Advertising in English in Nonnative English-Speaking Markets: The Effect of Language and Self-Referencing in Advertising in Romania on Ad Attitudes

As a potent symbol of globalization, English has become one of the most popular foreign languages used in advertising in many nonnative English-speaking markets. This study aims to explore the effect of language used in advertising (English versus local) and self-referencing on consumers' ad attitudes in Romania, a country where the population is not necessarily speaking English fluently. The results indicate that multinational brands benefit from using English in advertising, whether a high or a low level of self-referencing is used. For local brands, different language formats do not vary in their advertising effectiveness. However, if English is to be used to advertise a local brand to give a “modern” flavor to the product, a high self-referencing format should be used.     

The impact of the length of preceding and succeeding ads on television advertising effectiveness

This study investigates the impact of the length of immediately surrounding commercials on the effectiveness of a given ad with the consideration of sequential order relations between two consecutive ads. The results show that the effect of proactive inhibition, the effect of an immediately preceding commercial, is fundamentally different from that of retroaction inhibition, the effect of an immediately succeeding ad. This study also found that proactive interference is stronger than retraction interference on the effectiveness of television advertising. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Switching before the pitch: Exploring television channel changing before the ads even start

Although much research examines ‘ad zapping’ or channel changing during the commercials, the present work explores preemptive ad avoidance before the commercials begin. Television programs give different ad signals, which could alter rates of preemptive ad avoidance. Ad pods from two hit shows were explored using second-by-second channel-changing data; rates of preemptive ad avoidance were practically important and varied between shows. Inspection of program episodes suggested that the show with more preemptive ad zapping gave clearer ad signals and had more ‘ad safe’ time per episode, that is, there was more time when an ad break would not occur clearly. The data suggest that advertisers should seek unit-specific measures of opportunities to see commercials as such measures become possible with digital distribution of television.     

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.     

Cultural differences affect interactive television advertising

Comparing results from the UK and the USA, this study shows that even subtle cultural differences between two very similar countries can affect new forms of advertising such as interactive television (iTV) commercials. The UK pioneered the mainstream use of iTV advertising, and now it is a mainstream advertising option in the USA on cable networks and online TV networks like Hulu. This study tests whether effective iTV-ad execution factors identified by a previous study of 500 UK iTV campaigns are similarly effective in the USA based on data from 257 iTV campaigns run on the experimental Wink platform between 1998 and 2004. It finds that specific cultural differences make iTV advertising in the USA unique, but also identifies potential globally effective universals for iTV ads. The results of this study allow advertisers to predict the most effective alternative ideas for iTV advertising campaigns run in the USA and potentially in other countries around the world.     

Television food ads aimed at children in South-Eastern Europe: Cultural outlook and implications

South-East Europe (SEE) has the highest obesity rates and the most substantial consumption of television programs among young people compared to other parts of the continent. However, studies on this subject are notably absent from the existing body of literature. This research investigates differences in ad recall and preferences related to the healthiness of featured products and the alignment of advertising settings with specific cultural dimensions of SEE's ethos. The study utilizes two multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks: the social cognitive theory and the two-dimensional Minkov-Hofstede model of culture, and it employs a mixed-methods approach. Results from a survey conducted with children and a content analysis of TV ads from the region reveal that commercials promoting low-nutrition foods are more persuasive than those featuring healthy products. Consistent with the collectivist nature of SEE's culture, ads using group settings are predominantly recalled. Contrarily, in opposition to prior knowledge, the use of monumentalistic (vs. flexibility) attributes in commercials does not enhance the memory retrieval of ads. Children's ad preferences are significantly influenced by their self-concept. The implications of these findings for various stakeholders are discussed.     

Effectiveness of Spanish versus English Language TV Commercials Targeted to the Hispanic Market

Abstract

This paper explores the effectiveness of television commercials transmitted in Spanish with those delivered in English. The research contrasts advertising recall of commercials for an Hispanic population, comparing the recall of Hispanics watching programs in Spanish with Hispanics viewing programs in English. The research suggests that for Hispanics, whether Spanish dominant or bilingual, recall increases when advertising is broadcast in Spanish rather than in English. A counter-intuitive finding is that bilingual Hispanics recall Spanish-language ads to a greater extent than those shown in English.     

Appealing to men and women using sexual appeals in advertising: In the battle of the sexes,is a truce possible?

Sexual appeals remain a very popular advertising technique yet questions regarding their use remain, including how they can be used to appeal to men and women simultaneously. Literature examining what men and women find sexually appealing and the body language used to signal relationship status guided development of two appeal types: ‘Intimate’ portrayed a couple in an intimate stable relationship, whereas ‘Objectified’ showed them as sexual objects. These were combined with different levels of nudity and product relevance and studied experimentally. As expected, both genders preferred intimate appeals though they only rated low nudity intimate adverts for relevant products positively.     

Evaluating the Message Strategy of U.S. Army Advertising: With Focus on Information Needs and Motivational Cues

A content analysis of 125 U.S. Army television commercials revealed that information about recruiting process and military lifestyle, the top two information needs of potential recruits, were not addressed as prominently in the commercials. The study also showed that Army commercials presented occupational motivations, which are more appropriate for potential reservists than active soldiers, more frequently than institutional motivations. The usage of information needs and motivational cues rested on a range of situational factors such as the number of wars in which the United States was engaged and the campaign's target audience. Implications for improving Army advertising were discussed.     

How advertising literacy training affect children's responses to television commercials versus advergames

This study examined children's advertising literacy level for traditional versus embedded advertising formats by comparing their cognitive and affective advertising literacy level for television commercials vs. advergames. The study also explored how cognitive and affective advertising literacy further attenuate advertising effects by investigating the mediation impact of cognitive and affective advertising literacy on the relation between the ad's format and the purchase request. Third, the study investigated how an advertising literacy training session moderates these effects.

The results of this experimental study showed that advergames lead to a higher purchase request rate among children than television commercials. However, only affective but not cognitive advertising literacy mediated the effect of the advertising format on purchase request. In addition, a training session was shown to accelerate children's cognitive (but not their affective) advertising literacy for advergames, but not for television commercials.     

English in Product Advertisements in Non-English-Speaking Countries in Western Europe: Product Image and Comprehension of the Text

ABSTRACT

Although English has been shown to be the most frequently used foreign language in product advertisements in countries where it is not the native language, little is known about its effects. This article examines the response to advertisements in English compared to the response to the same ad in the local language in Western Europe on members of the target group for which the ad was intended: 715 young, highly educated female consumers. The use of English in a product ad does not appear to have any impact on image and price of the product, but it does affect text comprehension: the meaning of almost 40% of the English phrases was not understood. These results were the same for all countries involved in the study, irrespective of whether the respondents’ (self-) reported proficiency in English is high or low.     

Targeting online display ads: Choosing their frequency and spacing

With real-time bidding, advertisers can decide how often (ad frequency) and in what time interval (ad recency) to show an ad to a specific user. Ads shown often and in quick succession might increase brand and ad recognition on the one hand but might annoy users on the other hand. These recognition and annoyance effects, in turn, can have opposing consequences for click-through rates (CTRs). Guided by theory and previous studies, we examine how the frequency (high vs. low) and the recency (small vs. large time intervals) of ad impressions relates to a banner's CTR and whether this is moderated by the campaign type (diverse or not), the brand's advertising expenditure (high vs. low), and the type of industry (selling durable vs. non-durable goods). To do so, we use a large data set containing information on 5.8?bn ad impressions and 1.8?m clicks delivered for 158 different advertisers from 25 industries. We show that higher ad frequency and higher ad recency relate to a lower CTRs, especially when having a less diverse campaign, for brands which are spending more on advertising, and, to some extent, for firms selling durables.     

Contextual Priming Effects of Television Programs on Commercials: The Moderating Effects of Age

This study investigated whether age and its associated implicit memory deficits influences responses to contextual television advertising. Prior exposure to the advertised product or brand during a program should improve recall and brand attitude for contextual commercials. The results of a lab experiment, with participants ranging in age from 19 to 78, revealed that unbranded product appearances significantly improved recall, compared to normal unprimed commercials, but only for younger consumers. Branded product appearances did not significantly improve recall, compared to unbranded appearances. Contextual commercials had no positive effects on brand attitude. However, a competitor-brand appearance had a negative effect on brand attitude, for both older and younger consumers. Implications of these results, and their limitations, are discussed.     

Eye-tracking evidence that happy faces impair verbal message comprehension: the case of health warnings in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical television commercials

Risk warning or disclosure information in advertising is only effective in correcting consumers’ judgments if enough cognitive capacity is available to process that information. Hence, comprehension of verbal warnings in TV commercials may suffer if accompanied by positive visual elements. This research addresses this concern about cross-modality interference in the context of direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical commercials in the United States by experimentally testing whether positive facial expressions reduce consumers’ understanding of the mandated health warning. A content analysis of a sample of DTC commercials reveals that positive facial expressions are more prevalent during the verbal warning act of the commercials than during the other acts. An eye-tracking experiment conducted with specially produced DTC commercials, which vary the valence of characters’ facial expressions during the health warning, provides evidence that happy faces reduce objective comprehension of the warning.     

Packages with Cartoon Trade Characters Versus Advertising: An Empirical Examination of Preschoolers' Food Preferences

The present study examines mainly the comparison between child-appeal packages and TV advertising and suggests that packages with cartoon trade characters play a more effective role compared to TV advertising in preschoolers' food preferences.

Preschoolers who watched a cartoon film CD embedded with commercials (the treatment group) and who watched the same CD without commercials (the control group) selected the chocolate wafer with a cartoon trade character (73.6% vs. 26.3%) rather than the advertised one.     

An Approach to Model,Estimate, and Control the Effect of Ambient Temperature on Advertising Experiments

Abstract

The impact of ambient weather may not be obvious and weather may play a bigger part than previously attributed to variations in experimental and test market results including advertising results. While some researchers have passed off this issue as just another “seasonal effect,” ambient weather conditions have played a major impact on various test market studies. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the following: (1) ambient temperatures that differ from seasonal mean temperatures may affect sales in certain cities; moreover, the effects differ among sales of certain varieties both within and between cities, and (2) these effects may be estimated and controlled. The results show that while seasonal effects explain most variation, there is a significant amount of variation explained by ambient temperature. This variation could be the difference between which a number of alternative commercials or promotions are selected for implementation.     

Information Contents in Japanese OTC Drug Advertising from Elaboration Likelihood Model Perspective: Content Analysis of TV Commercials and OTC Drug Websites

Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the current study investigates information types that are cross-promoted in Japanese pharmaceutical advertising. The results from a quantitative content analysis of OTC drug brands' TV commercials broadcasted in Japan between 2014 and 2015 and their corresponding product websites (n = 150) show that Japanese OTC drug promotions feature more informational cues in the latter; cues such as price, safety, quality, components, and guarantees/warranties are particularly prominent. Furthermore, product websites tend to focus more on rational appeals, whereas TV commercials emphasize emotional appeals. No difference is found between these media types regarding celebrity and noncelebrity endorser usage.     

A content analysis of television food advertising to children: comparing low and general‐nutrition food

Television food advertisements targeted at children were content analysed. Data were collected on four major children's cable television channels in the United States aired during the hours of 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. over the period of 23 August to 5 September 2012. Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion, the study identified a variety of persuasive appeals with central and peripheral cues in the child‐targeted food commercials. Further, it investigated how the central and peripheral cues in the appeals were differently associated with low‐nutrition and general‐nutrition food commercials. Overall, the findings showed that general‐nutrition food commercials used persuasive appeals with central cues more frequently than low‐nutrition food commercials. Theoretical, practical and regulatory implications are discussed.     

An analysis of media violence in commercials aired during the telecasts of sports events

The violence contained in television commercials has received less attention than other areas of media violence research. This study analyzed violent content in the Super Bowl commercials that aired between 2001 and 2009. Twenty-two percent of the Super Bowl commercials appearing from 2001 to 2009 contained some type of violence. A number of quantifications related to types of violence, targets and perpetrators of violent acts, and reasons for violence, among others, are reported. Subsequently, the relationships between the contextual factors of the violence and commercial likeability were examined.     

Likeability as a measure of advertising effectiveness: the case of financial services

Television advertising for financial services accounts for over one-third of total financial services advertising expenditure, yet there is evidence to suggest it is not very well done. Given the difficulties advertisers have to overcome in terms of promoting an intangible product in accordance with tight restrictions on advertising content and format to a largely uninvolved audience, it becomes all the more imperative to study how viewers judge financial services commercials. This paper presents the findings of a study which seeks to establish which elements, if any, of a financial services commercial first make it likeable to its target audience, second motivate the viewer to seek more information about the service being advertised and, third, have an effect on the image the viewer has of the advertiser. Some interesting findings from the research point to the similarities between the emerging factors for viewers' affective reactions to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and financial services commercials and the extent to which likeability mediates the influence which advertisement execution features have on subsequent behavioural intentions.