Advertising 2018 Abstracts
Teaching
Expectations v. reality: Comparing perceptions of the advertising industry between students and professionals • Sara Champlin, The University of North Texas; Sheri Broyles, Dr. • Perceptions of the industry matter to newly minted advertising graduates and to the professionals who recruit new talent. However, it’s unclear how these two perspectives overlap. The present study assessed student and professional perceptions simultaneously to determine opportunities for teaching that will bridge discrepancies. Professionals and students see eye-to-eye in many areas, but specific skills, salaries for account executives and media buyers, and overall performance/supervision differed between the two groups. Teaching suggestions are discussed.
Dimensions of News Media Literacy among U.S. Advertising Students • Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University; alice kendrick • A national survey of advertising students addresses AEJMC’s 2017 recommitment to teaching news media literacy. On scales of knowledge and attitudes, advertising students rated themselves overall as above average on self-reported estimates of Media Literacy. Students exhibited higher degrees of understanding of and interest in the “Messages and Meanings” and “Authors and Audiences” dimensions than they did in the “Value of Media Literacy”. Those with higher grade point averages and access to internships placed a higher value on media literacy than other groups. Implications for educators are discussed.
Rebuilding from the Ground Up: Developing a New Approach to Visual Communications Curriculum • Adam Wagler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Collin Berke • As technology develops, visual communications education must evolve with the times. In the fall of 2015, the curriculum committee at [University Name] College of Journalism and Mass Communications was tasked with evaluating the visual communications program. This committee set out to answer one question: “Are we preparing graduates of our program to be successful in a dynamically changing media industry?” The purpose of this case study is to explore the development of a new visual communications program with summative assessment data that addresses this reality. The proposed solution changed the objectives from four production areas to four conceptual areas: critical thinking, storytelling, how technology works, and integrating media. This paper assesses the effectiveness of an emporium and challenged based learning model implemented for the new program that was launched in the fall of 2016. The results indicate evidence of the effectiveness of the approach through assessment data. The program recognizes that students need the space to learn, fail, and experiment while faculty must be willing to change as well as resist the urge to profess. The success relies on everyone’s comfort in embracing changes in media.
“Keep it true-to-life”: The role of experiential learning in advertising and public relations pedagogy • Amanda Weed, Ashland University • Experiential learning is an important component of advertising and public relations pedagogy as “real world” projects and provides students with distinct benefits that may improve their success as early-career practitioners. Through examination of five experiential learning categories, this study contributes to pedagogy practice by providing a detailed snapshot of how award-winning practitioners and educators perceive experiential learning, how experiential learning is integrated in advertising and public relations education, and identifies areas for improvement.
Open Competition
Applying artificial neural networks to predict ad viewership during TV programs • Fiona Chew, Syracuse University; Beth Egan; Chilukuri Mohan, Syracuse University; Ruochen Jiang; Sushanth Suresh, Syracuse University; Kartik Joshi, Syracuse University • We applied artificial neural networks (ANNs) to analyze TV ad viewership during commercial breaks predicated on second-by-second data that tracked audiences’ mechanical ad avoidance behavior. ANNs comprise hardware and algorithm processing devices trained to discover relationships and patterns, establish and define linkages among numerous variables with large and diverse data. Results identified key attributes that predicted ad viewing declines. These included programs originality/rerun, number of ads, ad placement pod position and ad duration.
An Examination of the Effects of Multicultural Advertising Strategies on Consumer Decision-Making Processes • Carolyn Lin; Linda Dam • Few advertising research studies address how perceived social distance – the level of acceptance individuals feel towards people from a different racial background – may impact consumer responses toward advertising spokespersons from different racial groups. This study explores whether perceived social distance between consumers and multicultural advertising spokespersons influences consumer decision-making processes. Findings suggest that cross-cultural group relations could help explain the underlying consumer decision-making process, which influences the effectiveness of multicultural advertising practices.
Make It Fit: The Effects of Brand-Game Congruity in Advergames on Brand Recall, Attitude, and Purchase Intent • Frank Dardis, Penn State University; Michael Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University; Jose Aviles, Wittenberg University; Erica Bailey, Angelo State University; Stephanie Orme, Penn State University; Jin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University • Brand congruity, or how well a brand seems to “fit” within the media or external environment in which it is placed, has been studied in numerous sub-areas within the advertising and marketing literature. The concept has received some attention in the realm of embedded in-game advertising (IGA) and advergames, with most studies focusing on brand memory. The current study was the first to manipulate a high-congruity and low-congruity brand within a single advergame and simultaneously evaluate players’ brand recall, attitude, and purchase intent. Further, although differing from each other in absolute congruity, each brand was conceivably suitable in performing some of the real-world functions exemplified in the game. Results indicate strong support for the placement of a high-congruity brand in an advergame, particularly regarding brand attitude and purchase intent. This is especially compelling because, in the current study, participants had to use the brand to succeed at the game; the brand communication was not simply an embedded message. Practical implications are discussed.
Got Muscle? A Longitudinal Study of Masculinity in Fragrance Ads in Esquire and GQ • Laura Beth Daws, Kennesaw State University; Justin Pettigrew, Kennesaw State University • Fragrance ads for women proliferate in style magazines for women, but what about ads for men’s cologne in men’s style magazines? This study examines men’s fragrance ads in the print edition of those periodicals longitudinally to see how ads use nudity and the “masculine ideal” to portray their product. Results of a content analysis of Esquire and GQ from 1950-2015 showed that the “masculine ideal” has remained a constant in fragrance ads over time.
Investigating the Implications of Distinct Personality and Message Factors on Consumer Responses • Naa Amponsah Dodoo, Emerson College; Cynthia Morton Padovano, University of Florida • This research examined psychological determinants of consumer responses to social media ads to understand the effect of consumer personality traits, regulatory focus and product appeal on consumer responses to social media ads. To that effect, this study assessed the impact of openness to experience and neuroticism on consumer responses following exposure to social media ads that employed message strategies that manipulated regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and product appeal (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Experimental results indicate main effects for openness to experience and neuroticism on responses to social media ads. Additionally, interaction effects were found between openness to experience, regulatory focus and product appeal, lending evidence to the influence of personality traits on message persuasiveness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Comparative Advertising as a Signal of Quality: The Role of Brand Credibility in Consumer Responses • Naa Amponsah Dodoo, Emerson College • Comparative advertising is a widely-researched area within advertising research. Despite the wealth of information on comparative advertising, research suggests that results from these studies more often than not demonstrate insignificant findings. Drawing on the signaling theory as a framework, this study sought to examine comparative advertising and its role in conveying brand quality relative to noncomparative advertising. With a focus on the U.S. wireless industry, consumer responses to comparative advertising were investigated. Results to some extent support previous literature espousing advertising as a signal of quality. Brand credibility as an important aspect of signaling theory was also examined for both comparative and noncomparative ads and was found to have an impact in consumer responses. Implications and limitations are discussed.
The role of media context and general advertising attitudes on ad avoidance • Esther Thorson, Michigan State; Samuel M. Tham, Michigan State University; Margaret Duffy, U of Missouri • This research develops theory about the role of media context and advertising attitudes regarding why people appreciate, are annoyed by, or attempt to avoid advertising. Media context is comprised of three elements: different media devices, media channels, and media content. The theory was applied in a nationwide survey and findings suggest that advertising appreciation, annoyance, and avoidance are processes rooted on all three factors identified as media context.
Beauty Brands and Micro-blogging in China: How Content Choices Affect Consumer Engagement on Sina Weibo • Mengling Cao, Florida Institute of Technology; Youngju (YJ) Sohn, Florida Institute of Technology; Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Florida Institute of Technology • The purpose of this study is to explore how beauty brands use social media to meet customer’s needs and improve customer engagement through social media posts. The development of social media helps brands extend their marketing areas and gain various benefits. Based on the uses and gratifications theory and literature about customer engagement, this study proposes several aspects about posts include posting day, message originality, modality, post content, and how they affect customer engagements online. In this study, a content analysis was conducted of 2,676 posts from the top 10 beauty brands in China on Sina Weibo, the biggest micro-blogging website in the country. In the results, customer engagements on Weibo were positively affected by modality (i.e., posts with videos) and post content (i.e., posts of incentives, giveaways, news, shows, and feedback, as well as posts with celebrity or spokesperson content).
Soil and Flower: The Relationship between Social Media Usage and Consumer Response to Social Media Advertising • Yang Feng; Quan Xie • This study examines how consumers’ motivations to engage with seven social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and YouTube) influence their evaluations of advertising on those platforms. Results from survey (N = 972, aged 18-35) not only provide empirical evidence for media context literature, but also advance media context literature by delving into different social media platforms. In particular, results revealed that people are driven by different motivations to use the seven social media platforms and they evaluate advertising on each platform in a different way. Furthermore, regression results revealed significant relationships between social media engagement motivations and ad evaluations (i.e., ad relevance, ad trust, ad attention, and ad intrusiveness). Also, the relationship pattern differs across the seven social media platforms. Discussion and practical implications were provided.
Eye-Catching and Unforgettable: The Role of Ad Creativity in Online Video Ads Featuring Augmented Reality Technology • Yang Feng; Quan Xie • This study aims to examine the role of ad creativity in video ads featuring augmented reality (AR) technology uploaded on YouTube. Through an online experiment, we compared people who hold positive pre-existing attitudes toward a familiar brand, people who hold negative pre-existing attitudes toward a familiar brand, and people who are unfamiliar with a brand in terms of their perceived creativity of a video ad featuring AR technology. Further, we explored the differential effect of three dimensions of ad creativity, namely, message usefulness, ad novelty, and ad-consumer association, on short and long-term brand name recall, short and long-term brand message recall, ad attitude, and brand attitude. Results demonstrated that for a familiar brand, people’s perceived creativity of an ad is biased by their pre-existing brand attitudes. For an unfamiliar brand, since people do not have pre-existing attitudes toward it, their perceived creativity of an ad for the unfamiliar brand is mostly shaped by their impressions of the ad. Moreover, results revealed that the three dimension of ad creativity play different roles in ad effectiveness.
The Impact of Erotic Appeal and Message Relevance on Selective Attention to Print Advertisements • Zijian Gong, Texas Tech University; Steven Holiday, Texas Tech University; Glenn Cummins, Texas Tech University • The effectiveness of sexual appeals in advertising continues to be subject to debate. One moderator of this effect is relevance, typically viewed as congruence between sexual appeals and the product. A contrasting view offered here is the relevance of the product to the audience. This experiment employed eye tracking to demonstrate how sexual appeals caused a visual distraction effect for low relevance ads. For high-relevance ads, this effect was not observed.
Social Network for Good: Framing the Message Type and Execution Style of “Cause- Related Marketing” Advertising for a Sports Brand on Social Network Sites • Ji Yoon (Karen) Han; Seungae Lee • Companies now use social network sites (SNS) as an opportunity to promote their values and interact with consumers, particularly for purposes of cause-related marketing (CRM). Traditional print CRM ads focused on promoting social cause (PCS) messages about which a brand commits. However, recent social media-based CRM ads rely on partake-in-our-cause (PIOC) messages. This study applied cause framing (cause-focused ad) and profit framing (product-focused ad) to CRM execution styles and investigated the interplay between the message type (PIOC vs. PCS) and execution style (cause-focused ad vs. product-oriented ad) on consumer response in social media contexts. The findings indicate that when a product-oriented ad is shown, a PIOC message led to more favorable attitudes toward the cause and higher levels of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention than did a PCS message. In contrast, when people were exposed to a cause-focused ad, the message type did not significantly affect attitudes or eWOM intention. Further, attitude toward the cause is identified as the mediator to explain the interplay between message type and execution style on eWOM intention.
How Advertising Relevance and Brand Relationship Strength Limits Disclosure Effects of Native Ads on Twitter • Jameson Hayes, University of Alabama; Guy Golan, University of South Florida; Janelle Applequist, University of South Florida; Stephen Rush, The University of Alabama • The growing scholarship on native advertising indicates that advertising recognition often leads to audience resistance of the persuasive messages. The current research conducts two national online experiments examining the impact of advertising relevance and brand relationship strength on native advertising outcomes on Twitter at low and high disclosure levels. Study findings indicate that both perceived relevance and brand relationship strength have the potential to limit audience resistance to the native advertisement.
Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Influencer Product Recommendation Motives on Social Media • Mengtian (Montina) Jiang, University of Kentucky; Nora Rifon, Michigan State University • Social media has seen an explosion of sponsored content created and shared by social media influencers. This study examines how a consumer interprets and infers the influencer’s underlying motives for writing and sharing these posts on Instagram. Three online surveys develop and validate a scale that identifies six distinct types of influencer motives that co-exist during consumer processing of sponsored content: Money, Selling, Image, Love, Sharing and Helping motives. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Effects of Sensation Seeking, Creator Attractiveness, and Content Characteristics on Branded Entertainment • Dahyun Hong; Jong Woo Jun, Dankook University • This study explores effects of branded entertainment on information processing of consumers. Using Korean female consumers as research samples tries to identify roles of consumer psychological factors, creator attractiveness, and content factors on purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. The findings of this study show that sensation seeking influenced purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. Creator attractiveness is related in positive ways, and content novelty and content credibility influenced purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. Lastly, attitudes toward content is connected to both purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. These results could provide academic and managerial implications in terms of branded entertainment marketing.
How Storytelling Advertising Affects Consumers: Emotion as a mediator between narrative level and WOM intention • Sookyeong Hong, Hansei University; Jin-Ae Kang, East Carolina University; Glenn Hubbard, East Carolina University • Experimental study (n=300) tested the effects of storytelling in radio advertisements on participants’ emotional responses and intentions to share information about the product by word of mouth. Treatments included a story told by the founder of a company, the same story manipulated to come from a customer and a purely informational non-story control stimulus. The founder’s story elicited more favorable responses and had some effect on word-of-mouth intention, especially among participants preferring narrative formats.
Another Super Bowl Study: An Exploratory Research on the Impacts of Ad Effectiveness Factors on Consumer Engagement on Social Media • Gawon Kim; Ian Skupski; Yongick Jeong, Louisiana State University • Using Super Bowl ads, this study explores the relationship between various ad effectiveness factors (length, frequency, clutter, position, social media mention, and liking) and consumer engagement (overall, positive, and negative comments) on social media (Facebook and Twitter). The findings of this study indicate that ad factors have significant impacts on consumer engagement. The effect is in overall social media posts positive and negative sentiment posts, but differently. Marketing implications for the results are discussed.
The attitudinal and behavioral effects of pictorial metaphors in advertising: Considering need for cognition and the mediating effect of emotional response • Soojin Kim, Louisiana State University • The current study investigates the effect of the interrelation between pictorial metaphor and headline in ads with an individual’s difference by Need for Cognition (NFC) on the attitude toward the ad, the brand, and purchase intention (PI), while considering emotions as a mediator. The current study’s findings highlight the importance of the match between pictorial metaphor and headlines for the ad effects by consumer’s cognitive tendency, considering affective responses.
Examining the Personality Traits and Motives That Predict Attitudes Toward and Engagement with Sponsored Content in Snapchat • Tiany Sousa; William Kinnally, University of Central Florida • Social networking sites (SNS) have revolutionized the communication between consumers and brands, publishers, and marketers. These platforms have become a way for advertisers to communicate directly and engage users with content that is innovative and less intrusive. The aim of this research is to examine the personality traits and motives (based on the uses and gratifications theory) that predict attitudes toward and engagement with sponsored content in Snapchat including Filters, Lenses, Discover, and Snap Ads. An online survey with 606 participants showed that the main motives of using Snapchat were social information seeking, entertainment, and impression management. Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to examine the models that predict attitudes toward the sponsored features in Snapchat as well as the engagement with them. Several personality traits and Snapchat motives combined to predict attitudes toward and engagement with sponsored filters. In contrast, only social information seeking was significant predictor of attitudes toward and engagement with Discover feature. More results and practical implications are discussed.
Influencer Marketing on Instagram: The Effects of Sponsorship Disclosure, Source Credibility, and Brand Credibility • Susanna Lee, University of Florida; Eunice Kim • With the rise of social media, influencer marketing appeared as a relatively new form of celebrity endorsement. Although promotional posts on Instagram include messages that disclosure sponsorship and activate persuasion knowledge, consumers’ attitude toward the post may vary by source credibility and brand credibility. This study examines the effects of disclosure types, source credibility, and brand credibility on the effectiveness of Instagram marketing using influencers. Findings reveal that highly credible brands featured in Instagram posts have a positive impact on message credibility, eWOM intention, purchase intention, and attitude toward the ad. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
The Effect of Soliciting Consumer Participation in Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns • Sun Young Lee, Texas Tech University; Yeuseung Kim; Young Kim, Marquette University • This study explores the mechanisms through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns that require consumer participation create more value for companies than do non-participatory CSR campaigns. Based on two distinguishing characteristics of participatory CSR campaigns—interactivity and consumer empowerment—we posit two routes to persuasion, one in which participatory CSR activities generate more favorable attitude toward the company and higher purchase intention through consumer–company identification, enhanced through perceived interactivity, and the other in which participatory CSR activities, in comparison to non-participatory, empower consumers, which, in turn, affects perceived CSR motives. We demonstrate these proposed mechanisms using an online experiment with one non-participatory CSR activity and three different types of participatory CSR activities. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Credible corporates require many likes: An examination of corporate credibility and bandwagon cues • Ruobing Li, Louisiana State University; Michail Vafeiadis, Auburn University; Anli Xiao; Guolan Yang • Compared to conventional advertising forms, social media native ads blend in the context and tend to be more interactive. To examine how corporate credibility and other viewers’ collective opinions associated with a promotional post influence its effectiveness, we conducted a 2 (high vs. low corporate credibility) by 2 (high vs. low bandwagon cues) between subjects experiment. Findings suggested that native ads published by highly credible corporate lead to less negative emotions among viewers and higher intention to engage in behaviors related to the ad and the product advertised; bandwagon cues influenced viewer psychology in a way that high bandwagon cues led to better evaluation of the ad, more positive attitude towards the ad, and higher behavioral intention. Corporate credibility also interacted with bandwagon cues in influencing the persuasive outcomes of the ad. Theoretical and practical implications on native advertising were discussed.
Cognitive Appraisals on a Brand Safety Issue and Hostile Consumer Behaviors: The appraisal-emotion-behavior (AEB) model • Joon Soo Lim, Syracuse University; Junga Kim; Chunsik Lee • Grounded in appraisal theories of emotions, this study tested the appraisal-emotion-behavior model for brand safety. The model posited that the appraisals of harm severity, ad intrusiveness and blame attributions for brand ads displayed next to offensive content would elicit negative emotions, which propels consumers to engage in hostile behaviors such as complaints, negative word of mouth and boycotts. To test the model, data were collected through an online survey using quota sampling (N = 483). Results of the SEM analysis supported the hypotheses regarding the effects of the appraisals on negative emotions. A mediation analysis further demonstrated that the effects of appraisals on the hostile consumer behaviors were mediated by evoked negative emotions. Findings of this study suggest that consumers react to the brand safety issue to the extent that they appraise the potential harm of the offensive content and attribute the responsibility to the brand.
Does When and Where Matter? The Influence of Ad Timing and Placement Context on the Effects of Online Behavioral Advertising • Xinyu Lu; Haesung (Claire) Whang; Jisu Huh • Behaviorally targeted advertising is receiving growing attention due to the preponderance of advertising dollars spent on online advertising and the rapid development of targeting techniques. Drawing on the goal activation model, this study examined the effects of two behavioral targeting strategies—ad timing and ad-context congruity—on consumers’ evaluations of an online behavioral ad. Results show a marginally significant relationship between ad timing and perceived ad relevance, and a significant relationship between ad-context congruity and consumer evaluations through perceived relevance. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.
Placing Brands on Facebook: How the Source and Context of Brand Posts Affect Brand Likeability • Mira Mayrhofer; Brigitte Naderer; Jörg Matthes, U of Vienna • In two experimental studies we examined how the source of branded messages and the contextual mechanisms elicited by surrounding posts influenced viewers’ evaluations of the messages. We found that humorousness of surrounding posts positively affected brand evaluations but only when the brand itself communicated the persuasive content. Hence, while user-generated brand posts might be less effective than previously thought, humorous contexts on social media sites can support positive environments for advertisers to communicate branded messages.
Political Campaigning Meets Digital Engagement: “Old” Failures and “New” Triumphs • Sally McMiillan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Courtney Childers, University of Tennessee; Stuart Brotman; Jinhee Lee; Jian Huang; Natalie Bogda • For decades, advertising spending, journalistic coverage, and polling predictions have been linked to presidential election outcomes. In the U.S. presidential election of 2016 those “old media” tools failed. Using big-data analytics, this study shows that volume and valence of digital political engagement on social media corresponded to the campaign outcome. The 2016 U.S. presidential campaign may represent a “tipping point” between “old” mass communication strategies and tactics and “new” approaches to citizen/consumer digital engagement.
Healthy Living and The Companies That Pay for It: A Qualitative Exploration of Health Native Advertising on BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post • Chris Noland, University of South Carolina; Jo-Yun Queenie Li, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • This exploratory study investigates the presentation of health native advertising on BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post, the two pioneers of displaying native advertisements on their sites. This qualitative content analysis identifies the sponsored companies, promoted products, presentation formats, information sources, and disclosure types in related to health native advertising. The current research offers health related advertisers, publishers, governmental officials, and scholars with key theoretical and practical insights upon which they can more effectively propose appropriate regulations and refine health native advertising strategies for audiences.
Value from construal level theory: The matching effects of social distance and message orientation for environmental advertising • Sun-Young Park, University of Massachusetts Boston; Eunyi Kim • This study examines the effects of the interaction between social distance and message orientation (i.e., construal level effects) on responses to advertising messages that promote recycling behaviors. The results show that the messages focused on the high-level (why-laden) features were more persuasive in terms of generating more positive attitudes toward advertising when messages are framed in terms of socially distant entities, whereas the messages focused on the low-level (how-laden) features were more effective when asking participants to make judgments for their proximal entities. For behavioral attitudes and intentions these effects were observed under the how-laden and proximal condition, but not observed under the why-laden and distant condition. The findings also demonstrate a unique pattern of construal level fit effects and potential moderators/mediators, such as message persuasiveness and the perceived relatedness between recycling and climate change mitigation, in the context of recycling advertising campaigns. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
When Our Goals Set Our Biases: How Regulatory Focus Moderates Persuasion Knowledge and Third-person Perception in Health Advertising • Giang Pham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Chang-Dae Ham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • This study investigates how regulatory focus moderates the effect of persuasion knowledge on third-person perception in the context of health advertising. Two experiments revealed that persuasion knowledge positively influenced third-person perception, which in turn negatively affected ad evaluations. Regulatory focus, either chronic (Study 1: n=105) or induced (Study 2: n=97), significantly moderates the effects of persuasion knowledge on third-person perception and ad evaluations. Implications for improving advertising effectiveness are discussed.
A Meta-Analysis of Cause-Related Advertising Effects on Global Consumers • Michelle Rego, Johnson & Wales University; Dana Rogers; Mark Hamilton, University of Connecticut • Over the past 30 years, cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns have expanded worldwide. A series of 6 bivariate meta-analyses were conducted using a random effects assumption to determine effect sizes in this field. Moderators were tested using meta-analytic regression, but not found to qualify the results, which included the effect of CRM campaigns on brand attitudes, r=.248, 95% CI(0.189,0.373), and purchase intentions, r=.277, 95% CI(0.141, 0.404). Recommendations for future campaigns and research are discussed.
The Effects of Mood and Arousal on Information Searching and Processing on a Search Engine: Implications for Paid Search Ads • Sela Sar; George Anghelcev, Northwestern University in Qatar; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina; Chang-Dae Ham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jie(Doreen) Shen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • An experiment was conducted to examine how mood and arousal interact to influence consumers’ searching tasks and their information processing on a search engine result page (SERP). The results showed that people in a positive mood were more likely to focus on general (global) information of search result ads, whereas people in a negative mood were more likely to focus on detailed (local) information of search ads. There was a significant interaction effect between mood and arousal on information searching and processing on SERP. Theoretical and practical implications for advertisers/marketers and web content designers are discussed.
Determining the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives in advertisements for congruent and incongruent companies • Brett Sherrick, Purdue University; Jennifer Hoewe, Purdue University • This study aligns three theories – narrative engagement, identification, and congruity – to determine the most effective ways to communicate messages regarding companies’ work toward increasing their environmental sustainability. Using an experimental design, the results show that companies whose products run in line with a message of environmental sustainability should create advertisements illustrating their environmental efforts, as those ads should increase positive evaluations of that company. Featuring groups of people in these ads may work to further magnify those positive evaluations. Most interestingly though, this study finds that an advertisement containing a message presented in narrative form is effective in overcoming incongruity between the type of company and the sustainability initiatives presented in the ad.
Explaining the Success of Femvertising: A Structural Modeling Approach • Miglena Sternadori, Texas Tech University College of Media and Communication; Alan Abitbol, University of Dayton • This survey of U.S. adults (N = 419) investigates attitudes toward femvertising as they relate to gender, age, support for women’s rights, feminist self-identification, political affiliation, and trust in advertising. Femvertising is defined as “advertising that employs pro-female talent, messages, and imagery to empower women and girls.” Structural equation modeling reveals several antecedents and consequences of attitude toward femvertising, specifically women’s rights supporters and self-identifying feminists seem highly receptive of femvertising.
How Anticipated Regret Messages Interact With Mood To Influence Purchase Intention • Yanyun Wang; Sela Sar • The current study examines how different types of anticipated regret advertising messages (verbally framed vs. graphically framed) interact with consumer’s mood (positive vs. negative) to influence their attitudes and behavior toward the advertised product. The results revealed a significant main effect of message types. People tended to have better ad evaluation when the ad used graphically framed AR message compared with verbally framed AR message.
Memory at Play: Personalizing Advertisements Based on Consumers’ Autobiographical Memory • Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University; Jin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University; Michael Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University • Targeted advertising promises to increase relevance to consumers, but risks backfiring if it seems overly intrusive. In the present study, we examined whether personalizing the online advertisement based on one’s autobiographical memory can foster positive reactions toward the advertisement. In two studies, participants went through a fictitious social media website where they talked about a special memory and saw an advertisement that was or was not personalized based upon their memory. Results demonstrate that personalized advertisements elicited favorable reaction towards the advertisement via enhanced feeling of nostalgia, but did not show an influence on affect or perceived intrusiveness.
Social Information in Facebook News Feed Ads: A Social Impact Theory Perspective • Fei Xue, The University of Southern Miss • Using social impact theory as a conceptual framework, the current research examined the effects of “social information” on Facebook users’ response to News Feed ads, including ad credibility, attitude-toward-the-ad, brand interest, intention to click, and purchase intention. Three factors were manipulated – relationship strength, physical distance, and number of affiliated friends. Strong main effects were found for relationship strength and physical distance. An interaction effect in click intention was also found between relationship strength and physical distance.
Perceived Native-ness of Social Media Advertisements: A Conceptualization & Scale Development Study • Jing Yang; Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Rachel Quint; Jaini Bhavsar • As the development of native advertising across various social media platforms, it has gradually become one of the main streams in digital advertising. It is difficult to reach an agreement on a comprehensive definition of native advertisements among industry practitioners and academia scholars, due to the diverse formats of presenting native advertisements. Specifically, in the social media context, different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and etc., all have their own formats of native advertising. Therefore, the current study proposes the concept of perceived native-ness, which emphasizes on individuals’ perceptions of native-ness of advertisements presented in the social media context. Through a two-phase research which involved (a) in-depth interviews and (b) a scale development and validation study, we generated and examined a 15-item scale for three underlying dimensions of perceived native-ness of social media advertisements, namely design congruence, personal congruence and content congruence. The theoretical and practical implications of this scale are discussed.
Teens’ Responses to Facebook Newsfeed Advertising: The Effects of Cognitive Appraisal and Social Influence on Privacy Concerns and Coping Strategies • Seounmi Youn, Emerson College; Wonsun Shin, University of Melbourne • This study examines how cognitive (benefit-risk appraisal) and social factors (parent and peer communication) affect teenagers’ privacy concerns and individual and social coping strategies in dealing with Facebook newsfeed advertising. A survey conducted with teen Facebook users (N=305) demonstrates that benefit appraisal induces greater ad engagement while risk perceptions result in reactive coping strategies. Parents have limited impact on teens’ responses to newsfeed advertising, whereas peer communication makes teens less critical about advertising practices.
Effects of Visual Strategies and Personal Relevance on Young Users’ Responses to Brand Content on Instagram • Lijie Zhou, Southern Utah University; Fei Xue, The University of Southern Miss • A 4 (customer-centric, employee-centric, non-brand, and product-centric) × 2 (first-person-view vs. third-person-view) × 2 (personal relevance: high vs. low) mixed-design experiment was used to investigate the effects of visual theme, visual perspective, and personal relevance on brand constructions (attitude-toward-brand, brand love, brand respect, brand image) on Instagram. Findings indicated using customer-centric-images with the first-person-view to promote a high relevance brand on Instagram received the most favorable attitude, strongest brand respect, and strongest feeling of sensuality.
Professional Freedom & Responsibility
Ethnic Diversity as a Solution to the Advertising Industry’s Creative Problem • Robin Spring, Grand Valley State University; Fang (Faye) Yang, Grand Valley State University • “Ethnic diversity in the advertising industry could be a solution for culturally insensitive advertising. Insights from advertising professionals, obtained via in-depth interviews, reveal prevalence of bias in recruiting, hiring and retention of minorities. Findings suggest that current methods to increase minority representation are not effective. Viewing ethnic diversity as a creative/business solution, versus a public relations problem, could motivate meaningful change in the advertising industry
Special Topics
Informing, Reinforcing, and Referencing: Chinese Young Male Consumers’ Interpretation of Social Media Luxury Advertising • Huan Chen; Ye Wang; Eric Haley • A qualitative study was conducted to explore Chinese young male consumers’ perception on luxury brand social media advertising. In-depth interviews were used to collect data and the phenomenological reduction was used to analyze data. Findings revealed four themes regarding the socially constructed meanings of luxury, luxury brand, and luxury brand social media advertising. According to Chinese young male consumers, “luxury” is perceived as a dual-dimensional lifestyle; for luxury brands, although Chinese young male consumers consider the price to be a blatant index of luxury, they perceive brand meanings are a more important symbol to differentiate luxury brands from other brands; and, luxury brands are deemed as an expression of those consumers’ personalities and styles or extension of their identities. Findings further uncovered the meanings of luxury brand social media advertising among Chinese young male consumers. According to the participants, luxury social media advertising assists their luxury brand products purchase in informing them about products of new seasons, reinforcing luxury brands’ image, and offering them a referential source. Theoretical and practical implications were offered.
The Positive and Negative Effects of Intrusive In-App Advertising • Yunmi Choi, Indiana University Southeast • “As smartphone usage and ownership has increased, advertisers need to understand how to place mobile advertisements appropriately without causing negative effects such as irritation on their target audience. This empirical study focused on in-app advertising and its negative and positive impact on smartphone users. Subjects were invited to a computer lab and asked to play a smartphone application. The design of the study was a 2 (Ad Intrusiveness: 5-second vs. 30-second) x 2 (User Controllability: a close ad button vs. no button) x 2 (Task Orientation: hurry vs. free). The results indicate that users are more sensitive to the duration of ad exposure and controllability to close an ad. Irritation and perceived intrusiveness of the ad and app were found to be negative effects of intrusive in-app advertising while recall and recognition of the advertised brand were positive effects. In addition, perceived value and purchase intention of the brand were positively correlated with attitude toward ad and brand. Based on the study findings, it is suggested to offer the option to close in-app ads and reduce the ad exposure time to avoid irritation and perceived intrusiveness. However, if the goal of the in-app ad is to raise the brand awareness, being intrusive would be a good choice. App developers and managers should understand the influence of the absence of a close ad button will result in negatively perceived intrusiveness of their own application.”
Training to Lead in an Era of Change: Insights from Ad Agency Leaders • Sabrina Habib, University of South Carolina; PADMINI PATWARDHAN, Winthrop University • This study examines leadership training in advertising. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology, in-depth interviews with U.S. based agency professionals found lack of a systematic approach to leadership development; a consensus among professionals that training (whether formal or informal) is needed; diverse approaches to training; and recognition of barriers to establishing such programs in agencies despite need and benefits. The study also finds a role for advertising education to train the next generation of advertising leaders.
Role of Immersive Characteristic, Emotional Engagement, and Consumer Responses in Virtual CSR Experiences: Drunk Driving Prevention 360 Degree Video by an Alcohol Company • Yoon-Joo Lee; Wen Zhao, Washington State University; Huan Chen • This study examined a unique context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the format of virtual reality (VR) video sponsored by an alcohol company through quasi-experimental design. The study aims to examine whether individual difference (immersive tendency) plays a role in perceiving the CSR initiatives in VR videos. This study revealed that consumers with a higher level of immersive tendency are more likely to have a positive attitude toward CSR ads via emotional involvement than those with a lower level of immersive tendency. However, consumers’ immersive tendency or emotional involvement with the VR video did not influence purchase intention. This study attempts to investigate how unique characteristic of VR video (e.g., telepresence, emotional engagement) can play a role in evaluating cognitive, attitudinal, and purchase intention in the unique context of VR video by adopting dialogic (emotional) engagement and HOE model. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.
Does VR attract visitors? The mediating effect of presence on consumer response in tourism advertising using Virtual Reality • Wai Han Lo, Hong Kong Baptist University; Benjamin Ka Lun Cheng, Hong Kong Baptist University • 203 college students participated in an experiment exposing to a hotel advertorial that either use online blog, VR 360° video on mobile phone or VR 360° video using Cardboard goggles. The result supports the proposed path model, suggesting the mediating role of presence between using VR and consumer response. Theoretical and practical implications of the use of VR technology in branding and promotion are discussed.
I (Don’t) Want to Consume Counterfeit Medicines: Preliminary Results on the Antecedents of Consumer Attitudes Toward Counterfeit Medicines • S. Senyo Ofori-Parku, University of Oregon; Sung Eun Park, The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa • “Counterfeit medicine trafficking (an estimated $200 billion) enterprise has become one of the worlds’ fastest growing criminal enterprises. To the pharmaceutical industry, the uptick in counterfeit medicines raises brand equity and brand safety concerns, leading to huge financial losses. To consumers, it is a health and safety issue. But research has primarily focused on supply chain processes, technological, and legal mechanisms, ignoring consumer aspects. This exploratory study sheds light on some of the social, psychological, and normative factors that underlie consumers’ attitudes, risk perceptions, and purchase intentions. Consumers who (a) self-report that they know about the problem, (b) are older, (c) view counterfeit medicine consumption as ethical, and (d) think their significant others would approve of them using such products are more inclined to perceive lower risks and have favorable purchase intentions. Risk averseness is also inversely related to the predicted outcomes. Implications for brand advocacy and consumer safety education is discussed.
Watching AD for Fun: Native Short-video Advertising on Chinese Social Media • Ruowen Wang; Huan Chen • Since 2016, the popularity of Social Media Marketing and Weibo short videos have encouraged brands and companies to cooperate with Weibo influencers to create attractive native short-video advertising for consumers. The current study used phenomenological research method to explore Chinese consumers’ attitude toward and perception on native short-video advertising. The first author recruited 20 Weibo short-video viewers to conduct in-depth interviews to understand their experiences of watching Weibo short-video advertising. The current study has theoretical implication on influencer marketing, native advertising, and social relationship marketing. Furthermore, the study also provides guidance and reference for social media influencers and brands on how to create effective native short-video advertising.
Student Research
The Effect of Endorser Body Type on Attitudes and Emotional Responses Toward Weight Loss Advertisements • Lindsay Bouchacourt, University of Florida • The present study explores the effect of endorser body type on female consumers’ attitudes and emotional responses toward weight loss advertisements. Millennial female consumers were exposed to a weight loss advertisement that featured one of three endorser conditions: a mediated body type endorser, a realistic body type endorser, and no endorser. Attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, purchase intentions, and emotional responses were measured.
#Insta-Credible: The Impact of Influencer-Brand Fit on Source Credibility and Persuasive Effectiveness • Priska Breves, University of Wuerzburg; Nicole Liebers, University of Würzburg; Marina Abt, University of Wuerzburg; Annika Kunze, University of Wuerzburg • Two online-studies analyzed the impact of the fit between Instagram-influencers and the endorsed brand. While the first study (N = 687) used an experimental design and focused on internal validity, the second study (N = 197) employed a survey, presenting results high in external validity. Both studies validated a positive impact of influencer-brand fit on source credibility (trustworthiness and expertise), brand evaluations and behavioral intentions, especially for social media users with low-level parasocial relationships.
Testing the Limits: Self-Endorsement in Ambient Intelligent Environments • Kristy Hamilton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; SeoYoon Lee; Un Chae Chung; Weizi Liu • Self-endorsement—depicting the “self” as an endorser of a brand—illustrates a new, powerful advertising strategy made possible by affordances of new media platforms. Still, research on self-endorsement in advertising is dominated by discussions of features enabled within immersive virtual environments. Recognizing the multidimensionality of an affordance perspective, this experiment empirically tests the influence of self-endorsers and other-endorsers on brand attitude and purchase intentions using ambient intelligent technology (i.e., digital assistants).
The Changing Landscape of Mobile Advertising: Current Practices, Key Insights and Future Research Directions • Xinyu Lu • Mobile advertising is gaining full momentum now. Consumers’ increasing reliance on mobile devices for consumption of media, coupled with improvements in targeting for mobile advertising, contributes to the growing market share of mobile advertising. Despite the increasing attention from advertisers and scholars, there is not a clear accumulation of empirical findings. This article delves into the changing landscape of mobile advertising brought by the advancement of mobile technologies to examine its implications on mobile advertising research, and provides an overview of the empirical findings. The article also develops a summary of key research opportunities and future directions. In sum, this review is intended to serve as a basis for scholars interested in understanding the mobile advertising literature, as well as a catalyst for future research explorations.
We Eat What We Can “Process”: How Regulatory Fit Affects Consumers’ Evaluation of Front-of-package Food Label and Health Claim • Giang Pham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • This study investigates how regulatory fit affects consumers’ processing and evaluation of information on front of food packages. Promotion and prevention-focused participants (N = 253) evaluated food package designs that varied in nutrition labeling system (Facts Up Front, Traffic Light) and health claim frame (enhanced function, reduced disease risk). Results showed that there were significant three-way interactions between regulatory focus, nutrition labeling system and health claim frame on consumers’ perception of product healthiness, purchasing intent and recommending intent, but not attitude toward the package. Implications for improving food advertising effectiveness are discussed.
The Effect of Ad appeals on Materialistic Consumers’ Ethical Purchase • Yuhosua Ryoo; WooJin Kim; Eunjoo Jin, University of Texas at Austin • Materialism is known to be negatively related to consumers’ ethical behavior. Advancing this conventional wisdom, the current research investigated ways to motivate highly materialistic consumers’ ethical consumption by examining the moderating role of advertising appeals. The results indicated that consumers with high materialism showed more positive attitude toward advertisements and greater intention to purchase ethical products when the advertisements convey self-benefit appeals, rather than other-benefit appeals. On the other hand, low-materialistic consumers’ responses did not vary with different types of advertising appeals. The research also demonstrated that protective and enhancement motivations mediate the positive effect of self-benefit appeals on highly materialistic consumers’ ethical consumption.
Do disabilities belong?: Exploring non-disabled consumer attitudes toward persons with physical disabilities in advertising • Summer Shelton, University of Florida • In advertising, which relies heavily on visual stimuli, what place do persons with disabilities (PWDs) hold? Through focus groups with non-disabled consumers, this research asked if advertisements featuring PWDS are encountered, assessed attitudes toward PWDs in advertising, and perceived reasons brands use PWDs. Findings revealed disability/health related advertisements encountered frequently and a desire for “normalization” of disabilities. Print or social platforms are presumed best, and larger brands are proposed leaders in improved disability representation.
Using Anger and Efficacy as A Strategy to Prevent Alcohol-Related Sexual Assault: Dissuading Female College Students from Excessive Drinking within Social Settings • Jie(Doreen) Shen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • Despite the fact that female college students’ excessive drinking is a prevalent risky factor that contributes to sexual assault, existing sexual assault prevention programs have rarely addressed the issue of women’s alcohol use. This study examines the effects of anger message appeals and efficacy message appeals on persuasion outcomes. An online experiment was conducted with 122 female college students in United States. They study used a 2 (anger appeal, non-anger appeal) x 2 (high-efficacy appeal, low-efficacy appeal) between-subjects design with attitudes toward excessive drinking and intentions of maintaining sober within social settings as the outcome variables. Results indicate the effectiveness of anger appeals as compared to non-anger appeals and the moderating effect of efficacy appeals on the relationship between anger appeals on attitudes. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
The 360-Degree Drunk Driving Prevention Advertising: The Impacts of Gender Role Beliefs and Self-Referencing on Purchase Intentions and Drunk Driving Avoidance • Wen Zhao, Washington State University • The primary purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influenced the effectiveness of the 360-degree CSR drunk driving prevention advertisement with nontraditional gender-role portrayals on consumers’ behavioral intentions. By conducting an experiment, this study found that the gender role beliefs exerted positive influences on purchase intentions through two sequential mediators, self-referencing and attitudes toward the ad. Additional analysis suggested that gender role beliefs negatively affect individuals’ avoidance of drunk driving through self-referencing.
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