't significantly increase brand attitudes and purchase intentions compared with sole exposure conditions.     

TV advertising of OTC medicines and its effects on child viewers

The influence of over-the-counter (OTC) medicine commercials on children's choices concerning use of OTC medicines was investigated in two experiments. In the first, 115 third and fourth graders were exposed to commercials for six different OTC medicines or commercials for other products. They were then asked to recommend either a medicine or nonmedicine remedy for a child and an adult with various illnesses and/or problems. The OTC medicine commercials appeared to influence children's recommendations only with respect to use of sleeping pills. In the second experiment 234 third and fourth graders were exposed to either fever and cold medicine commercials, all of which were directed toward the child viewer, or nondrug commercials. Only the fever medicine commercials appeared to influence the children. It was concluded that OTC medicine commercials do not, in general, influence children's choices concerning use of those medicines. Possible exceptions to this general case are noted.     

How advertising literacy training affect children's responses to television commercials versus advergames

This study examined children's advertising literacy level for traditional versus embedded advertising formats by comparing their cognitive and affective advertising literacy level for television commercials vs. advergames. The study also explored how cognitive and affective advertising literacy further attenuate advertising effects by investigating the mediation impact of cognitive and affective advertising literacy on the relation between the ad's format and the purchase request. Third, the study investigated how an advertising literacy training session moderates these effects.

The results of this experimental study showed that advergames lead to a higher purchase request rate among children than television commercials. However, only affective but not cognitive advertising literacy mediated the effect of the advertising format on purchase request. In addition, a training session was shown to accelerate children's cognitive (but not their affective) advertising literacy for advergames, but not for television commercials.     

Hong Kong children's understanding of television advertising

This study examines Chinese children's understanding and comprehension of television advertising. A quota sample of 448 children made up of 32 girls and 32 boys from kindergartens and grades 1-6, were personally interviewed in May 1998. The results indicated that children in grade 2 (aged 7-8 years) were beginning to understand what advertising was and were aware of the persuasive intention of television advertising. Over one-third of older children from grade 4 understood that television stations carried advertising for money. Like children in the West, the main reason for liking and disliking commercials depended on their entertainment element. An understanding of television advertising, recall of brands from slogans and comprehension of advertising content were consistently related to the cognitive development of children. Brand recognition from liked and disliked commercials was strong. Comprehension of the key messages of advertising content varied greatly by children's cognitive development and the style of presentation. Ethical issues and public opinions of Hong Kong consumers regarding advertising to children were discussed.     

Food advertising targeting children in India: Analysis and implications

In spite of advertising being severely critiqued for planting erroneous behavioral patterns in young children, there is limited research on advertising aimed at children in the Indian context. This study explores issues like gender representations, stereotypical portrayals, deployment of various appeals, persuasion tactics, and Indian advertising policies in the food commercials targeting Indian children. Hypotheses were developed based on socio-economic and cultural aspects specific to Indian ethos. Content analysis was carried out on commercials appearing on five major children's television channels in India. Results indicate that ads depict boys significantly more than girls, and demonstrate mother as the primary approver for choice of food. Additionally, results reveal that ads use familial settings more than other contexts. Emotional appeal is found to be more prevalent. However, unlike hypothesized, ads were not found to use scholastic or fantasy cues more than athletic or non-fantasy cues. The findings are examined through an ethical lens, and implications for various stakeholders are presented. The study provides advertising policy makers and executioners insights into ethically congruent communication strategies to be used for advertising to children.     

Introversion-extraversion and loud commercials

The introversion-extraversion dimension of Hans Eysenck's personality theory, combined with the theory proposed by Daniel E. Berlyne that hedonic value changes with changes in arousal level, are used to examine the effect that high intensity advertising appeals have on the audience. It was hypothesized that advertising appeals presented at a higher stimulus intensity than the program in which they are imbedded (e.g., commercials presented at a higher volume) would have a differential effect on individuals due, in part, to whether they were introverts or extraverts. In a preliminary test of this hypothesis, participants were exposed to either a radio commercial played at the same volume as the program or to one that was played at a higher volume. Their attitudes toward the commercial and the product were assessed. The results indicate that there is a difference between introverts and extraverts in the resulting attitude toward the product based on the type of appeal to which they were exposed.     

Ocko,Judy Young,and Rosenblum,M. L. The Specialty Store and its Advertising. New York: National Retail Merchants Association, 1976

Abstract

The authors report the findings of an experiment that investigated the influence of television programs on viewers' perceptions of television commercials. Specifically, program arousal and program pleasantness were examined as potentially important determinants of viewers' emotional responses to advertising. The experiment used a two (levels of program arousal) by two (levels of program pleasantness) design to assess the effects of the independent variables on viewers'perceptions of commercial pleasantness for a pod of four commercials. As hypothesized, an assimilation effect occurred in the high arousal condition and a contrast effect occurred in the low arousal condition. Implications of these results for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

A comparison of parents' and children's knowledge of brands and advertising slogans in the United States: implications for consumer socialization

Research in the area of consumer socialization suggests that parents act in an agent–learner relationship with their preadolescent children and have the greatest influence on their young children's purchase behaviour. The present study examines this assumption in light of changes in family roles and composition, media exposure and marketing efforts aimed at children. A cognitive recognition test of advertising slogans drawn from recent television commercials is used to determine knowledge levels of a sample of preadolescent children and their parents. Results suggest that children, beginning at age nine, have as much knowledge of advertising slogans as do their parents, even in product categories targeted at adults.     

A Comparative Study of Radio Audience Measurement Methodology

Little published research exists to guide self-regulators in their evaluation of advertising directed to children. Academic researchers have principally studied the effects of advertising upon children, rather than children's perceptions of specific commercials and ads. Research on such questions as fantasy, using famous presenters, scale disclosures and disclaimers would undoubtedly show age-related differences of perception. This might call into question the advertisers' responsibilities to the pre-school, pre-literate child. The situation is more complex when the advertiser seeks to address older children at times when younger children are also watching. Research will never satisfy the critics, but industry and self-regulators should pursue the question of how children perceive advertising.     

Results May Vary: Overcoming Variability in Consumer Response to Advertising Music

Although listening to music seems effortless, it actually involves many separate psychological mechanisms. This article describes and extends the multimechanism framework proposed by Juslin and colleagues, highlighting how the operation of psychological mechanisms leads to two general types of variability in consumer response to advertising music. First, the risk of between‐consumer variability (individual differences) in musical response is moderate or high for most mechanisms, and it often depends on each individual's particular history of exposure to music (listening biography). Second, within‐consumer variability occurs when different mechanisms have contrasting effects, so that an individual consumer's musical response is often mixed (e.g., guilty pleasures, bittersweet feelings, pleasurable sadness). Both types of variability can negatively impact advertising objectives (message reception, recall, acceptance, brand attitudes, etc.). The article offers preliminary suggestions for how marketers can use a multimechanism approach to successfully incorporate music in commercials and reduce the risk of unanticipated consumer responses. It ends with proposals for further research.     

Children's Responses to Advertising in Social Games

This study explored children's (ages 9 through 12) level of persuasion knowledge and peer influence susceptibility concerning advertising in social games and investigated how these variables affect children's desire for the brands advertised in these games. Results showed that (1) children have a fairly good knowledge of the advertising in social games yet hold uncritical attitudes toward it and claim to be not very susceptible to peer influence; (2) the most important predictors of children's desire for the advertised brands are a low critical attitude and high peer influence susceptibility; and (3) recognition and understanding of advertising in social games is effective in reducing advertised brand desire only for children who are familiar with social games.     

Recall of Information from Political Advertising

Abstract

Televised political commercials have frequently been criticized for stressing idealized image characteristics of the candidates rather than issues. Content analyses of political advertising, however, have shown that these commercials generally contain both image and issue material. Given both types of content are present in political ads, this study was designed to determine what people recall from these ads in a natural environment. A telephone study during the last week of a gubernatorial election revealed that the amount of free recall exhibited was greater for information from a preferred candidate's commercials than from his opponent's. However, one-third of the respondents were unable to recall anything from either candidates' political commercials. Recall was more highly related to attitude variables than most demographic variables or total television exposure.     

Contextual Priming Effects of Television Programs on Commercials: The Moderating Effects of Age

This study investigated whether age and its associated implicit memory deficits influences responses to contextual television advertising. Prior exposure to the advertised product or brand during a program should improve recall and brand attitude for contextual commercials. The results of a lab experiment, with participants ranging in age from 19 to 78, revealed that unbranded product appearances significantly improved recall, compared to normal unprimed commercials, but only for younger consumers. Branded product appearances did not significantly improve recall, compared to unbranded appearances. Contextual commercials had no positive effects on brand attitude. However, a competitor-brand appearance had a negative effect on brand attitude, for both older and younger consumers. Implications of these results, and their limitations, are discussed.     

How Chinese Children's Commercials Differ from Those of the United States: A Content Analysis

Abstract

A content analysis was conducted of children's television commercials from China and the United States that were recorded over a period of eighteen months. We describe how the content of the two sets of commercials differs and the underlying reasons for the differences, including cultural, economic, and social conditions. The results suggest that, for the most part, Chinese children's commercials reflect China's traditional cultural values and its social and economic development level. However, the analysis was able to detect a shifting in power in Chinese society from the elderly to the young, resulting mainly from its one-child policy implemented during the past two decades. We also found some evidence of Western values creeping into Chinese children's commercials. Limitations are noted, and suggestions are offered for additional research that will corroborate these findings.     

Capturing the Commercial World of Children: The Feasibility of Wearable Cameras to Assess Marketing Exposure

There is widespread concern about the implications of increased targeting of marketing to children. However, despite the ubiquitous presence of marketing in children's environments, children's actual exposure to the full range of marketing across all media and in multiple settings remains unknown. This article reports on an innovative method of analysis, using data from wearable automated cameras, to objectively document children's marketing exposure across and within settings. Results show children were exposed to an average of 638 marketing encounters per day. The most common form of marketing exposure was to brand labeling, and marketing for food and beverages the dominant product category. This article provides an objective observation of the commercial world of children in a wide range of settings, presenting unique insights and a new analysis method for documenting children's environmental advertising exposure to inform policy decisions about the ethics and practices of marketing to children.     

Social Psychological (Mis)Representations in Television Advertising

As a result of the FTC's more aggressive approach to regulating advertising, there has been a noticeable reduction in the amount of blatant lies in advertisements. More subtle forms of deceit are still a problem, however. This paper examines a special form of subtly deceptive advertising termed the social-psychological representation. A case is developed from available conceptual and empirical evidence to show how this apparently innocuous advertising method can deceive advertising receivers. Results are presented from a content analysis of television commercials which reveal that social-psychological representations are used extensively in national advertising.     

Evaluating the Message Strategy of U.S. Army Advertising: With Focus on Information Needs and Motivational Cues

A content analysis of 125 U.S. Army television commercials revealed that information about recruiting process and military lifestyle, the top two information needs of potential recruits, were not addressed as prominently in the commercials. The study also showed that Army commercials presented occupational motivations, which are more appropriate for potential reservists than active soldiers, more frequently than institutional motivations. The usage of information needs and motivational cues rested on a range of situational factors such as the number of wars in which the United States was engaged and the campaign's target audience. Implications for improving Army advertising were discussed.     

Television Commercial Evaluation in the Context of Program Induced Mood: Congruency versus Consistency Effects

Abstract

This study examines the effect of the mood induced by television program content on subjects' evaluations of commercials. Specifically, happy or sad commercials are viewed in the context of a television program designed to induce these respective moods. The competing predictions of Mood Congruence Theory versus the Consistency Effect are examined to interpret the results. For all dependent measures considered, findings were in accordance with a Consistency Effect interpretation of the results. For two such measures (i.e., liking for the commercial and purchase intention) the Consistency Effect was statistically supported. Hence for these measures, it was found that a happy commercial viewed in the context of a happy program was evaluated more favorably than the same commercial viewed after exposure to a sad program. For the sad commercial, the reverse effects for these measures were evident as this commercial performed more favorably in the context of a sad program relative to a happy one. The dominance of a Consistency Effect interpretation of the results over that of Mood Congruence are interpreted in the context of advertising strategy.