Brands on the Brain: Neuro-Images of Advertising

Neuroscience is opening a new chapter of understanding in many fields. One such is how advertising works. For the first time we can directly 'see' some effects of advertisements on the brain's activity. This article reports two small-scale experiments into the differential effects of advertising's rational and emotional components. Advertising has long been seen as providing reasons to buy, however subtle. In academic research at least, the importance of emotion has often been downplayed. The preliminary experiment reported here shows how emotional ads are more likely to be remembered. The second experiment uses brain imaging to investigate the part of the brain which responds to emotionally-engaging ('affective') and reason-engaging ('cognitive') advertising stimuli. These are very early days in using brain-imaging techniques and these experiments are very exploratory. However, as the three Commentaries by Simon Broadbent, Thomas O'Guinn and Larry Percy suggest, along with other work, they may point towards a revolution in advertising research.     

Bruce Bendinger (editor), Advertising: The Business of Brands,Chicago: The Copy Workshop, 2001

Abstract

Advertising: The Business of Brands is a “non-genre” text, to borrow a term from film criticism. Genre films, such as Westerns or romantic comedies, follow certain formulas and have recognizable forms (Kaminsky 1991). Similarly, advertising principles texts used in introductory courses are part of a genre that, until now, has included certain recognizable and expected forms. The genre of ad principles texts carries certain expectations about scope, writing style, and layout. These texts provide an overview of the field; are written in a linear, narrative style by the same author or set of authors; and are hardbound books of up to 26 chapters in length. The layout incorporates an abundance of colorful ads and a generous amount of white space for visual appeal.     

Trends in Advertising Research: A Longitudinal Analysis of Leading Advertising,Marketing, and Communication Journals, 1980 to 2010

This study provides a longitudinal content analysis of advertising research articles in 17 top-tier advertising, marketing, and communication journals published over the past 30 years (1980–2010, n = 926). The study's purpose is to shed light on the direction and progression of advertising as an academic field by updating and extending Yale and Gilly's (1988) study of advertising research trends. Nine content characteristics of the journal articles were examined: (1) theory presence (theory driven versus not theory driven), (2) names, types (theory versus theoretical framework/model versus construct), and originating disciplines of theory, (3) topic areas, (4) media of interest, (5) research approaches (empirical versus nonempirical and quantitative versus qualitative versus mixed), (6) methods, (7) types of effects, (8) units of analysis, and (9) research implications. Changes in the content characteristics of journal articles were found across the 30 years analyzed in five-year intervals. Implications for the field, scholars, and advertising practitioners are discussed.     

Brands,Friends, & Viral Advertising: A Social Exchange Perspective on the Ad Referral Processes

Advertisers worldwide are designing advertising with an eye toward viral activity particularly within social networking sites such as Facebook. Yet, little is known about the social processes at play when ads are shared. Taking a consumer-centric approach, this study investigates the social processes central to ads going viral within the Social Web. Conducting a national online experiment, the intertwining roles of brand relationships, interpersonal relationships, and sharing motivations in the social exchange of advertising are explored by testing two proposed referral decision-making processes: referral and referral acceptance. Results suggest that brand relationships and interpersonal relationships impact referral of ads within SNSs, and brand relationships interact with sharing motivations to impact decisions; specifically, brand relationships are conduits for ensuring reciprocal altruism in exchange, but their influence is tempered within stronger interpersonal relationships. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Advertising for New and Existing Brands: The Impact of Media Context and Type of Advertisement

The effects of advertisement and context type on the responses to advertisements for different brands of new and existing products were tested. In the first experiment (243 graduate students) a positive emotional advertisement and a non‐emotional advertisement for a well‐known and a new brand of printer were tested in a positive emotional context and a non‐emotional media context. In the second experiment (206 graduate students) positive emotional and non‐emotional advertisements for new brands of watches and healthy drinks were tested in an emotional and a non‐emotional context. The type of context moderated the responses to advertisements for the well‐known and new products: a positive emotional context led to a more positive attitude towards the advertisement and the brand and purchase intention for the well‐known brand than for the new brand. A non‐emotional context led to more positive responses for the new brand than for the well‐known brand. In general, emotional advertisements led to more positive affective reactions and non‐emotional advertisements led to more positive cognitive reactions. However, the type of advertisement did not have a moderating effect on the responses to advertising for the new or well‐known brands or different product types. The studies illustrated the relevance of media context for advertising new versus existing products.     

Involving Stakeholders in Developing Corporate Brands: the Communication Dimension

Those involved in corporate branding recognise that interactions with stakeholders are crucial. Surprisingly therefore, the author found that there is relatively little in the literature or in the study of practice that indicates how the range of stakeholders can be actively engaged in developing the corporate brand. Stakeholders are usually regarded as targets rather than partners in its development. This is reflected in the planning models, which, although often denoting stakeholders as integral to the process, are not explicit about how or to what extent they should be involved.

In this paper a process describing the contribution that stakeholders can make based on the concept of a 'negotiated brand' is proposed. The author then goes on to outline four different practical communication strategies that can be used to involve stakeholders in corporate brand development depending on the nature of their relationship with the organisation.     

Advocacy Advertising,the First Amendment,and Competitive Advantage: A Comment on Cutler & Muehling

Abstract

A continuing difficulty in regulating corporate advocacy advertising is distinguishing between political and commercial speech. An article by Cutler and Muehling argues that the competitive impact of an advertisement should be a factor in determining whether a corporate advocacy advertisement is commercial or political speech. If a corporate ad primarily benefits the ad sponsor, the ad is likely to be considered commercial speech, Cutler and Muehling say. If the ad benefits a larger industry or society, Cutler and Muehling would call the ad political speech. This comment argues that the Cutler and Muehling proposal helps little to illuminate or modify controlling Supreme Court criteria for distinguishing political and commercial speech. The comment also argues that the vagueness of the Cutler and Muehling proposal would permit the unconstitutional regulation of corporate political speech by misclassifying it as commercial speech.     

Moral Emotions and Self-Construal in Charity Advertising: Communication on Focus

Many charity organizations face ongoing challenges to promote monetary donations and other helping behaviors. Integrating the literature on the role of emotion in persuasive communication and intercultural communication, two studies were conducted to explore the impact of moral emotions and self-construal in charity advertising. A survey investigated the extent to which moral emotions with different referent of focus operated differently among individuals with varying self-construal in affecting the intent to donate. An experiment examined the impact of ego- versus other-focused emotional appeals in the processing of charity advertising. Results indicated that moral emotions significantly influenced participants' purchase intention towards social-cause products. In addition, self-construal moderated the influence of positive moral emotions on purchase intention, as well as the influence of positive emotional appeals on the intent to donate. Specifically, the persuasive effectiveness was enhanced when independents were associated with ego-focused emotions or ego-focused emotional appeals; and interdependents with other-focused emotions or other-focused emotional appeals. These two studies expanded the knowledge on the effects of emotions on communication and persuasion, and provided relevant implications for practitioners in creating effective messages to promote social causes. Limitations and directions for future research were also outlined.     

The Anti-smoking Advertising Campaign in Hong Kong: Communication and Attitudinal Perspectives

The CAPP model (Maloney, 1966; Aaker & Myers, 1987) was used to evaluate the anti-smoking advertising campaign in Hong Kong. The findings indicated that the campaign has different communication effects on smokers and non-smokers. Though more smokers can comprehend the message correctly, a smaller number of them have formed a negative attitude towards smoking as compared to non-smokers. Based on the attitudinal differences of the two groups, implications with respect to advertising appeals can be drawn. This study also suggests that the government's campaign should seek to establish a negative attitude towards smoking by smokers.     

欧美品牌在中国的本土化传播案例研究

改革开放以来,欧美品牌纷纷落户中国。欧美市场与中国市场的巨大差异,迫使欧美品牌调整其在华广告活动。本研究通过对广告公司从业人员的深度访谈和查阅相关文献,获取16个案例,发现本土化策略分为四个层面:产品本土化、定位本土化、创意本土化、呈现本土化。其中,创意本土化最能体现文化的深层内涵:从赋予个体独立于社会之外的意义到己在群中;亲子关系从独立平等转向儒家的亲慈子孝;夫妻关系从二人世界转向儒家的夫唱妇随、开枝散叶;在两性关系上,从取悦异性转向儒家对性别角色的社会期待。     

The Gamification of Advertising: Analysis and Research Directions of In-Game Advertising,Advergames, and Advertising in Social Network Games

The study presents a framework for the analysis of advertising in digital games. It reviews literature on in-game advertising, advergames and advertising in social network games. The framework distinguishes between stimulus characteristics of the game as well as of the advertising that lead to psychological responses toward the game and the brand and to actual behavior toward the game and the brand. It takes into consideration individual factors of the player and social factors surrounding the player. In addition, theoretical models of advertising perception in digital games and issues regarding regulation are addressed. Directions for future research in the area of advertising in digital games are provided.     

“中华老字号”官方微博传播现状研究——以80家中华老字号官方微博为例

"中华老字号"是中国商业特有的称谓,成为中华民族商业文明的杰出代表,其发展却日渐式微。本研究对商务部公布的第一批和第二批中华老字号名单中的中华老字号官方微博进行了抽样分析。结果表明,中华老字号官方微博的开通意识普遍不强,多数处在荒置状态。微博内容不仅传播单向性强,且轻视对发布内容的管理。这些问题存在的原因主要在于,中华老字号大都未意识到官方微博是企业传播体系中重要的品牌接触点,未意识到每一种媒介都担负着品牌传播的使命。结果同样表明,不同的微博内容,其影响力有显著差异。少数中华老字号企业借助微博的传播特性,提高了企业影响力,中华老字号企业新自媒体仍有很大的提升空间。     

Culture,Perceived Value,and Advertising Acceptance: A Cross-Cultural Study on Mobile Advertising

Abstract

Adverting standardization has been widely discussed since 1990s. Recently, this discussion has been extended to mobile advertising. When it comes to adopt a standardization or localization strategy, it is important that marketers understand how mobile advertising is perceived in different markets. This study examines the impacts of four perceived values of mobile advertising on young Australian and Chinese consumers’ acceptance of mobile advertising. The findings suggest that perceived functional value have the most positive effect on mobile advertising acceptance, followed by credibility and interactivity value. Further analyses reveal that culture moderates the relationships between perceived values and advertising acceptance.     

品牌，就是力量

中央电视台的“品牌化”战略已经写进了刚刚下发的《国家“十一五”文化发展规划纲要》。这意味着“中央电视台的频道品牌化”战略已经不仅仅是央视自我发展的目标，它已经上升到国家文化战略的一个重要组成部分。     

论广告传播在资本转换中的作用

布迪厄提出资本有经济资本、文化资本、社会资本等不同形态,并认为不同形态的资本之间是存在着相互转换的。在现实世界的资本转换之中,广告传播产生了积极的推动作用,并且随着广告业的纵深发展,这种推动作用会表现得越来越明显。     

Global Brands: Taking Stock

Global brands have never quite delivered on their promise. This article focuses on why this may now be about to change. The author first addresses three basic issues: why global brands matter more now than in the past; what distinguishes them from national brands; and the main building blocks for a global brand. He then moves on to some of the key problems which face managers of international brands today: the new Euro-zone, instability in emerging markets, the problem of diversion, and management of global relationships with advertising agents and market researchers. He concludes with a discussion of the issues involved in deciding whether brands should be taken global.     

品牌突破，传奇无限——江西卫视风生水起

“总有一些传奇让我们铭记，总有一些感动会留在观众心里，总有一些人生的风雨让人感同身受，总有一群记者在忠实地记录着深刻的人性”——《传奇故事》，这个江西电视台的精品栏目，在展现人生百味、追寻自我风格的同时，赢得了观众的衷心喜爱。作为江西卫视最早一批品牌栏目之一，《传奇故事》打响了江西卫视的品粹，[第一段]