A Comparison of Print Advertisements from the United States and France

Abstract

This study extends the research on cross-cultural advertising by comparing print advertisements from the United States and France in terms of emotional appeals, information content, and use of humor and sex. A content analysis of advertisements from two types of magazines from the United States and France revealed that French advertisements make greater use of emotional appeals, humor, and sex appeals. Advertisements from the United States were found to contain more information cues.     

Analysis of Information Content in U.S. and Japanese Magazine Advertising

Abstract

The content of Japanese versus U.S. magazine advertisements is assessed to determine relative levels of information content based on the type of magazine, the kind of information, the product represented in the advertisement and the size of the advertisement. It was found that Japanese magazine advertisements were generally more informative than U.S. ads, although the emphasis on specific content varies cross-culturally.     

Off-the-Shelf Cultural Symbols

Abstract

One hundred and ninety-one British, 71 Greek and 91 people of differing nationalities were exposed to three print advertisements for a cold and influenza remedy and three advertisements for the services of an accommodation agency. The first advertisement for each product was taken directly from a newspaper; the second and third respectively added to this advertisement pictures of (a) a relevant, and (b) an irrelevant mythological character. Respondents' cognitive, affective and conative reactions to the six advertisements were then assessed.     

Rivers,William L., Wallace Thompson,and Michael J. Nyhan. The Aspen Handbook on the Media, 1977–1979 edition. New York: Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, 1977. 438 pp

Abstract

Time-compressed television advertisements have produced superior recall in college students. The current study indicates that young adults do recall more from time-compressed advertisements, but that elderly adults recall less and middle-aged adults are somewhere in between. These results hold for normal television advertisements as well.     

Social Cause versus Profit Oriented Advertisements

Abstract

A common theme in social marketing research has been that for a social cause message to be effective and encourage behavioral change it must be perceived as different from other advertising messages. This article evaluated over 500 magazine print advertisements via content analysis to reveal social cause versus profit oriented advertisements. Upon identification of these two advertisement types, further analysis explored information content and emotional appeal strategies. The results significantly indicate that social cause advertisements elicited more emotional appeals than profit oriented advertisements, while profit oriented advertisements conveyed more information content. Specifically, profit oriented advertisements contained more information regarding price, quality, performance, content, availability, offers, packaging, guarantees, company research, new ideas and taste than social cause advertisements. In comparison, only safety, research, and nutritional information were revealed more frequently with social cause than profit oriented advertisements. Social cause advertisements evoked more fear, anger, sadness, disgust, interest, and surprise. Profit oriented advertisements were deemed more pleasant and happier.     

Advertisement Style and the Recruitment of Charity Volunteers

ABSTRACT

Affective, cognitive and conative reactions to (i) altruistically focused, and (ii) egoistically orientated recruitment advertisements for charity volunteers were measured and related to individual differences in altruistic disposition among three sets of respondents. The first sample comprised 51 existing charity shop volunteers; the second consisted of 100 members of the general public who had undertaken some form of voluntary activity during the previous two years; while the third was made up of 100 people who had not completed any voluntary act over the same period. It emerged that although less altruistically inclined people responded more positively to advertisements which emphasised the material and emotional benefits of volunteering, it was not the case that people who displayed high altruistic tendency were more attracted by altruistic recruitment messages. Apparently, individuals with highly altruistic dispositions also preferred recruitment advertisements which listed the egoistical advantages accruing to voluntary work.     

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     

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.     

Marketing skills: Critical issues in marketing education and training

A central issue marketing educators and trainers need to address concerns the appropriateness of their courses and whether they develop the skills that prospective employers value. This paper reports on an attempt to document those skills and to examine the extent to which they are unique to the field of marketing. Four strands of research are reported on: a literature search based on the Social Science Citation Index; a review of advertisements for marketing personnel; a content analysis of a publication containing commentaries from graduates on their experiences in marketing posts; and a survey of employers.

In carrying out this research, it became clear that there was a dearth of well articulated and considered thought on the issue of marketing skills. Behind a rhetoric that depicts employers as knowing and discriminating, the emergent reality was of a group which had no clear idea of the particular skills which they needed in marketing personnel. Perhaps even more worrying is the extent to which employers cannot distinguish between the performance of marketing and non‐marketing trained entrants to their companies either at the stage of recruitment or when they are in post.

Academics and employers are involved in an exchange but the success of that exchange is in some doubt. In conclusion we seek a more active dialogue between the two parties to ensure improvement in the relationship which can only lead to more efficient and effective education and training.     

Modeling the Effects of Green Advertising on Brand Image: Investigating the Moderating Effects of Product Involvement Using Structural Equation

ABSTRACT

?This experimental study examined consumers’ response to green advertising for high- and low-involvement products by measuring its effect on consumers’ intention to purchase such brands. The present study enhances our understanding of the moderating role of product involvement and extends the structural equation tests of the four causal models. A dataset of 169 respondents is used to examine the role of brand image and brand attitude in the context of green advertisements. Consistent with earlier findings, the suggested model provides a good fit of the data and results indicate that positive attitude toward green advertisements, brand image, and attitude toward the brand enhances the chances of consumers’ purchase intention of such brands. The study also verifies that product involvement moderates the positive relationship between attitude toward green advertisements and brand image such that at higher levels of product involvement, attitude toward green advertisements has a stronger effect on brand image.     

Uncertainty in Prerelease Advertising

Firms frequently advertise products and services before they are launched. Yet how to best design such advertisements is not well understood. The current article investigates how consumers respond to uncertainty in prerelease advertisements. Across five studies, including both field and lab studies, we first provide evidence for the positive effect of uncertain prerelease advertisements using real consumer behavior on Facebook and YouTube and at the box office. Next, we uncover the mechanism underlying this effect (i.e., inflated outcome expectancies), outline a managerially relevant boundary condition (i.e., the positive effect reverses when a preorder opportunity is offered), and demonstrate that the effect of uncertainty on consumer response differs in prerelease versus postrelease advertisements depending on consumers’ perceived risk. Finally, we discuss implications for marketing research as well as for the design of prerelease advertisements for stimulating prerelease buzz and word of mouth.     

Fast Food Television Advertisement Formats

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to examine favorite formats in hamburger television advertisements in order to assist companies in effectively communicating with their target audiences and to motivate those audiences to purchase products. The main findings of the study are that college students appear to prefer the special-effects format for presenting hamburgers in television advertisements. In addition, the testimonial format in television advertisements seems to motivate college students' purchase intentions for hamburgers more than other formats. Implications of the study regarding segmentation information usage, establishment of business image and individual purchase motivation, and the relationship between brand and format effects are discussed.     

Preston,Ivan L., The Tangled Web They Weave: Truth,Falsity, & Advertisers,Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1994

Abstract

In an experiment, children in three grade levels (second, fourth, and sixth) viewed four advertisements. The children were shown advertisements with either metaphors in both pictorial and verbal form or a literal equivalent. The sixth graders interpreted more metaphors correctly than the fourth and second graders. In terms of recall of advertised content, the sixth and fourth graders recalled brand names, products, and additional copy better than the second graders. Within each grade level, metaphors did not enhance children's recall of advertised content or perceptions of the understandability of the advertisements and liking of the advertised products. The authors speculate that metaphors are most likely to enhance recall under conditions in which the metaphor serves as a direct representation linking the metaphor to the advertised product. Their findings suggest that advertisers should be aware that young readers may have difficulty interpreting metaphors and that metaphors may not be more effective in terms of children's recall and perception of understandability than literal versions of advertisements.     

Simon,Raymon. Public Relations Management: Cases and Simulations. Columbus,Ohio: Grid,Inc., 1973

Abstract

A content analysis of 814 advertisements from three major television networks was conducted to assess the representation and role portrayal of senior citizens in television advertising. While 12 percent of the current U.S. population is over 65 years of age, only seven percent of the advertisements containing people utilized elderly characters. In the majority of commercials, the elderly are not typically cast in major roles, but instead appear most often in home settings with members of other age groups present. In those advertisements where older persons are portrayed as major role advisors about a product or service, the advisor is likely to be male.     

Imagination matters: do consumers’ imagery processing and self-regulatory goals affect the persuasiveness of metaphor in advertising?

Abstract

In this paper, we show that individuals’ self-regulatory focus and imagery processing affect the persuasiveness of metaphorical advertisements. Study 1 show that metaphorical advertisements enhance persuasion only among individuals who are promotion focussed. They attenuate brand evaluation among prevention-focussed individuals. In Study 2, a regulatory fit between message frame and regulatory focus results in more favourable brand evaluations only among promotion-focussed individuals when a promotion-framed metaphorical advertisement is presented. In Study 3, the level of imagery processing mediates the interaction effect of metaphorical advertisements and regulatory focus on brand evaluation. Study 4 reveals that brand evaluation is enhanced when promotion-focussed consumers view a metaphorical advertisement without interpretative cues. However, the brand evaluation of prevention-focussed consumers is enhanced when they view a metaphorical advertisement with interpretative cues.     

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.     

Ethical Problems of Advertising Agency Executives

Abstract

A mail survey reports on ethical problems faced by 330 advertising agency executives. The most frequently cited difficult ethical problem is “treating clients fairly.” Creating honest advertisements and representing clients whose products or services are unhealthy OT not needed were also frequently mentioned. Many agency executives reported that such ethical problems affect both their performance and their relationships with co-workers.     

The Personal Involvement Inventory: Reduction,Revision, and Application to Advertising

Abstract

The conceptualization of the Personal Involvement Inventory was a context-free measure applicable to involvement with products, with advertisements, and with purchase situations. The empirical work to develop this measure was mainly validated with respect to product categories. This paper extends the construct validation of the PII to involvement with advertisements and also demonstrates that the PII may be reliably reduced from twenty items to ten items. There is some indication the revised PII may then be broken into two subscales representing a cognitive and affective grouping.     

The Incidence and Characteristics of Disclaimers in Children's Television Advertising

Abstract

This paper reports the results of research that updates and expands previous research on disclaimers in children's television. The study examines the incidence, form, position, language level and variance by product category of a sample of nearly 1,000 advertisements televised during children's programs.