Switching before the pitch: Exploring television channel changing before the ads even start

Although much research examines ‘ad zapping’ or channel changing during the commercials, the present work explores preemptive ad avoidance before the commercials begin. Television programs give different ad signals, which could alter rates of preemptive ad avoidance. Ad pods from two hit shows were explored using second-by-second channel-changing data; rates of preemptive ad avoidance were practically important and varied between shows. Inspection of program episodes suggested that the show with more preemptive ad zapping gave clearer ad signals and had more ‘ad safe’ time per episode, that is, there was more time when an ad break would not occur clearly. The data suggest that advertisers should seek unit-specific measures of opportunities to see commercials as such measures become possible with digital distribution of television.     

Thinking pink? Consumer reactions to pink ribbons and vague messages in advertising

Many brands partner with causes in their advertising campaigns. Consumers appreciate that the brands they purchase participate in activities that contribute to a society’s well-being. This study uses copy-testing techniques to evaluate the number and types of thoughts and brand attitudes in the presence and absence of cause-related messages. Individuals saw an ad for one of two products. None of the ads stated the brand’s financial support to the cause, which is representative of many messages today. People viewing the Dansko ads with the pink ribbon generated significantly fewer thoughts than those viewing the ad without the pink ribbon. For the Fitbit ads, more thoughts were generated for the ad with the pink ribbon than the ad without the pink ribbon. The Fitbit ad with the pink ribbon and support message generated fewer positive and negative thoughts but more neutral thoughts that questioned the brand/cause relationship. Attitudes toward the brand did not vary based on the presence or absence of the pink ribbon. People who saw ads with the pink ribbon displayed more positive attitudes toward the brands’ commitment to society and misestimated the brands’ contributions to the cause.     

Moderating effects of self-image congruity on the relationship between advertisement message strength and revisiting intention

This research note delineates the effect of restaurant customers’ perceived self-image congruity (i.e., the match between the image of a product or brand and customers’ image of themselves) on the relationship between the strength of a restaurant advertisement and customers’ intention to revisit that restaurant. This study posits that customers’ preference for a restaurant brand, formed by their perceived self-image congruity, can alter the effects of ad message strength on their revisiting intention. More specifically, due to the biasing effect caused by self-image congruity, the effect of an ad’s argument strength on behavioral intentions may be diminished when customers have a high perceived level of self-image congruity. The findings indicate that strong ad messages elicit significantly higher revisiting intentions than weak ad messages when customers perceive a mismatch between the image, the brand, and themselves; however, no significant difference in revisiting intentions was detected between strong and weak ad messages when customers perceived a match between image and restaurant brand. Furthermore, this study examines how gender-based information-processing tendencies influence this effect of self-image congruity on the relationship between ad message strength and revisiting intention. Overall, this study provides a theoretical understanding of the biasing effect of self-image congruity on customers’ information processing and has important managerial implications for restaurant marketing.     

Collective-based ad transparency in targeted hotel advertising: Consumers’ regulatory focus underlying the crowd safety effect

Facing transparency requirement of ad generation process, digital marketers need to design proper transparency messages to preempt consumer backlash. Based on crowd psychology literature and the regulatory focus theory, we proposed and tested the crowd safety effect of the collective-based (vs. individual-based) ad transparency strategy with two experimental studies in the context of online hotel booking. Results of two studies consistently demonstrate the crowd safety effect of the collective-based transparency on enhancing hotel booking intention and ad click-through willingness. Furthermore, we found that consumers’ trust toward the ad, rather than privacy concern, mediates this positive effect. These findings help us better understand how social dimensions in ad transparency messages shape consumer responses, as well as the role of consumer trust in promoting targeted ad effectiveness through promotion focused behaviors.     

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.     

When comparative valence frame affects brand extension evaluations: the moderating role of parent-extension fit

This research examines how comparative valence frame influences brand extension acceptance when parent-extension fit matters. The results of this research show that a positive comparison-framed ad message elicits more favourable extension evaluations and greater purchase intentions than a negative comparison-framed ad message under the similar extension condition, while both positive and negative comparison-framed ad messages contribute equally to brand extension evaluations and purchase intentions under the dissimilar extension condition. The findings also suggest that perceived extension risk serves as a critical mediator that underlies the interactive impact of comparative valence frame and parent-extension fit on brand extension evaluations. Theoretical and practical implications for advertising message strategies in brand extensions are discussed.     

Ad framing effects for consumption products: An affect priming process

This research examines why positively framed messages work more effectively than negatively framed messages in product advertising by establishing an affect priming process model. Findings from Experiment 1 showed that positively framed ad messages evoked higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect than did negatively framed ad messages. Accordingly, positively framed ad messages generated more favorable ratings on ad believability, ad liking, and brand attitudes. Most importantly, this research demonstrated the process by which frame‐evoked affect exerted influence on brand attitudes via its impacts on priming affect‐congruent cognitive responses. Experiment 1 also found that positively framed ads encouraged participants to be attentive to and elaborate on messages more so than negatively framed ads. Findings from Experiment 2 further showed that ad framing effects were moderated by the type of product attributes being featured. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Promoting charitable donation campaigns on social media

It is salient to investigate how to increase persuasiveness of donation campaign messages communicated on social media. The purpose of this paper is to propose that a construal fit between different message frames (loss/gain framing and desirability/feasibility framing) and donation temporal proximity enhances the persuasiveness of charity donation messages. A convenience sample of 120 adults in Izmir voluntarily participated in this study and participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. This research shows that gain-framed donation-promoting messages paired with desirability-framed messages are more effective on distant-future donation intentions, whereas loss-framed messages paired with feasibility-framed messages are more effective on near-future donation intentions. The findings of this paper are to figure out ways to enable marketers to develop effective Corporate Social Responsibility strategies for telecommunication service companies to encourage consumers’ charitable donations in a social media context.     

Marketing eco-fashion: The influence of brand name and message explicitness

This study investigated the influence of two variables – brand name and message explicitness – on attitude toward advertisement and attitude toward brand, and further, explored the impact of attitude toward advertisement, attitude toward brand, and other variables on consumer purchase intention. A questionnaire with an experimental design component was administered to 343 college students. Results revealed that respondents formed positive attitudes toward apparel brand when the advertising message contained explicit information about environmentally friendly products. Attitude toward brand, subjective norm, attitude toward advertisement, eco-fashion involvement, and environmental commitment were strong predictors of intention to purchase an environmentally friendly apparel brand. Implications are that apparel marketers may build more positive attitudes toward brands by providing explicit information about environmentally friendly products in their marketing claims. This may be one way for marketers to attract college students who are interested in purchasing environmentally friendly products, but who are not fully committed to a green lifestyle. Further, marketers may be able to reach those who are less interested in purchasing environmentally friendly products by raising awareness and knowledge of the benefits associated with their products and brands, which may help to establish a sustainable market for eco-fashion.     

Religious commitment related to message contentiousness

Using an experimental design, we tested whether viewers with differing levels of religious commitment have differing unaided recall, aided recall and attitudes towards non-contentious and contentious TV commercials in terms of their perceived message cues. The study, using Bahrani Muslim interviewees, demonstrates that religiously stricter Muslims have significantly lower recall and a more negative attitude towards messages perceived as contentious, while their recall and attitude scores for non-contentious messages are similar to those of subjects with lower levels of religious commitment. We recommend that international marketers show increased sensitivity to the cultures and traditions of submarkets by manipulating message cues, like music and dancing, to strengthen the brand communication while retaining its strategic integrity.     

Sports Marketing

Although text messaging as a communication tool in society is rampant, research on its effects within print advertisements is lacking. To help fill this void, we employ three between-subject experiments (i.e., Study 1: text message vs. no text message; Studies 2 and 3: text message vs. traditional language). We posit that using text message copy in print ads is a unique (as grounded in distinctiveness theory) and fitting (as grounded in communication trust theory) approach to commune with targeted viewers and, therefore, should lead to favorable advertising outcomes. The experimental results confirm this notion. For example, responses concerning ad novelty, attention toward the ad, attitude toward the ad, purchase intention, and perceived brand trust are more favorable toward the text message condition ads. Implications and directions for future text message-related research are discussed.     

Controlled infection! Spreading the brand message through viral marketing

Viral marketing uses electronic communications to trigger brand messages throughout a widespread network of buyers. The process is often portrayed as a random ground-up phenomenon over which marketers have little control. But an examination of successful viral marketing cases identifies a number of strategies underpinning this chaotic phenomenon, providing insight into how marketers can use it to position their brands, change their image, and increase adoption rates. Successful viral marketing campaigns are comprised of an engaging message that involves imagination, fun and intrigue, encourages ease of use and visibility, targets credible sources, and leverages combinations of technology.     

The Extensions of Synergy

Abstract

Building brand identity becomes more difficult in a media-saturated culture, making it difficult to get a commercial message through to its audience, and requiring marketers to develop evermore omnipresent devices for reaching consumers. Corporations use synergy as a way of conveying consistent brand messages through multiple venues. Those venues have expanded beyond our conventional notions of the mass media, however, and increasingly rely on physical environments such as theme parks, casinos, and even residential communities to communicate and reinforce brand messages. These places, artificially constructed environmental simulacra, obscure the distinctions normally made between the cinematic world and the real world. The transformation of space into a new advertising medium has significant cultural implications.     

Enhancing Recall and Recognition for Brand Names and Body Copy: A Mixed-Language Approach

As the inclusion of foreign languages in advertisements is a growing global trend, this research examines how language choice may influence important advertising outcome measures within a South Korean advertising context. Specifically, the study aims to explore how foreign and local languages influence recall and recognition for brand name and body copy messages. The interaction of using two languages in an advertisement, to convey different elements of the ad may secure varied levels of attention and comprehension. The findings suggest that recall and recognition are significantly affected by the language presented. An ad presenting a brand name in the foreign language (English Roman alphabet) with the body copy message in the local language (Hangul) is an effective strategy to enhance recall and recognition of the brand name and the ad message within the Korean youth market. The results of this study expand linguistic theory within an advertising context while also providing international advertisers with useful tips when operating in a multinational marketplace. Future research avenues are discussed.     

Make product placement work for you: Get less exposure

Expenditure on product placement has grown faster (170%) than on advertising (15%) over the past 10 years, but some evidence suggests that the return on investment has been declining. For the well-known, fast-moving consumer goods/consumer-packaged goods (FMCG/CPG) food brands typically placed in local TV programming—the context of this article—the management problem of overfocusing on brand exposure hinders gaining brand choice, the ultimate strategic goal of marketing. Managers’ preconditioning, ease of measuring, and assumptions about the value of exposure contribute to their subtle placements becoming blatant or in other problems, as when other promotional devices, like a television commercial or program sponsorships billboard, get bundled into the same TV episode as the company’s own product placement. The higher brand exposure gained can evoke negative mental outcomes in consumers, weakening influences on brand choice. An experiment with a large sample of grocery shoppers supports such an outcome. More strategic value can also be gained from product placements in general by their use longitudinally, in-between campaigns of TV commercials, as an instructive tool and through normalizing a brand’s role in a consumer’s life. We provide eight checkpoints for marketers to consider when planning to use product placement to gain value for their brands.     

Exploring the Effects of Compliance/Non-Compliance Message Framing,Desirability of End States,and Brand Zealotry on Consumers’ Responses to Wearables Advertising

Abstract

An experiment examined the combinatory effects of advertising message framing, desirability of end states, and brand zealotry on consumers’ responses to wearables advertising. The compliance framed ad elicited more favorable ad attitude, purchase intention, and word of mouth (WOM) intention compared with the noncompliance framed ad. Results also showed brand zealotry moderated the interaction between message framing and desirability of end states on WOM intention. Specifically, for low brand zealotry individuals, the compliance-framed ad elicited greater WOM intention than the noncompliance-framed ad regardless of the desirability of end-states. The desirable end-state ad triggered a greater WOM intention than the undesirable end-state ad regardless of message framing. For high brand zealotry individuals, the effect of message framing on WOM intention relied on the desirability of end-states. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.     

The Detrimental Effect of Cause-Related Marketing Parodies

Cause-related marketing (CrM), defined as a firm’s communication activities designed to promote a consumer good or service by including an offer to contribute a specified amount to a designated nonprofit cause, has become a preponderant practice. In tandem with the development of CrM activities, criticism of CrM has increased; critics note that some CrM claims mislead consumers regarding their purchases’ donative impact. Critics such as consumers and nonprofit advocates are using ad parodies, noncommercial messages that mimic an actual advertisement. In this context, the study investigates how these ad parodies can result in a detrimental impact on consumers’ perceptual and behavioral evaluations of the sponsoring brand. By implementing a tightly controlled experiment comparing actual CrM campaigns and CrM parodies, the author shows that the detrimental effects of CrM parodies on brand attitude and word-of-mouth valence can be explained by greater skepticism toward the firm’s sincere and altruistic motivations. In addition, the author shows that a robust asymmetry emerges in which CrM ad parodies damage perceptual and behavioral evaluations of brands more than actual CrM campaigns improve them. The authors replicate the results for two kinds of critics and two types of brands. The results provide useful implications for theory and practice, documenting the backfire effect of poorly designed CrM, which may urge brands to move toward more self-regulation of CrM practices.     

Ad Creativity via Augmented Reality Technology in Online Video Ads: the Differential Role of Novelty,Message Usefulness,and Ad-Consumer Association

This study aims to examine the role of ad creativity in YouTube video ads featuring augmented reality (AR) technology. Through an online experiment, we compared people who hold positive preexisting attitudes toward a familiar brand, people who hold negative preexisting attitudes toward a familiar brand, and people who are unfamiliar with a brand in terms of their perceived creativity of a video ad featuring AR technology. Further, we explored the differential effect of three dimensions of ad creativity, namely, message usefulness, ad novelty, and ad-consumer association, on short and long-term brand name recall, short and long-term brand message recall, ad attitudes, and brand attitudes. Results demonstrated that for a familiar brand, people’s perceived creativity of an ad is biased by their preexisting brand attitudes. For an unfamiliar brand, since people do not hold preexisting attitudes toward it, their perceived creativity of an ad for the unfamiliar brand is mostly shaped by their ad evaluations. Moreover, results revealed that the three dimension of ad creativity play different roles in ad effectiveness.     

Is a website known by the banner ads it hosts?

While marketers often rely upon banner ads to generate revenues, it is unclear as to how these ads might influence consumer perceptions of host websites. In this paper, we conduct three studies to examine the effect of animation and brand advertised in a banner ad on consumers’ attitude towards a host website, as well as word-of-mouth behaviour. Results of the first study reveal that consumers are irritated with unfavourable banner brands and that irritation, in turn, negatively affects their attitude towards the host website. We demonstrate that banner brand and banner type serve as contextual cues that influence judgements of the host website due to a forward spillover effect. Findings of the second study demonstrate that a host website, corol- larily, serves as a context to negatively influence evaluations of favourable brands mainly for animated banner ads - a reciprocal spillover effect. The third study validates and extends the findings of the first study by adopting methodological pluralism through a different approach to stimuli selection and experimental manipulation. Results indicate that, while presence of animation has a negative influence on the host site and WOM behaviour when the brand advertised is an unfavourable one, it neither benefits nor hurts a host website evaluation and WOM behaviour when a favourable brand is advertised. Managerial implications of our findings are also discussed.     

Effects of ironic advertising on consumers’ attention,involvement and attitude

The use of an ironic message in advertising has increased, but little empirical research has been conducted to identify the effects of ironic advertising on consumers. This study demonstrated that ironic advertising can lead to consumers’ higher attention to the ad and greater involvement in the ad message compared to non-ironic advertising, applying schema incongruity theory. This study also examines whether ironic advertising influences consumers’ attitudes toward the ad and the brand. Lastly, this study identified a moderating role of need for cognition on ad attention.