Modeling Consumer Responses to a Vignette Television Commercial Drama for a Vacation Resort

This project involved the formulation and testing of a model the cognitive and affective responses to a vignette television commercial drama for a vacation resort. Results indicate that response to the commercial was affective in nature with sympathy, empathy, and attitude toward the ad mediating the influences of verisimilitude and homophily on attitude toward the brand. Results suggest that to effectively promote tourism services a commercial's production value and realism must be high to produce sufficient verisimilitude. Also the behaviors and appearance of the actors chosen for the commercial should match those of the intended target audience in order to produce sufficient homophily.