Interaction Effect of Ad Puffery and Ad Skepticism on Consumer Persuasion

ABSTRACT

A 2 × 2 experiment was conducted to test the interaction effects of ad puffery and consumer ad skepticism on consumer persuasion using print ads for jeans. High ad skeptics (i.e., those more skeptical of ads) held a more positive attitude toward the ad than low ad skeptics (i.e., those less skeptical of ads) when a puffed (i.e., exaggerated) ad was viewed. Conversely, low ad skeptics had greater purchase intentions than high ad skeptics when a nonpuffed (i.e., nonexaggerated) ad was viewed.     

Examining the Third‐Person Effect of Baseline Omission in Numerical Comparison: The Role of Consumer Persuasion Knowledge

Marketers often use numerical comparisons in promotional claims to signal superior product offerings. A potentially misleading practice involves omitting the reference point deliberately in order to make the focal claim more appealing—a persuasion tactic referred to as “baseline omission” in the present research. In two experiments, this research demonstrates that consumers tend to perceive this tactic as more effective on others than on themselves. The self‐others difference is more salient among consumers with more persuasion knowledge. Consumers’ concerns about its effectiveness on themselves, rather than on others, better predict their supportiveness to regulate the use of baseline omission.     

Attributes Versus Benefits: The Role of Construal Levels and Appeal Type on the Persuasiveness of Marketing Messages

When should marketers emphasize attributes or benefits in their communications? Grounded in construal-level theory, the results of four studies suggest that when a purchase is planned for the distant future or when construal levels are high, benefit-based appeals are more persuasive than attribute-based appeals. By contrast, when a purchase is planned for the near future or when consumers are predisposed to low construal levels, attribute-based appeals are equally as persuasive as benefit-based appeals. However, when low construal levels are temporarily induced using a mind-set manipulation, attribute-based appeals are found to be more persuasive than benefit-based appeals. Moreover, we demonstrate how these effects occur only when processing fluency is uninhibited. This research establishes an important link between these appeal types and construal levels, subsequently demonstrating when marketers should use these appeals.     

The Moderating Impact of Quantitative Information on the Relationship Between Source Credibility and Persuasion: A Persuasion Knowledge Model Interpretation

An experiment manipulated source expertise, source bias, and message format. The findings reveal that expert sources are expected to quantify message claims whereas non-expert sources are not. Persuasion is greater when these expectations are met versus when the source and the message format are incongruent, but only when the source also has self-interest in the advocacy. It appears that source-message incongruity and source bias focus attention on the source and, in combination, lead to negative inferences about the source's manipulative intent. This interpretation is consistent with the Persuasion Knowledge Model (Friestad and Wright 1994).     

Consumer Knowledge and Understanding of Consumer Credit

Much has recently been written about the desirability of restrictive usury laws. While low maximum rates may prevent excessive charges to some, they also limit the ability of high-risk persons to borrow. Therefore, if consumers have a sufficient understanding of the credit market to realize what they are paying for and how much they are paying when they borrow, a case can be made against low maximum finance rates. This article reports on a nationwide study designed to measure consumer knowledge and understanding of consumer credit. The results are that while consumers can generally rank lenders correctly in terms of cost, there are serious gaps in their knowledge of the credit market. Education and income are the key determinants of knowledge and understanding of consumer credit.     

Effect of Ad-Irrelevant Distance Cues on Persuasiveness of Message Framing

This research suggests that the relative persuasiveness of message framing depends on psychological distance induced by seemingly irrelevant cues in the ad environment. Positively (negatively) framed messages are more persuasive when the ad-irrelevant cues induce psychological remoteness (proximity). Across four studies and two different product categories, participants evaluated positively (negatively) framed messages more favorably when induced with social remoteness (proximity), spatial remoteness (proximity), and an abstract (concrete) construal. The findings contribute theoretically to the extant literature on message framing and offer actionable implications to ad managers for strategically designing ad environments to enhance the effectiveness of message framing.     

The Influence of Consumer Degree of Knowledge on Consumer Behavior: The Case of Spanish Olive Oil

This article analyses the influence of perceived quality measured across intrinsic and extrinsic attributes on satisfaction and consumer loyalty for a traditional food product as with PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) olive oil “Aceite del Bajo Aragón.” In addition, the article highlights the influence of consumer's degree of knowledge on these relationships. The results suggest that the main drivers to explain consumers' satisfaction and loyalty are the perceived quality of the intrinsic attributes (color, appearance, flavor, etc.). However, when consumers are classified attending to their degree of knowledge the main explanatory variable of satisfaction and loyalty of the more experienced consumers are the extrinsic attributes of the product (brand name, place of origin, images associated to the product, etc.). These findings allow us to develop important managerial implications for building a brand image for a PDO.     

Consumer Perceptions of Credibility and Selling Intent Among Advertisements,Advertorials, and Editorials: A Persuasion Knowledge Model Approach

This article presents the results of a study of consumer reaction to three different types of information delivery in magazines: editorials, advertorials, and advertisements. The study draws on the Persuasion Knowledge Model to examine the effect of each form of information delivery on source influence, source credibility, perceived selling intent and purchase intention. The analysis indicates that the form of information delivery in print media affects the perceived credibility of the source of the information, the perceived selling intention and the purchase intention. Implications for marketers and policy-makers are also discussed.     

Warranty as a Signal of Quality: The Moderating Effect of Consumer Knowledge on Quality Evaluations

Prior research has shown that consumers use warranties as a signal of quality. This article explores whether prior knowledge moderates consumers' utilization of warranty information in evaluating product quality. In particular, we examine how prior knowledge impacts the relative use of warranty information when consumers are already aware of firm reputation. Indeed, we find that the extent to which warranty information is used in quality evaluations varies with prior knowledge. We report the results of two experiments, which somewhat surprisingly suggest that, for experts, a better warranty leads to perceptions of higher quality, regardless of firm reputation. Novices on the other hand, tend to perceive a better warranty as a signal of higher quality only when the firm is reputable but not when its reputation is low.     

The Effect of Friendly Persuasion and Gender on Tax Comliance Behavior

Friendly persuasion, in contrast to deterrent measures like tax audits and penalties on underreported taxes, is a positive and possibly a cost effective method of increasing taxpayer compliance. However, prior studies have failed to show that friendly persuasion has a significant impact on compliance (Blumenthal et al., 2001; McGraw and Scholz, 1991). In our study, in contrast to prior studies, we examine the impact of generating and reading reasons supporting compliance as friendly persuasion on individuals' income reporting behavior as well as control for gender effects. Specifically, we predict an interaction effect between friendly persuasion and gender on compliance behavior. We carried out a 2 (friendly persuasion and control) × 2 (men and women) full factorial experiment, where participants earned $30 by completing two questionnaires. Participants in the friendly persuasion group were required first to generate and second to read a list of reasons why they should comply fully. Afterwards, participants in both groups were asked to report the income they earned and pay tax on the reported income. The results show a significant main effect for gender as well as a significant interaction effect between gender and friendly persuasion on income reported. Women in the friendly persuasion group reported significantly higher income compared to men in that group. Other comparisons were not significant. Policy implications for increasing taxpayers' ethics and compliance are highlighted.     

消费信贷对消费需求的影响效应分析

本文选取中国和美国1990-2004年消费信贷与居民消费的数据,对消费信贷对消费需求的影响效应进行分析比较,结果表明,在现阶段,由于我国经济改革造成的不确定性预期增强、居民贫富差距扩大及消费的挤出效应等原因,消费信贷对居民消费的刺激作用很不显著.扩大消费需求的根本举措在于提高居民收入水平,减少收入差距,完善社会保障体系.     

Scarcity Appeal in Advertising: Exploring the Moderating Roles of Need for Uniqueness and Message Framing

In this article we examine differences in the impact of message framing and scarcity appeal types in advertisements on consumers with varying levels of need for uniqueness (NFU). Results from two experimental studies support a two-way NFU × scarcity interaction, wherein participants with lower levels of NFU show a greater impact of demand (versus supply) scarcity appeal on their attitudes and purchase intentions; whereas participants with higher levels of NFU show a greater impact of supply (versus demand) appeal. In addition, we found support for a three-way interaction, which shows that, under both gain and loss frames, participants with lower levels of NFU prefer demand over supply appeal; whereas under the loss frame, participants with higher levels of NFU prefer supply over demand appeal. We discuss the conceptual contribution and managerial implications of these findings.     

Comparing TV Ads and Advergames Targeting Children: The Impact of Persuasion Knowledge on Behavioral Responses

Although thousands of advergames are directed at children, little is known about how advergames affect children and whether this persuasive process differs from traditional advertising formats. Investigating the underlying persuasive mechanism, Study 1 shows that, for TV advertising, persuasion knowledge drives the persuasive effects while, for advergames, persuasion is mainly driven by the attitude toward the game. Adding advertising cues to the advergame does not increase persuasion knowledge but does diminish the positive attitude toward the game effect, influencing behavior indirectly. Study 2 demonstrates that, for an advergame, the persuasive mechanism does not differ between a commercial versus a social persuasive message.     

The Effect of Consumer Participation on Price Sensitivity

This study examined the noneconomic factors affecting consumers’ participation in purchase decisions, focusing in particular on the social aspect of the buyer‐seller interaction. In addition, we attempted to clarify the association between consumer participation and price sensitivity. Of the four social dimensions of consumer participation—preparation, relationship building, information exchange, and intervention—our results indicated that the first three dimensions are negatively associated with price sensitivity but the intervention dimension is not. Additionally, we also found that, given the same level of preparation, industries typically characterized by higher participation, such as hair salons, are associated with lower consumer price sensitivity as compared to those typically characterized by lower participation, such as fast food restaurants. Similarly, given the same level of relationship building, information exchange, and intervention, industries typically characterized by higher participation have lower consumer price sensitivity than those typically characterized by lower participation.     

Scarcity Appeals in Advertising: The Moderating Role of Expectation of Scarcity

Advertisers often use scarcity appeals to influence consumers, with announcements such as “hurry, limited quantities,” and “limit: two per customer.” Based on a persuasion knowledge framework, we show in three studies that the effect of scarcity appeals on product evaluation is moderated by consumers' expectation of scarcity, such that scarcity appeals have a positive effect when expectation of scarcity is high but not when it is low. We also show that this interaction effect holds for expectation of scarcity due to demand as well as supply, and that cognitive load constitutes a boundary condition for this effect. These findings contribute to the literature by identifying expectation of scarcity as a moderator, persuasion knowledge as a mechanism, and cognitive load as a boundary condition for the effect of scarcity appeals on product evaluation. From a managerial perspective, this research indicates that scarcity appeals are more effective when consumers have high compared to low expectations of scarcity; that activation of persuasion knowledge can eliminate the positive effect of scarcity appeals; and that cognitive load can reinstate the positive effect of scarcity appeals on product evaluation.     

The Effect of Scarcity on the Purchase Intentions of Prevention and Promotion Motivated Consumers

This study investigates the influence of consumers’ motivational orientations (“prevention” vs. “promotion”) on their susceptibility to demand‐based versus supply‐based scarcity, measured by purchase intention scores. Prevention‐focused participants were more inclined to adopt a product when it was perceived to be demand‐scarce rather than supply‐scarce, while those who were identified as promotion‐focused responded positively to scarcity attributed to supply shortfall. In addition, products that could be associated with a prevention motive enhanced purchase intentions when presented as demand‐scarce but not if perceived to be supply‐scarce; conversely, products associated with the promotion motive scored better if the scarcity was seen to be supply‐generated rather than demand‐generated. Lastly, messages focused on prevention were more effective than those focused on promotion in the case of perceived demand scarcity, whereas the converse holds true for supply scarcity. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the motivational differences underlying the effectiveness of scarcity appeals. They furthermore suggest the strategic implication that improved intention to purchase occurs when the regulatory focus evoked by a scarcity‐related message is compatible with the appeal it communicates.     

The Effect of Overconfidence and Underconfidence on Consumer Value

Although the effect of knowledge miscalibration (i.e., the inaccuracy in subjective knowledge relative to objective knowledge) on consumer purchase decisions has been investigated, its effect in the usage stage of consumption is little understood. This paper examines the effect of knowledge miscalibration in terms of both overconfidence (i.e., when subjective knowledge is inflated) and underconfidence (i.e., when subjective knowledge is deflated) on the dimensions of consumer value (i.e., efficiency, excellence, play, and aesthetics). The paper makes the case that overconfidence and underconfidence should be treated separately as they trigger different consumption consequences. Several hypotheses are tested through two studies: a covariance‐based study (Study 1) and an experimental study (Study 2). In Study 1, overconfidence and underconfidence are measured, while in Study 2 they are experimentally manipulated. Findings of both studies show that underconfidence negatively influences efficiency, excellence, and aesthetics, and overconfidence negatively influences play. Also, Study 1 finds a negative effect of underconfidence on play and Study 2 finds a negative effect of overconfidence on excellence and aesthetics. Findings reveal that knowledge miscalibration negatively impacts consumers’ usage experiences. This implies that in designing product or service experiences suppliers benefit from ensuring that consumers achieve a reduced level of knowledge miscalibration.     

The Effect of Organic Food Labels on Consumer Attention

This paper aims to reveal consumer perceptions of organic food with a special emphasis on the labelling of organic products. The objectives were to find out, whether or not a significant difference between men´s and women´s perception existed. Two groups (88 subjects in the experimental group, 59 subjects in the control group) were shown various food labels; with organic product labelling (experimental) and without (control). Results suggest the importance of organic labelling using eye-tracking data and additional in-depth interviews to discover the importance of the labelling for participants. Based on eye-tracking data, the greatest visual attention was paid to product brand, graphic elements and organic labelling claims with additional information, such as a quantity or flavour, also being important. Additional in-depth interviews discovered that labelling, particularly of the origin, is important for most consumers. Contrary to what was expected, eye-tracking showed very little difference in the perception of organic product labelling based on gender. Although organic food is being purchased by more people, 50% of participants mentioned, during interviews, that they buy organic food only occasionally. The combination of eye-tracking and in-depth interviews shows that organic product labelling can play a role in decision-making, but regardless 27% of participants do not care about the organic quality labels or don’t pay attention to them.     

The Effect of Attribute Variation on Consumer Choice Consistency

We study the effect of shifts in attribute level differences on consumer choice consistency. Choice consistency is measured as the variance of the random error component in the consumer utility function: the smaller this variance, the higher choice consistency. We hypothesize that due to increased choice difficulty, choice consistency decreases if attribute level differences increase while average utility level differences between alternatives remain the same. In our empirical illustration we focus on the impact of price level shifts on choice consistency in conjoint choice experiments. Our results show that choice consistency decreases as price level differences increase and absolute price levels increase.     

Development of the Persuasion Knowledge Scales of Sponsored Content (PKS-SC)

Abstract

Despite the popularity of the Persuasion Knowledge Model, and its persistent relevance given the omnipresence of sponsored content (e.g. brand placement in TV programmes and video games, or paid product reviews in blogs), the way scholars measure persuasion knowledge varies widely. This study aims to develop valid and reliable scales for standardized measurement of consumers' persuasion knowledge of sponsored content. In three phases, we developed the Persuasion Knowledge Scales of Sponsored Content (PKS-SC) that measures nine components: (1) recognition of sponsored content, (2) understanding of selling and persuasive intent, (3) recognition of the commercial source of sponsored content, (4) understanding of persuasive tactics, (5) understanding of the economic model, (6) self-reflective awareness of the effectiveness of sponsored content, (7) skepticism toward sponsored content, (8) appropriateness of sponsored content, and (9) liking of sponsored content. All scales have good to appropriate validity and reliability. Recommendations for future research are discussed.