Comparative advertising: Superiority despite interference?

The effect of comparative versus noncomparative advertising on consumer cognitions, attitudes, and behavioural intentions toward an advertised brand with or without interference from other ads was investigated. The experimental results indicated that the superiority of comparative over noncomparative advertising on attitudinal and behavioural intention responses observed immediately after exposure diminished following interference from subsequent exposure to other ads. However, its superiority on two cognitive dimensions — perceived brand similarity and quality — was maintained despite such interference. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.The authors thank Joe Cote and Debbie Roedder John for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and the National University of Singapore for funding this research.