The joint impact of humor and argument strength in a print advertising context: A case for weaker arguments

Humor is used extensively in advertising, but with mixed results. Drawing on the heuristic systematic model of persuasion, the authors explore a contingency underlying the impact of humorous executions on ad and brand attitudes for a convenience good. Results of a laboratory experiment with print ads show that the presence (vs. absence) of incidental humor can interact with message characteristics such that humorous ads engender more positive attitudes when they employ weaker arguments, and less positive attitudes when they use stronger arguments. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Impact of flow on recognition of and attitudes towards in-game brand placements

This study investigates the moderating influences of brand congruence and placement prominence on the impact of game-evoked flow on cognitive and affective outcomes for in-game brand placements. In two studies, the authors demonstrate that experiencing flow while gaming tends to contribute positively to affective outcomes, leading to more positive brand attitudes, but it has no impact on cognitive processing or brand recognition. In particular, brand congruence moderates the impact of flow, leading to more positive brand attitudes and brand recognition. Brand prominence moderates the impact of flow only on brand recognition, not on brand attitudes. These findings offer several implications, limitations and directions for further research.     

The advertising effectiveness of different levels of intensity of humour and warmth and the moderating role of top of mind awareness and degree of product use

Responses to three different intensity levels of warmth (none, moderate and high) and three different levels of humour were investigated as well as the moderating role of top of mind awareness and degree of product use. Affective responses, attitude towards the advertisement (Aad) and the brand (Ab) and the favourableness of advertisement-related cognitions were enhanced by the use of warmth although the intensity level (moderate versus high intensity) did not seem to matter. As far as humour was concerned, a high-intensity humorous appeal induced most favourable affective responses, Aad and advertisement-related cognitions, while a moderate level of humour was most conducive for a favourable Ab and brand-related cognitions. Significant interaction effects suggested that the most positive advertisement effects can be obtained by combining high levels of warmth with high levels of humour, while the most positive brand effects can be obtained by combining high levels of warmth and moderate levels of humour. Emotional executions of high intensity led to the most positive affective and cognitive reactions in the case of brands that are not top of mind and to the most positive cognitive reactions in the case where the respondent was a heavy user of the product category. In particular the intensity level of humour led to significant communication effects.     

Attitude formation from product trial: Distinct roles of cognition and affect for hedonic and functional products

Affective and cognitive responses to a product trial are examined in an experiment containing two cells representing two product types: hedonic and functional. The stimulus products were a computer game and grammar‐checking software. Forty‐two college students comprised the sample for the experiment. The specific affective responses studied are pleasure and arousal, and brand cognitions are represented as the expectancy value from brand attributes (the product of brand beliefs, belief confidence, and attribute evaluations, summed across the attributes (σ b_ic_ie_i)). The relative level and influence of affective and cognitive responses to a product trial were shown to differ significantly, depending on whether the product was hedonic or functional in nature. Specifically, for the hedonic product, felt arousal during the trial was higher than for the functional product, and emotional responses were significant antecedents of subjects' evaluations of the trial experience. Brand cognitions, however, were not significantly related to trial evaluations for the hedonic product. In contrast, for the functional product, brand cognitions and pleasure were significant antecedents of trial evaluations, but arousal was not. The findings of this study demonstrate the importance of considering both the cognitive structure created by a product trial and the consumer's emotional reactions to the trial. For hedonic products, especially, emotional responses to the trial were shown to be powerful antecedents to consumers' evaluations of a trial experience, and subsequently, brand attitude. Marketers and marketing researchers can use these results to predict which category of responses to product trial (affective or cognitive) will be most important for brand evaluation for the particular product in question. This knowledge may also enable marketers to manipulate aspects of a product trial that are most influential on the set of trial responses that this study has shown to significantly affect brand evaluation for that product type. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Projecting corporate brand image and behavioral response in business schools: Cognitive or affective brand attributes?

This paper considers corporate brand image, focusing on cognitive and affective brand attributes in the context of business schools. While previous research on university or institutional branding has studied these elements separately via cognitive (e.g., service or educational quality attributes) or affective criteria (personality traits of the corporate brand), this study investigates them jointly through behavioral responses (leading to positive recommendations about the corporate brand). This is important because brand equity such as positive word-of-mouth (or mouse) is derived from both attitudinal components, rather than being based on only one component. Drawing on an empirical survey of postgraduate (MBA) students from four business schools, the findings reveal that both cognitive and affective attitudinal components appear equally important in shaping corporate brand image. Further, when the mediating effect is investigated, interestingly, students' positive recommendations to schools depended largely on the affective (prestigious, adventurous, empathy and competence) rather than upon the cognitive brand attributes. This paper contributes theoretically to the corporate brand and consumer behavior literature by investigating both attitudinal components at a corporate brand level and investigates their effects on behavioral/conative response. The practical contribution of the paper and its managerial implications lie in the context of defining strategy in relation to positioning business schools in an increasingly competitive higher education market.     

Ad framing effects for consumption products: An affect priming process

This research examines why positively framed messages work more effectively than negatively framed messages in product advertising by establishing an affect priming process model. Findings from Experiment 1 showed that positively framed ad messages evoked higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect than did negatively framed ad messages. Accordingly, positively framed ad messages generated more favorable ratings on ad believability, ad liking, and brand attitudes. Most importantly, this research demonstrated the process by which frame‐evoked affect exerted influence on brand attitudes via its impacts on priming affect‐congruent cognitive responses. Experiment 1 also found that positively framed ads encouraged participants to be attentive to and elaborate on messages more so than negatively framed ads. Findings from Experiment 2 further showed that ad framing effects were moderated by the type of product attributes being featured. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Examining tourist citizenship behaviors through affective,cognitive, behavioral engagement and reputation: Symmetrical and asymmetrical approaches

Although various studies have addressed customer citizenship behaviors and customer brand engagement, the effect of tourists’ pandemic-related destination brand reputation (DBR) on destination-brand-engagement (DBE) and tourist citizenship behaviors (TCB) remains nebulous. Based on signaling theory, social exchange theory, and complexity theory, we develop and test a theoretical model that explores the effect of tourist-perceived DBR on their affective, cognitive, and behavioral engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. To explore these issues, this article adopts a mixed-method research approach, including symmetrical-based structural equation modeling (SEM) followed by asymmetrical-based fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). First, the SEM findings reveal the positive effect of DBR on affective, cognitive, and behavioral brand engagement. Second, the SEM findings uncover the affective, cognitive, and behavioral brand engagement’s positive impact on TCB. Third, the fsQCA findings identify three heterogeneous variable combinations/configurations that facilitate TCB. This study offers important theoretical and practical implications for destination marketers in pandemic times.     

How many pictures should your print ad have?

This study examines the impact of increasing the number of images in a print advertisement on affective and cognitive responses. In advertisements with both positive and negative pictures, increasing the number of positive (negative) images increases positive (negative) affect. However, consistent with theory regarding the mechanism underpinning affect integration in a simultaneous presentation context, in advertisements with only positive or only negative images, increasing the number of positive (negative) images of similar affective intensity does not increase positive (negative) affect. For both types of advertisements, additional pictures have no effects on attitude toward the ad when they exemplify a product attribute or benefit that an existing picture(s) already depicts.     

Why users share marketer-generated contents on social broadcasting Web sites: A cognitive–affective involvement perspective

As an emerging media platform, social broadcasting technologies provide users with a decentralized environment for producing and consuming information. This study develops a motivational model based on the cognitive and affective involvements of individuals to explore their intentions to share marketer-generated content (MGC). The model was empirically tested on 481 Sina Weibo users in a scenario-based environment. Results show that ad intrusiveness, anticipated rewards, category brand relevance, and brand attitude play important roles in facilitating cognitive and affective involvements. In turn, both types of involvement positively influence the intention of users to share MGC, but affective involvement yields a greater influence. Product types significantly moderate the relationship between the cognitive involvement of users and their intention to share MGC. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Ad–self‐congruency effects: Self‐enhancing cognitive and affective mechanisms

This article explores how the drive for self‐enhancement influences responses to ads depicting images that are self‐congruent along the dimensions of femininity and individualism/collectivism. Participants' schematics on the portrayed dimension were found to exhibit higher levels of cognitive self‐referencing and positive affect when the ad image was congruent with their ideal self‐schemata than when it was not. Greater self‐referencing and positive affect were found, in turn, to promote more favorable ad attitudes, thereby resulting in more positive brand attitudes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effects of ethnic advertising on consumers of minority and majority groups: the moderating effect of humor

The effects of portrayals of ethnic endorsers in advertising are ambiguous. These portrayals strengthen the ethnic identity of ethnic minority groups, thus leading to positive responses toward the ad. They can lead to negative responses, because these portrayals can be perceived as stereotyped. Humor is a tool that can increase positive effects of identity-building and reduce negative effects of stereotyping. In this study, we investigate how humor moderates the effects of ethnic advertising on consumers from ethnic minority and majority groups. We find that humor supports the effects of traditional portrayals for both groups. Moreover, the effect of traditional portrayals combined with humor is strongest for the minority group. These findings provide evidence for the positive effects of humor in ethnic advertising and thus provide new insights to the stereotyping, ethnic advertising, and humor literature. The findings have practical implications for advertising using ethnic endorsers, humor, or targeted at ethnic minority groups.     

Affective cues and brand‐extension evaluation: Exploring the influence of attitude toward the parent brand and attitude toward the extension ad

This research investigates the influence of two affective cues, namely, attitude toward the parent brand and attitude toward the extension ad, on brand‐extension evaluation. Results show that as perceived congruity between the extension and the parent brand decreases, the influence of attitude toward the parent brand on brand‐extension evaluation decreases, but the influence of attitude toward the extension ad increases. The impact of the two affective cues also appears to be moderated by an individual's need for cognition. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The influence of consumer mood state as a contextual factor on imagery-inducing advertisements and brand attitude

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of consumer preexisting mood as a contextual factor on consumers' response to imagery-inducing advertisements. The results showed that positive mood seemed to be the most productive context for an imagery ad. Positive mood increased consumers' positive affective state and increased their subsequent brand attitudes. In addition, the results showed that consumers' mood state can also affect the processing mode consumers actually adopt while viewing an ad, and thus indirectly affect brand attitude. Positive mood state was shown to facilitate the induction of mental imagery processing, and at the same time distract detail-oriented analytical processing. As a result, evaluation of the ad was enhanced. On the other hand, negative mood was shown to reduce the intended mental imagery processing, but it appeared to encourage a detail-oriented analytical processing. As a result, consumers remembered more accurately the specific ad claims, but were not affected as much by the imagery-inducing appeals.     

Ad processing and persuasion: The role of brand identification

This article examines the relationship between ad learning and ad-based persuasion; it proposes that consumer identification of the advertising brand positively affects attitude toward the ad, which in turn enhances positive brand attitudes. A model integrating learning and attitudinal responses to ads was tested with aggregate readership recognition scores and attitudinal measures for different ads. Results suggested that identification of the advertiser is a crucial operation in ad processing. Ads that facilitated identification of the brand appeared credible, which contributed to enhancing their persuasive impact. Neither the degree of overall attention devoted to an ad previous to brand identification, nor subsequent extensive elaboration of the ad's copy, affected ad or brand attitudes. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

What and how to communicate about a corporate brand with the consumers: An exploratory study

The present exploratory study investigates the differential impact of various relevant corporate brand associations on consumers' cognitive (product attitude and purchase intention) and affective responses (affective corporate commitment) in the three sectors, namely durables, services and fast moving consumer goods. The findings reveal that corporate brand associations can be categorised into two categories – universal associations, which are influential in all the sectors, and sector-specific associations, which have a differential effect on consumers in different sectors. Thus, this study reveals that corporate branding is important to consumers in all the sectors, but a single corporate brand story does not work in all the sectors. Further, corporate associations do not always have a positive effect on the consumers; under certain circumstances, these might either have no effect or have a negative effect on the consumers. Finally, there are two routes by which corporate brand associations can influence consumers – by affecting their cognitive responses or by influencing their affective responses towards the company. The recognition of the important corporate brand associations in the three sectors, and the routes (cognitive or affective) through which these associations influence consumer choices would enable marketers to develop more sophisticated corporate communication strategies.     

Product placements in movies and on Broadway

On the basis of 17 characteristics of 100 Belgian radio commercials (amount of information and brand quotes, humour, emotionality, eroticism, music, action-impulse, and so on), three types of radio spot were identified: image-dominant and emotional/creative spots, information-dominant and emotional/creative spots, and information-dominant and non-emotional/not creative spots. The affective and cognitive attitudes towards each commercial, as well as attitudes towards the brands and purchase intentions, were measured in a sample of 100 respondents. Overall, the information-dominant, emotional/ creative type of commercial resulted in the most positive attitudes towards ads and brands. The other two types of ad performed less well. The components of the attitude towards the ads were strongly correlated with the attitude towards the brands. In particular, the affective reactions and, to a lesser extent, the perceived degree of informative-ness of an ad significantly explained attitude towards the brand.     

The visual naturalness effect: Impact of natural logos on brand personality perception

A logo is a critical visual element that uniquely identifies a brand and can affect consumers' brand perceptions. Naturalness reflects the degree to which a sign depicts objects from the natural and sensitive world. The logo strategy literature identifies naturalness as a universal and critical design dimension influencing consumers' cognitive, affective and behavioural reactions. In practice, both high and low natural logos are frequently used by brands. However, the current understanding of the effects of logo naturalness is limited. This research thus investigates the influence of natural logos on consumer perceptions of brand personality. The data were collected in four experiments using a set of 10 manipulated logos as stimuli. Our results suggest that high (vs. low) natural logos positively affect the perception of brand sincerity personality and that this effect occurs because high natural logos are easier to process and elicit stronger impressions of authenticity. Moreover, we demonstrate that the positive effect of logo naturalness is enhanced among brands with products made from natural-made (vs. human-made) ingredients. These findings therefore suggest that brands should avoid using low natural logos if their sincerity perception is critical or if most of their products contain high levels of natural ingredients. Hence, our results reinforce the visual design and branding theories and offer marketing practitioners actionable insights.     

The effects of advertisement picture likeability on information search and brand choice

A considerable amount of advertising research has focused on the effects of affective cues such as likeable people, pictures, or music. The conclusions have been that ads relying on affective cues can influence choice only under limited conditions, when relevant brand information is either unavailable or not useful if present. However, the effects of affective cues on choice may not be as limited as previously thought. When respondents are allowed to explore diagnostic information but must do it sequentially after initial exposure to the ads with pictures varying in likeability, we hypothesize that the positive ad will influence brand choice, and this effect will be at least partially due to the initial effects of the ads on search of this information. Our study manipulated the likeability of pictures in print ads for a ??test brand,?? along with other similarly formatted ads for three other brands. Brand attribute information was not readily available but could be searched and showed clearly that the test brand was only the second-best. Results showed that the ad pictures biased search order in favor of the advertised test brand and increased choice of the second-best test brand when it was advertised with the likeable pictures. Subsequent analysis revealed that search order significantly but not completely mediated the effects of picture on choice. The results suggest that information search can be a useful, sensitive measure of the effects of advertising.     

Refuting fear in heuristics and in recycling promotion

This paper deals with emotions in order to demonstrate that recycling behavior is associated more with positive emotions than with cognitions. The resulting model displays a marked contrast to the classic cognitive paradigm in the sense that this perspective highlights the idea that consumers act on the basis of their affective reactions, with cognitive factors playing a minor role. In addition, showing alternative routes to achieve both recycling involvement and behavior depending on both the emotional and cognitive characteristics of individuals within the hedonic process.     

Negative and positive customer shopping experience in an online context

Underpinned by the Bagozzi and Dholakia (1999) goal setting and striving framework this research firstly develops a negative online customer experience model after which regulatory focus theory is used to compare this model with a positive online customer experience model. Analysis of responses from 201 respondents in the first study shows service failure causes negative affective and cognitive experience and has an impact on dissatisfaction and negative word of mouth in the online retailing context. Moreover, results of a second study among 200 respondents indicates that while customer priority in a successful shopping context is affective experience, in a service failure the customer priority moves from an affective to a cognitive experience. Similarly, compared to cognitive experience, affective experience has a higher impact on customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth in a successful shopping context, while in an unsuccessful shopping context cognitive experience has higher impact on dissatisfaction and negative word of mouth. The findings of this study contribute to customer experience management in both successful and unsuccessful shopping situations.