The impact of bias and unexpectedness on message response

Behavioural research has produced mixed results as to the various effects perceived bias can produce on message response. Though bias and unexpectedly unbiased messages have not been much researched in an advertising framework, perceived bias in advertising messages is an inherent problem. This study presents the results of an experiment designed to test the effect of bias and unexpectedness on message response in an advertising context. The results suggest bias may be more of a problem with advertisements using a comparative format. Unexpectedness, while less effective in comparative approaches, performed well in a non-comparative format. Unexpected messages appeared to produce greater attention to message content, suggesting that this tactic may result in lower advertising exposure levels producing response.     

Time heals many wounds – explaining the immediate and delayed effects of message sidedness

This study investigates the immediate and delayed effects of advertising messages including both positive and negative information. A two-sided message has a negative effect on message attitudes due to two mediating variables with trade-off effects: valence and balance. These two variables are also responsible for the alignment of the effect of sidedness on message attitudes and purchase intentions over time: the negative effects of two-sided messages are neutralized over time because negative information is reevaluated, improving the valence of the message. The results explain the negative effects of message sidedness that have been found in prior research and they show that a two-sided message in advertising is not necessarily inferior to a one-sided message despite unfavorable short-term effects.     

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.     

Results May Vary: Overcoming Variability in Consumer Response to Advertising Music

Although listening to music seems effortless, it actually involves many separate psychological mechanisms. This article describes and extends the multimechanism framework proposed by Juslin and colleagues, highlighting how the operation of psychological mechanisms leads to two general types of variability in consumer response to advertising music. First, the risk of between‐consumer variability (individual differences) in musical response is moderate or high for most mechanisms, and it often depends on each individual's particular history of exposure to music (listening biography). Second, within‐consumer variability occurs when different mechanisms have contrasting effects, so that an individual consumer's musical response is often mixed (e.g., guilty pleasures, bittersweet feelings, pleasurable sadness). Both types of variability can negatively impact advertising objectives (message reception, recall, acceptance, brand attitudes, etc.). The article offers preliminary suggestions for how marketers can use a multimechanism approach to successfully incorporate music in commercials and reduce the risk of unanticipated consumer responses. It ends with proposals for further research.     

Social Consumer Neuroscience: Neurophysiological Measures of Advertising Effectiveness in a Social Context

The application of neurophysiological methods to study the effects of advertising on consumer purchase behavior has seen an enormous growth in recent years. However, little is known about the role social settings have on shaping the human brain during the processing of advertising stimuli. To address this issue, we first review previous key findings of neuroscience research on advertising effectiveness. Next, we discuss traditional advertising research into the effects social context has on the way consumers experience advertising messages and explain why marketers, who aim to predict advertising effectiveness, should place participants in social settings, in addition to the traditional ways of studying consumer brain responses to advertising in social isolation. This article contributes to the literature by offering advertising researchers a series of research agendas on the key indicators of advertising effectiveness (attention, emotion, memory, and preference). It aims to improve understanding of the impact social context has on consumers' neurophysiological responses to advertising messages.     

Methodological considerations in the use of electroencephalographic techniques in advertising research

This paper focuses on methodological concerns of interest to advertising researchers who seek to employ electroencephalographic (EEG) methods for assessing the impact of advertising stimuli. It is suggested that the validity of EEG applications in advertising research needs to be demonstrated on the basis of examining relationships between EEG measures and more traditional measures of evaluating advertising effectiveness. More attention needs to be focused on determining the content-specific cues that engage the viewer's attentional processes. Further research is necessary to determine hemispheric differences in processing emotional cues in advertising stimuli and relationships between subjective reactions to advertising stimuli and lateralized differences in activation patterns. It is suggested that individual differences in hemispheric preferences may be related to response to advertising stimuli and that computersimulated brain topographical techniques may by useful in revealing shifts in region-specific activation patterns during exposure to advertising stimuli such as television commercials.     

Selling through entertaining: The effect of humour in television advertising in Hong Kong

Considerable research evidence has indicated that humour has a positive impact on attention but no consensus is reached with regard to the persuasive effect of humour in advertising. Two hundred and fifty-four university students were recruited to watch five television commercials and respond to a structured questionnaire in this study. Results show that humour secures attention getting while disrupts message processing. Humour enhances message persuasiveness when the moderating variable need for cognition (NFC) is controlled. Participants with low NFC are easier to be persuaded by humorous commercials than participants with high NFC do. It is also found that repeated exposure to the same humorous commercial does not harm its persuasive effect. Male audiences regard humorous commercials as more persuasive while female audiences are the opposite. The study provides guidelines for advertisers/advertising practitioners who would like to employ humour in their communication at the same time it draws ethical concerns towards the increased application of entertainment-coated persuasion.     

Health‐care product advertising: The influences of message framing and perceived product characteristics

Message framing readily lends itself to marketing communication and advertising persuasion strategies. However, past research yields contradictory and inconsistent predictions as to whether positive or negative frames are more persuasive. This study examines the most appropriate message framing to present to consumers in print advertisements for health care products. Two experimental studies are conducted to investigate the moderating effects of product functions: perceived innovativeness and perceived risk on the processing of framed advertising messages. Findings of Study 1 indicate that messages for familiar products should be framed differently depending on perceived product functions (prevention vs. detection), but gain‐framed messages are more persuasive for both new prevention and detection products. Results of Study 2 suggest that a mixed‐framed message (combining gain and loss) could enhance message effectiveness only when subjects have prior experience. Similar to the role of product function, product perceived risk is found to moderate the framing effects on message effectiveness. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Psychological ownership: a social marketing advertising message appeal?

The authors assessed psychological ownership as a potential persuasive advertising message appeal in social marketing efforts. Psychological ownership is a feeling of possession; it occurs when individuals feel that something is theirs even though they cannot hold legal title to it. Interestingly, the first study indicated advertising messages that generate psychological ownership yielded less favourable attitudes, word of mouth and willingness to pay price premiums among women. Women responded more negatively to messages that attempted to induce psychological ownership than to neutral messages. The adverse responses of women prompted the second study, in which both the psychological ownership message and cognitive capacity were manipulated. Results indicate that, in a limited cognitive capacity condition, women responded similarly towards higher psychological ownership and neutral advertising messages. Further, these effects were mediated by inferences of manipulative intent and not feelings of guilt. Theoretical and managerial implications are offered for marketers attempting to use psychological ownership as an advertising message strategy and gender as a segmentation strategy.     

Assigning television commercial videotapes to time slots under alternative message spacing policies

A number of studies in the psychological and marketing literature have focused on the effects of message spacing on consumer memory and judgement. The importance of message spacing has also been exemplified by a crucial scheduling problem in the broadcast television industry that requires the assignment of multiple airings of commercial videotapes to purchased slots of air time. Existing models for this problem are restricted to the case of equal spacing of successive airings in terms of slot position. In light of the fact that equal spacing of messages is not necessarily the best course of action in all situations, we present an alternative model that enables greater flexibility with respect to the spacing of commercial messages. For example, the model allows for equal temporal spacing of commercials in addition to equal spacing in terms of slot position. More importantly, the model permits spacing options that allow for pulsing strategies associated with well-separated bursts of commercial airings, as well as the consideration of spacing decisions when commercials have different durations. We demonstrate a heuristic for solving the scheduling problem under various message spacing policies. We believe that our model, which is effective and adaptable, has considerable promise for practical scheduling problems as well as subsequent experimental research.     

The impact of inference generation on belief formation

This study investigates the effects of generating inferences (or failure thereof) with incomplete advertising messages on consumer's belief formation. A factorial design is used to systematically investigate the roles of product knowledge, message structure, and inference prompting in this process. The results show that inference generation or failure affects not only the belief per se, but also the confidence in the belief and that strength of learned beliefs about the product tends to be congruent. Specifically, high knowledge consumers' inferred beliefs are stronger, held with higher confidence, and more congruent with their existing beliefs than those of low knowledge consumers. Interaction effects are also observed between product knowledge and message structure for low knowledge consumers. High knowledge consumers are not affected by message structure or inference prompting condition. Implications of these findings for inference-persuasion research, advertising effectiveness, and future research are discussed.     

Conceptualization and Exploration of Attitude toward Advertising Disclosures and Its Impact on Perceptions of Manipulative Intent

Significant research has been conducted in an effort to understand how varying elements of disclosures (e.g., size, placement, complexity) in advertisements impact consumers' abilities to understand and recall the disclosed message. Although it is important to research the effectiveness of disclosures, advertisers may have additional concerns if the mere presence of a disclosure impacts consumers' perceptions of the company, advertisement, or brand. Little research currently exists examining the notion of consumers' attitudes toward advertising disclosures or how they might impact the effectiveness of the disclosed message, attitude toward a given communication, or overall evaluation of the brand. We introduce the concept of attitude toward advertising disclosures and develop a scale to measure consumers' attitudes toward disclosed messages. The resultant 14‐item, multidimensional scale is then used to demonstrate how attitude toward advertising disclosures plays a moderating role in influencing consumers' perceptions of manipulative intent.     

When transparency pays off: Enticing sceptical consumers with two-sided advertising

It has been generally assumed that higher levels of scepticism towards advertising invariably lead to higher resistance to advertising appeals. The main purpose of the present research was to examine whether highly sceptical consumers' resistance can be overcome by appeals associated with higher credibility. We tested our hypotheses using message sidedness as an advertising variable that has been associated with higher (two-sided) versus lower (one-sided) credibility. In three experimental studies, we examined more versus less sceptical consumers' responses to two- versus one-sided appeals. We found that two-sided messages are more effective in increasing purchase intentions, through enhanced credibility, but only for consumers who are more sceptical of advertising. Less sceptical consumers trust both messages equally and their purchase intentions are not affected by the type of message. Importantly, we also showed that highly sceptical consumers trust two-sided appeals as much as their less sceptical counterparts. The study contributes to the literature on advertising and persuasion knowledge by showing that advertising scepticism does not elicit a single response tendency, as originally conceptualized. Rather, advertising scepticism is more consistent with the underpinnings of the Persuasion Knowledge Model, in that higher knowledge about persuasion tactics aids consumers to better cope with, and not invariably resist persuasion attempts. We conclude that transparency pays off because it may entice a more sceptical audience and, at the same time, it does not harm less sceptical consumers' trust and purchase intentions.     

Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid Messages and Public Policy Issues

Abstract

This research explores a growing genre of marketing communication, labeled hybrid messages, which creatively combine key advantages (and avoid key disadvantages) inherent in advertising and publicity messages. Several types of hybrid messages are discussed, including those with long established histories (product placements, program-length commercials, program tie-ins), and those with a relatively recent origin (masked-art, masked-news, and masked-spokesperson messages). To obtain integrative insights on hybrid messages, this study: (a) reviews their historical/current regulatory status, (b) discusses their pros and cons, theoretical rationales and practical implications, and (c) delineates an extensive agenda for future research. Several important public policy questions raised by hybrid messages are addressed.     

Examination of Health Messages in Food Advertising: A Case of South Korea

As the public interest in health information has increased globally, the use of health benefits in food advertisements is becoming more essential for food marketing strategy. Consumers view a food product as healthy if it carries a health claim, whereas there has been an ongoing debate about the value of health claims as a strategy to help consumers’ healthier food consumption. The present study attempted to examine the food commercials broadcast on Korean network television in terms of claim types and executional elements. Results indicate that television food advertising has made a wide number of implied “soft” health claims (e.g., “good for health”) without substantial information and call into question whether consumers are misled or deceived by the executional elements used for presenting health messages. The findings of the study raise regulatory concerns about the provision of potentially confusing or misleading health messages in food advertising nationally as well as internationally and suggest further research in this area.     

A Metacognitive Model of the Effects of Susceptibility to Persuasion Self-Beliefs on Advertising Effects

This study postulates that people's beliefs about their own susceptibility to persuasion efforts can influence advertising effects. It thus represents the first explication of the process by which self-beliefs determine advertising effects, through their influence on the subjective experience of the ease of being persuaded. Integrating three research streams (metacognition, persuasion knowledge, and cognitive correction), the current study proposes a model of three influence patterns, which are contingent on whether people perceive the advertising message to be high in manipulative intent and whether people are motivated to be accurate in their judgments. If advertising messages are low in manipulative intent, such that the persuasion seems acceptable, susceptibility self-beliefs influence people's attitudes toward the advertised products or issues (i.e., expected effects). If advertising messages are high in manipulative intent, such that persuasion seems unacceptable, people exhibit suppression (no effects) if they have weak accuracy motives, but they exhibit overcorrection (opposite effects) if they are strongly motivated to be accurate. Five studies test these predictions and reveal some demographic characteristics associated with self-beliefs about susceptibility to persuasion. The findings thus have important implications for advertising practitioners.     

The Third-Person Effect in Advertising: A Meta-Analysis

Prior meta-analyses have found evidence for differences in the third-person effect across message types, indicating that the third-person effect is a communication context-specific phenomenon. These meta-analyses do not explain why effects of the perceptual hypothesis in advertising are smaller when compared to communication in general; they do not address the broad range of consumer behavior variables that are affected by third-person perceptions; and they have not investigated whether the perceived effects on the self or on others are better predictors for behavioral responses than third-person perceptions in advertising. This meta-analysis addresses these issues and investigates the perceptual and behavioral hypotheses of the third-person effect in an advertising context. Findings indicate that third-person perceptions in product advertising are weaker when compared to other communication messages due to developments over time and the mixed gratifications provided by product advertising messages. Third-person perceptions in advertising can increase or decrease consumer behavior depending on whether the behavior is self related (e.g., body-related responses) or other related (e.g., support for regulation). Furthermore, perceived effects on self or on others are better behavioral predictors than third-person perceptions, providing managerial implications for advertising campaign pretesting.     

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.     

Character Portrayal: Examining Gender Roles in Television Commercials Targeted at Children in India and the United States

ABSTRACT

Children's market has been growing steadily not only in the United States but also globally. Advertisers have been targeting this segment heavily in recent years. Given the impact of this segment having increased rapidly in recent years, it is imperative for the advertisers to understand and develop effective advertising messages to reach this segment successfully. One of the essential components of advertisement content includes decisions regarding the gender portrayal of the characters. This study examines the depiction of self-presentation behaviors of the characters in commercials shown during the times and on the channels that children watch in India and the United States. The findings indicate interesting similarities and differences between the two countries. Managerial implications and future research directions are offered based on the findings.