Culture-Based Values and Management Style of Marketing Decision Makers in Six Western Pacific Rim Countries

ABSTRACT

Given increasing advertisement clutter, advertisers are increasingly trying unconventional means to attract consumers' attention. One such method involves the use of incongruent ads, which are believed to attract viewers' attention. This research was conducted to ascertain the impact of audiovisual congruency in ads and the moderating role of product involvement on three facets of consumer response: attention to the ad, attention to the brand, and purchase intentions. Participants were shown one of eight TV ads for 30 seconds, following which they were asked to rate the ad on several dimensions. Results indicated, as expected, that congruent product and music type elicited favorable consumer responses. However, contrary to earlier findings that congruency in ads affects consumers in both high- and low-involvement conditions, we find that that the level of involvement moderated this effect on some consumer persuasion measures. In particular, participants under high-involvement conditions were found to be less influenced by congruent product–music situations. Implications for advertisers are discussed.     

The Effect of Media Involvement on Print Advertising Effectiveness

Abstract

There is less than full agreement in the advertising research community over the relationship between involvement and advertising effectiveness. The purpose of this research is to extend that investigation into print. In a pre-post between-subjects design, 926 adults were exposed to test advertisements “tipped” (i.e., inserted) into a publication that they read regularly. Readers' attitudes and purchase intentions for the advertised products were collected before and after exposure to the ads. The results indicated that higher involvement with a publication leads to more favorable perceptions of embedded ads, and higher levels of advertising persuasion, while not impacting recall. Analyses of specialized effects indicated that, for the most part, main-effects results were robust across two types of advertisements, two print publication types, and two classes of products studied. The research has implications for how publishers set, and media planners evaluate, advertising rates, which are calculated predominantly according to the size of a publication's reader base. Based on our results, they should consider involvement when making these decisions.     

Lose like a man: body image and celebrity endorsement effects of weight loss product purchase intentions

Abstract

Recent research suggests men are increasingly concerned with their body size, which has led to a corresponding increase in marketing efforts for weight loss products geared toward them. In many cases, these ads include athlete endorsers of the product. Drawing from the match-up hypothesis and social comparison theory, this study employed structural equation modeling to explore relationships between men’s body image, endorser credibility, advertisement believability, and purchase intentions for weight loss products using two advertisements featuring former professional athlete endorsers. Results indicate an inverse relationship between consumer body image and athlete endorser credibility, such that individuals with lower body image perceived the endorsers as more credible. Further, athlete endorser credibility was positively associated with advertisement believability, which itself was associated with purchase intentions. These findings suggest that athlete endorsers are an effective tool in marketing weight loss products to men, particularly those with negative body image. Further implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

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.     

The Impact of Coupons on Service Quality Evaluations,Risk, and Purchase Intentions

Abstract

To attract customers, restaurants will often use coupons. This research examined the impact of a promotional coupon on service quality expectations, perceived purchase risk and purchase intentions. It was found that the use of coupons does increase purchase intentions and reduce perceived purchase risk. However, coupons were found to negatively influence service quality expectations. Implications of these findings for restaurant managers are discussed.     

When less is more: the impact of macro and micro social media influencers’ disclosure

ABSTRACT

There are growing discussions of social media influencers and their effectiveness in endorsing products. Further, recent policy regulations are requiring social media influencers to disclose sponsored content when using a form of native advertising. This research examined the effect of macro-influencers (high likes) and micro-influencers (low likes) and their disclosure of native advertising sponsorship on consumer evaluations of products. Results from a 2 × 2 experiment first show that consumers exposed to the micro-influencer condition report higher levels of product knowledge, and consumers exposed to the disclosure condition reported the products endorsed by social media influencers to be more attractive. The results also show that when exposed to micro-influencers who disclose, consumers have higher levels of purchase intentions than when exposed to macro-influencers who do not disclose, as well as higher purchase intentions than for posts where sponsorship is not disclosed by influencers. The important findings of this research for theory, practice and policy are discussed.     

Offensive Advertising

Abstract

Prior literature regarding offensive advertising relates mainly to western cultures. No work has been done on this area in an Asian context. The research in this article reports on a survey of Singaporean consumers. The survey aimed to identify what types of products and appeals consumers find offensive in advertising, the reasons why they find the advertisements offensive, and how this offensive advertising may affect their purchase intentions. The results found that advertisements relating to chat-line services and sexual diseases were the most offensive, followed by advertisements for dating services. Levels of offensiveness were clearly related to demographic variables such as gender and age. In terms of reasons for offensiveness, consumers were most concerned by advertisements that had a sexual connotation or evoked unnecessary fear.Levels of offensiveness also affected purchase intentions. Based on the results, the article recommends that advertisers and their agencies should think more carefully about the demographic profile of their audiences, how this profile might impact their audiences ?sensitivity“ to potentially offensive advertising, and how this sensitivity should be used as a guide when making media and message decisions     

Consumers' Responses to Implicit and Explicit Gay-Themed Advertising in Gay vs. Mainstream Media

ABSTRACT

Further study is needed to validate concerns over gay-themed ads appearing in mainstream media. This study investigates the effects of such ads by comparing them to the effects of gay-themed ads placed in gay media. The study delves into the differential effects of implicit and explicit visual messages. It also examines how consumers' attitudes toward homosexuality affect their purchase intention as well as advertising and brand evaluation. The study's findings suggest that implicit, rather than explicit, gay-themed ads lead to higher purchase intention and more favorable advertising and brand evaluation. The study results show that the type of advertising message (i.e., implicit or explicit gay-themed ads) moderates the relationship between gay-media and mainstream media. Finally, this study finds that a low level of tolerance toward homosexuality results in lower purchase intention as well as less favorable evaluations of both the advertising and brand. Managerial implications are also discussed.     

Antecedents of Taiwan Chinese Consumers’ Purchase Intentions Toward U.S.- and Japanese-Made Household Appliances

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to understand the factors influencing Taiwan's Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions toward U.S. and Japanese household appliances. The authors attempt to develop and test a comprehensive model linking such purchase intentions to several constructs including Taiwan Chinese consumers’ openness to foreign cultures, consumer nationalism, product familiarity, traditional cultural values orientation, and product-country image. The result of analysis using structural equation modeling shows that consumer nationalism has a strong indirect effect on purchase intention via the product-country image construct. Taiwan Chinese consumers’ traditional cultural values orientation and openness to foreign cultures have direct effects on consumer nationalism and, hence, are important antecedents in explaining the purchase intentions toward foreign-made goods by Taiwan Chinese consumers. With the growing importance of the Chinese domestic market, this study provides international marketing managers with practical implications in important areas such as market segmentation, branding strategy, and market research and practices in the Chinese consumer market.     

Does consumer knowledge affect consumer responses to advertised reference price claims?

As expected, internal reference prices (IRPs) and purchase intentions for two product categories (microwave ovens and disposable razors) differed according to whether consumers possessed a high or low level of consumer knowledge about the product in this factorial design experiment. Contrary to theory and expectations, neither internal reference points nor purchase intentions were affected by exposure to comparative price advertisements. Students were used as subjects in a before-after procedure with approximately two weeks between pre- and postmeasures of IRPs and purchase intentions. Postmeasures were taken immediately after exposure to ads containing three levels of advertised reference prices. t tests indicated differences between high and low knowledge group IRP means before ad exposure. However, no ANOVA differences were detected in change in IRP or purchase intention scores after ad exposure. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Role of Attachment Style in Shaping Consumer Preferences for Products Shown in Advertisements that Depict Consensus Claims

Consensus claims are often depicted in advertisements. The present research adopts an attachment theory (Bowlby 1969 Bowlby, John (1969), Attachment and Loss, New York, NY: Basic Books. [Google Scholar]) perspective to advance new insights into the effect of consensus claims in advertisements on consumers' purchase likelihood. Results of five studies demonstrate how the effectiveness of consensus claims in ads is circumscribed to specific individuals and that interpersonal attachment style is a key moderator. Specifically, among individuals with secure attachment styles, depicting consensus claims in ads enhances consumers' intentions to purchase the advertised product, but among individuals with anxious attachment styles, consensus claims are a less effective advertising tactic as they result in lower intentions to purchase the advertised product.     

The Need for Theoretical Relevance: A Comment on Woodside/Glenesk

Abstract

Previous research examining the influence of actors' race on viewers' attitudes and purchase intentions indicates that, although white subjects do not react extremely negatively to black actors, reactions are not as positive as to white actors. Blacks show better recall of content, and more positive attitudes toward advertisements that feature black, rather than white, actors. Unfortunately, this now-outdated body of research focuses primarily on outcome measures (e.g., purchase intentions, advertisement and product evaluation), while neglecting psychological processes (e.g., thoughts, source and message evaluation) that might mediate these effects. Results of two recent studies are presented to provide understanding of viewers' psychological processes following exposure to advertisements containing actors of different races. An attempt is made to interpret these findings in light of Chaiken's (1980) systematic/heuristic framework, and Kelman's (1961) identification model of opinion change.     

Multiple unit price promotions and their effects on quantity purchase intentions

Consumers often encounter multiple unit price promotions whereby a price reduction is presented as a reduced total price for multiple units of the same item (e.g., an item regularly priced at $1.25 each is promoted as “5 for $5”). In a series of experiments, we find that the positive effect of these promotions on quantity purchase intentions is contingent on the magnitude of the quantity specified in the offer and the rate of product consumption. However, offer effectiveness is not influenced by highlighting single unit prices, the unrestricted nature of these promotions, or aggregate savings. As predicted by the selective accessibility explanation, the effect of multiple unit price promotions on quantity purchase intentions is shown to be mediated by accessing anchor-consistent knowledge. An agenda for further research and the implications of our findings for retail practice are discussed.     

Effects of national identity salience on responses to ads

This paper investigates the effect of national identity salience on responses to ads in two contexts: national identity activated through media context, and national identity activated through advertising appeals. The results remain consistent with the idea that heightening national identity leads individuals to react more positively to representations of that identity. The salience manipulations serve to influence respondents' evaluations of ads and purchase intentions. Respondents present more favorable evaluations of ads and intentions to purchase the advertised products when the ads explicitly pair the advertised product with national identity symbols or rhetoric, as compared to when no such explicit pairing occurs. Further, the activation of individuals' national identity through media context affects the response to embedded ads, even when those ads do not explicitly pair the product with national symbols or rhetoric.     

The Influence of Product/Nudity Congruence on Advertising Effectiveness

Abstract

While a body of research has examined the effects of nudity appeals in advertising, previous studies examining the question of product/nudity congruency have failed to consider product categories of equivalent levels of involvement and towards which respondents had similar purchase intention. In this experimental study, we examine the role which product/nudity congruency and levels of nudity have on several measures of advertising effectiveness. We also examine the effect of the usa between these two variables. Our findings suggest that product type and the interaction between degree of nudity and product both influence significantly certain measures of advertising effectiveness. Implications for marketing professionals and researchers are outlined, along with directions for future research.     

Negative Consequences of Storytelling in Native Advertising

Native advertising and storytelling are both increasingly popular advertising strategies. This research explores the effectiveness of storytelling in a native advertising context on social media. While most research recommends the use of stories as a way to build trust and relationships with consumers, the current research suggests that in the form of native ads on social media, narratives may be less effective when compared to informational native ads. Two studies find that even when advertising cues such as disclosure labels and brand presence are prominently located, consumers are less likely to recognize the advertising nature of narrative native ads when compared to informational native ads. Lower levels of advertising recognition are associated with increased perceptions of manipulative intentions by the advertiser, which has a negative influence on consumers' attitudes toward the ad. The findings suggest that native ads that clearly communicate their advertising nature through cues such as an informational execution, high brand presence, and prominent disclosure labeling are more effective than a narrative execution style.     

Currency Substitution and Price Endings: Right Digit Effect

ABSTRACT

The strategic manipulation of prices. rightmost digits has been a tactic used by retailers in the western world for decades. By studying the internationalization of pricing tactics in a global economy, our research adds a much needed contribution to the literature of price endings and pricing tactics in global markets. We find that at lower price levels, consumers exposed to a 99 ending price in a currency substitution market are more likely to purchase the product compared to consumers in the US market. At higher price levels, on the other hand, consumers in either market situation exhibit no change in purchase intentions. Thus, the 99 ending tactic has no effect on consumers when the product is expensive. The use of the right digit effect by managers in a currency substitution/ dollarized economy as a way of persuading consumers to buy is still likely to be more successful compared to the USA market. As such, firms in a dollarized economy should structure their pricing strategies while taking into consideration the type of product they are offering and the consumer market they are dealing with.     

Cause-Relating Marketing: The Effects of Purchase Quantity and Firm Donation Amount on Consumer Inferences and Participation Intentions

A conceptual model for a cause-related marketing (CRM) campaign, which examines the effects of purchase quantity and firm donation amount on consumer perceptions of the firm (i.e., firm motive and corporate social responsibility) and participation intentions, is developed and tested in three separate studies. In Study 1, we find the positive effect of firm donation amount on participation intentions was fully mediated by consumer inferences about the firm and the negative effect of purchase quantity on participation intentions was only partially mediated by these inferences. In Study 2, and consistent with the persuasion knowledge model, we demonstrate that the effects of purchase quantity on firm inferences and subsequent participation intentions are moderated by consumer participation effort where higher participation requirements (e.g., mail-in proof-of-purchase) yield more negative purchase quantity effects. We extend the model in Study 3 to incorporate multiple exchange mechanisms and find that although purchase quantity does affect participation intentions by social exchange, the effects of purchase quantity are primarily the result of the economic exchange. Recommendations for the design of cause-related marketing campaigns and for future research are discussed.     

Metaphor as Visual Thinking in Advertising and Its Effects: Focus on Brand Familiarity and Product Involvement

One of advertisers' favorite communication techniques is the visual metaphor. In fact, metaphor usage perennially increases in ad images. This study, which looks at consumers with varying levels of brand familiarity and product involvement, investigates how their attitudes and purchase intentions of are influenced by the persuasive effects of visual metaphors in various advertising conditions. The findings reveal that consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions are enhanced more by visual metaphor-based ads than nonmetaphor-based ads when the advertised product is in a low-involvement product category. Nonmetaphorical ads are found to have a more positive influence with high-involvement products than do metaphorical ads. The results show a significant three-way interaction effect. When the advertised product is in a low-involvement product category, visual metaphors lead to favorable brand evaluations and higher purchase intentions in the ads for a low-familiarity brand. However, nonmetaphors are more persuasive than visual metaphors only for the low familiarity brand in a high-involvement product category. Theoretical and practical implications are addressed in the discussion.     

Delineating the role of endorser's perceived qualities and consumer characteristics on celebrity endorsement effectiveness

This study examines the influence of both endorser's credibility qualities, such as expertise and trustworthiness, and consumers' characteristics, such as gender and team identification, on endorsement effectiveness expressed as purchase intentions. A survey quasi-experimental research design was used in the context of sports celebrity endorsements. Data were collected from 289 respondents via a convenience sample. The findings indicated gender differences only on team identification and not on endorsers' perceived qualities or on endorsement effectiveness. Team identification differences had a significant impact on purchase intentions while marginally affected athletes' credibility. Of the two examined elements of credibility, trustworthiness constitutes a significant differentiation factor for purchase intentions. The study provides several theoretical and practical implications.