Parent-protecting advertising in product line extensions: Role of communication strategy,message type and extension type

Product line extension, the introduction of new products under the same brand name in a given product category, is a growing practice of product innovation in many industries. However, when companies launch line extensions, information of the new products positively or negatively affects consumer evaluations of the parent products in the same line, generating the so-called spillover effects. Through two experimental studies, the current research explores how marketers can employ appropriate communication strategies and message types in advertising to induce favourable spillovers or to avoid negative spillovers in product line extensions. Experiment 1 investigates the interaction between communication strategy and line extension type. Results reveal that for vertical high-end extensions and for horizontal line extensions, ads using relational strategy that focuses on the relatedness between products in the line increase consumer valuation of the parent product; for vertical low-end extensions, ads with elaboration strategy that stresses the uniqueness of the extensions avoid negative spillovers on parents. Experiment 2 further examines how message type moderates the spillover effects in elaboration ads. Results show that, compared with numerical messages, literal messages engender smaller valuation decreases on the parents and consequently alleviate undesirable spillover effects for most types of product line extensions.     

Emotional advertising: Revisiting the role of product category

In contrast to the Affect Infusion Model, popular advertising planning grids suggest that emotional advertising is effective for low involvement and hedonic products, but not for high involvement or utilitarian products. In two experiments, 400 and 392 consumers respectively evaluate a non-emotional and a product-congruent or product-incongruent emotional appeal promoting four different product types. In a third study, 909 respondents evaluate 323 existing TV commercials. The findings confirm expectations based on the Affect Infusion Model and indicate that for none of the product types negative effects of emotional advertisements appear. However, emotional ads do work better for some than other product types. In addition to clearing out the moderating role of product type, this paper contributes to the literature by showing that previous poorer results of emotional ads for some products may be partly due to less positive attitudes towards the products themselves instead of to the inappropriateness of the appeal.     

Advertising strategy and effective advertising: comparing the USA and Australia

A considerable body of research makes cross-cultural comparisons of advertising content and executional factors. Much of this work compares very different cultures. This study compared the strategic elements found in television commercials that have received industry recognition for effectiveness in two similar cultures, the USA and Australia. The study found that effective messages were similar in terms of selling propositions, tone and positive versus negative appeals. Specifically, the messages were similar in terms of their emphasis on product attributes and performance and a heavy reliance on humour. Effective campaigns differed in their creative strategy, rational versus emotional appeals and the presence of a brand-differentiating message. It is suggested that the differences in advertising arose from differences in the marketplace and cultural environment.     

Effects of product-specific word-of-mouth communication on product category involvement

Drawing primarily from categorization theory, this paper presents justification for the effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) communication on product category involvement. Results of an empirical test of this relationship are presented showing an enduring effect of positive WOM communication on product category involvement; this effect was not found for negative WOM. These results suggest that positive WOM about one firm's brand may help competitors by increasing involvement, thus generating more sales (not necessarily of one's own brand) in an entire product category. Our findings, coupled with categorization theory, provide support for a series of propositions presented concerning the effects of changes in product category involvement on nondiscussed brand attitudes and purchase intentions.     

Interactive effects of country of origin and product category on product evaluations

This research examined the effects of country of origin and product category on product evaluations for 21 countries and 18 products. As hypothesized, product evaluations were highest for highly-developed countries, followed by newly-industrialized, newly-marketizing, and developing-country groups. Further, the product-category and country-of-origin effects interacted such that, depending upon the country group, different product categories received more, equal, or less favorable evaluations compared to other product categories. Several variables and processes underlying these effects are identified and integrated into a conceptual model.     

The effects of mood,gender, and ad context on type of elaboration and product evaluation

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mood, gender, and ad context in relation to item-specific and relational elaboration, product evaluation, and purchase intention. Specifically, mood, gender, and ad context were posited to interact. The findings supported hypotheses predicting that mood interacted with gender to influence the type of elaboration. The findings also demonstrated that mood, gender, and ad context interacted to influence product evaluation and purchase intention. Furthermore, the findings showed that mood did not override gender predisposition of elaboration. Instead, mood acted to enhance elaboration that is predisposed by gender. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed regarding how women and men in different mood states process information in different ad contexts.     

The effects of gender on processing advertising and product trial information

Consistent with past research and theory explaining gender differences in information processing, the empirical study reported here showed that men process two forms of marketing information (advertising and product trial) differently than women. Specifically, women are more sensitive to the comprehensiveness of the trial information, recognizing manipulated differences in trial diagnosticity. In contrast, men tend to use readily available information to form brand judgments and are less likely to notice that other attribute information is unavailable in the product trial.     

Advertising to the masses: the effects of crowding on the attention to place-based advertising

Advertising situated in environments where people congregate or pass through on their way to somewhere else benefit from being placed in such high traffic areas. However, these strategically placed ads also suffer from conditions of human crowding that prevents them from being noticed and processed. We undertake a study of place-based advertising in a shopping mall using facial recognition software to determine the effect of human density on the attention directed to advertising. We find that as human density increases, attention to advertising decreases, but only to a point where it begins to increase again. Our research also finds that human density plays a moderating role on the motivation to process advertising.     

The joint effects of advertising and product trial: A source-monitoring perspective

Various sequences of exposure to advertising and product trial were examined using a source-monitoring framework. The findings suggest that memories of positive product-trial experience can be enhanced by advertisement exposure and such facilitation is greater when the temporal separation of the two information sources is minimal. In contrast, when product-trial experience is negative, the reverse is true. A source-monitoring explanation is put forth to understand the role and limit of memory (re)-construction from advertising exposure and product-trial experiences.     

Identification Effects on Advertising Response: The Moderating Role of Involvement

This study examines two important variables for advertisers, ethnicity and product involvement. We investigate the effectiveness of Hispanic-targeted advertising by exploring the impact of ad model's ethnicity on attitudes toward high- and low-involvement products. The results of our quasi-experiment suggest that appealing to strong Hispanic identifiers may be highly desirable in terms of creating favorable attitudes when advertising low-involvement products. For high-involvement products, Hispanic-targeted advertising may not be as effective since ethnicity may not be an important cue. Theoretical implications regarding the impact of distinctiveness theory and practical implications for practitioners trying to spend advertising dollars more efficiently are discussed.     

Brand positivity and competitive effects on the evaluation of brand extensions

The dominant approach in brand-extension research has focused on the role of fit in the extension evaluation process. Overemphasis on fit has resulted in research designs that involve singular evaluation of the extension without considering how competing brands in the target category might affect the evaluation of brand extensions. Singular evaluations are known to result in brand positivity effects; that is, brand extensions are evaluated more favorably than is warranted. This research finds that singular evaluations do indeed lead to brand positivity effects. However, brand positivity effects are mitigated when respondents were provided with competitive information along with target-category structure and comparative/non-comparative brand positioning statements. Results also suggest that parent brand-extension fit, though an important determinant of an extension's assessment, plays a less critical role in a comparative evaluation context when an extension's brand strength is accounted for in relation to its competition in the target category. Therefore, the findings stress the importance of both competition and parent-brand fit in making informed positioning decisions and more realistic predictions of extension success. The research demonstrates when, how and to what extent comparative evaluations result in lower extension ratings and provides managerial strategies to introduce an extension effectively.     

Role of consumption values in the luxury brand experience: Moderating effects of category and the generation gap

This study examined how the consumption values of luxury brands lead to their patronage. We examined the effects of functional, symbolic, experiential, and zero-moment-of-truth (ZMOT) values on patronage intention through the emotional response process of flow and compatibility using the stimulus–organism–response framework. Furthermore, latent mean analysis of the moderating effects of different groups was conducted. The findings demonstrate that experiential, functional, symbolic, and ZMOT values influence emotional reactions to luxury brand experiences, and these reactions vary among groups. Marketers should increase the value of the luxurious consumption experience and create different values for various consumer groups and categories to expand luxury brands.     

Advertising strategies for brand image repair: The effectiveness of advertising alliances

Advertising alliances are an effective shortcut to increase brand awareness and improve brand image. However, few studies have compared the effectiveness of advertising alliances with traditional (single-brand) advertising. Thus, this study focuses on a specific type of brand beliefs – namely, brand personality – and compares the ability of advertising alliances and traditional advertising to strengthen positive traits and downplay negative traits for a real brand in need of image repair. The results show that the advertising alliance is considerably more effective in upgrading positive brand personality traits than single-brand advertising. Importantly, this superior effect remained one week after exposure. The choice of advertising strategy had no effect on negative brand personality traits. Implications for advertising management are discussed.     

Advertising non-premium products as if they were premium: The impact of advertising up on advertising elasticity and brand equity

Non-premium brands occasionally emulate their premium counterparts by using ads that emphasize premium characteristics such as superior performance and exclusivity. We define this practice as “advertising up” and develop hypotheses about its short- and long-term impact on advertising elasticity and brand equity respectively. We test the hypotheses in two large-scale empirical studies using a comprehensive dataset from the automotive industry that includes, among others, the content of 2317 television ads broadcast over a period of 45?months. The results indicate that advertising up increases (decreases) short-term advertising elasticity for non-premium products with a low (high) market share. The results also show that an intensive use of advertising up over time leads to long-term improvements (reductions) in brand equity for expensive (cheap) non-premium products. Furthermore, an inconsistent use of advertising up leads to reductions in brand equity. The results imply that managers of non-premium products with a low market share can use advertising up to increase advertising effectiveness in the short run. However, advertising up will only generate long-term improvements in brand equity for expensive non-premium products. Finally, to avoid long-term reductions in brand equity, advertising up should be consistently used over time.     

Stereotyping effects on consumers' evaluation of advertising: Impact of racial differences between actors and viewers

The present experimental study compared the efficacy of two social/psychological theories of stereotyping for explaining the impact of race on consumers' evaluations of advertising. One theory, in-group bias theory, posits that in-group members on the basis of race will evaluate other in-group members more favorably than out-group members. A second theory, polarized appraisal theory, predicts that out-group members will be evaluated more extremely (positively or negatively) than in-group members. A major finding of the present study is that in-group bias theory explains the effect of race in consumers' evaluation of advertising more accurately than does polarized appraisal theory.     

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.     

A comparative analysis of advertising characteristics,strategy, style and form in global and national brand advertising

This paper considers the differences and similarities between national brand and global brand advertising through the use of three analytical frameworks – creative strategies, advertising styles and advertising form. It seeks to identify any differences between national and global brand advertising in terms of creative strategy, advertising style and advertising form. The structural elements of advertisements, such as the length of a commercial, number of camera shots and number or type of characters present, are also examined for a total of 551 television advertisements. A number of significant differences between the advertising of global and national brands have been recorded. In addition, the study identifies a discriminant function, which successfully predicts the advertising strategies, styles and formats for global brands.     

Thinking and feeling on the World Wide Web: the impact of product type and time on World Wide Web advertising effectiveness

This article focuses on the effectiveness of banner advertisements.Drawing from theory on functional versus expressive products and wear in versus wear out it argues that product type and time are important factors in World Wide Web (WWW) advertising. The results from a large empirical study are reported and show that responses to banner advertisements differ between functional and expressive products and over time. Functional product banner advertisements have higher initial click-throughs that quickly deteriorate and they have no effect through advertisement impressions. Expressive products need time to wear in as both click-through rates and positive brand attitudes from advertisement impressions increase with repeated exposures. These differences in consumer response are conceptualized as thinking and feeling on the WWW,thereby providing important implications for advertisers.