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To preview digital content and arouse consumers' interest, online providers often use short teasers designed in an unfinished form, such that the teaser begins a new sentence but does not finish it. These teasers aim to create curiosity and trigger consumption of the advertised content. However, we reveal that consumers' reactions to unfinished teasers are not always positive. The results from a qualitative pilot study and five experimental studies show that consumers react negatively to unfinished teasers for paid content, as demonstrated by reduced purchases. This effect reverses for free content, in that unfinished teasers lead to more consumption. We explain this reversal by showing that the barrier associated with paid content (i.e., the payment requirement) activates consumers' persuasion knowledge and suppresses any positive curiosity‐induced effects, which does not occur when content is available for free. These findings offer novel insights into the complexity of consumers' reactions to prevalent advertising techniques designed to promote content consumption in digital marketplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers who are uninterested in or annoyed by a TV ad may avoid the ad, limiting the effectiveness of not only the ad but also the remaining commercial break. Active avoidance of ads by changing the channel—known as "zapping"—is potentially a major concern for both advertisers and broadcasters. In two studies, the authors investigate whether and why ad content drives or mitigates zapping and develop a conceptual framework linking multiple content factors to psychological reactions that then affect zapping. They test the content–zapping relationship by drawing on a data set reflecting the zapping behavior of over 2,500 German television viewers combined with advertising data and content information for 1,315 spots representing 308 brands from 96 categories. The results of the first study show that ad creativity is associated with less zapping, whereas a strong information focus and a prominent or early integration of branding elements are associated with more zapping. The findings also reveal that the effects differ significantly for products with a utilitarian (vs. hedonic) consumption purpose and for search (vs. experience) goods. The results of the second study show that irritation (determined by feeling, e.g., annoyed, offended, or overwhelmed), relative to enjoyment, acts as the central mechanism in explaining why ad content affects zapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More information is available today than ever before, yet at times consumers choose to avoid it. Even with useful information (I should find out), people may prefer ignorance (But I don't want to). Seven studies (N  = 4,271) and five supplemental studies (N  = 3,013) apply the concept of "cover" to information avoidance for consumer choices with real financial consequences. More consumers avoid information with cover—that is, when they can attribute their decision to another feature of a product or decision context rather than to information they want to avoid. Cover increases avoidance when consumers face intrapersonal conflict—when consumers want to avoid information that they believe they should receive (e.g. calorie information). As such, the effect of cover is reduced by decreasing want–should conflict, whether by reducing the should preference to receive information or the want preference to avoid it. Furthermore, cover increases avoidance by helping consumers justify a decision to themselves: avoidance increases only when people can attribute their decision to a relevant (vs. irrelevant) product feature and operates in public and private settings. Together, this research offers theoretical insights into consumers' information avoidance and how cover itself operates, with practical implications for marketers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the effect of using relationship (breakup) reminders in advertising on click‐through rates. While previous research has found that relationship reminders may backfire when consumers lack or no longer have certain social relationships (e.g., close friends, family, or a romantic partner), the authors propose that ad messages encouraging consumers after a relationship breakup, as compared with simply reminding them of a current relationship, will increase consumer perceptions of social support from a brand. This is because consumers may find readily available social support from a brand when coping with a relationship breakup. This, in turn, will pique their interest in the brand and prompt them to seek more information. Across two experimental studies, the results show that consumers who are exposed to ad messages encouraging them after a relationship breakup (vs. reminding them of a current relationship) feel greater social support, leading to higher click‐through rates. Furthermore, this effect is moderated by destiny beliefs. These findings contribute to the implicit theories of relationships and the consumer–brand relationship literature by demonstrating how destiny beliefs are important to understanding consumer responses to advertisements utilizing relationship (breakup) messages. Furthermore, the findings can benefit marketers when designing relationship reminders in online advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers often encounter advertisements in the background while primarily focused on other stimuli (e.g., while multitasking). Consumers' perceived level of distraction by these background ads serves as a metacognitive cue from which inferences are drawn. When consumers perceive themselves to be relatively distracted by a background advertisement, they draw on an underlying lay theory that distraction implies interest in the contents of the distracting stimulus to make the metacognitive inference that they have positive evaluations of the advertised brand. Across five studies, we provide evidence for this proposed metacognitive inferential process by demonstrating that perceived distraction does not enhance brand evaluations when the distraction = interest lay theory is not perceived to be (1) diagnostic or (2) applicable to the current context (e.g., when consumers have little interest in the product category being advertised). Thus, this research introduces distraction as a new metacognitive experience from which consumers draw inferences and offers important insights into when and how background ads shape brand evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors test five theoretically derived hypotheses about what drives video ad sharing across multiple social media platforms. Two independent field studies test these hypotheses using 11 emotions and over 60 ad characteristics. The results are consistent with theory and robust across studies. Information-focused content has a significantly negative effect on sharing, except in risky contexts. Positive emotions of amusement, excitement, inspiration, and warmth positively affect sharing. Various drama elements such as surprise, plot, and characters, including babies, animals, and celebrities arouse emotions. Prominent (early vs. late, long vs. short duration, persistent vs. pulsing) placement of brand names hurts sharing. Emotional ads are shared more on general platforms (Facebook, Google+, Twitter) than on LinkedIn, and the reverse holds for informational ads. Sharing is also greatest when ad length is moderate (1.2 to 1.7 minutes). Contrary to these findings, ads use information more than emotions, celebrities more than babies or animals, prominent brand placement, little surprise, and very short or very long ads. A third study shows that the identified drivers predict sharing accurately in an entirely independent sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hearing is our highly sensitive warning system. As a sense, hearing has uniquely evolved to perform this alerting function and is perceptive to subtle ambient cues that are associated with threat. We propose that one aspect of sound that may cue such associations is pitch, such that low-pitch (vs. moderate pitch) background sound nonconsciously primes a threat response resulting in heightened anxiety among consumers. Furthermore, this emotional response manifests itself in the form of increased risk avoidance. Seven studies in varied domains demonstrate that low- (vs. moderate-) pitch background sound results in higher anxiety, which leads to risk-avoidant consumer choices—for instance, being willing to pay more for car insurance or choosing a food option with lower taste uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the use of taboos in advertising has produced mixed results. Such discrepancies require explanation. Relying on construal-level theory and the concept of psychological distance, this research focuses on taboo ads' effects on consumers' responses. The findings from three studies show that for different product categories (Study 1: perfume; Studies 2 and 3: alcohol) and across different taboo types (sex, violence, and a mixture of sex and violence), different distance dimensions (Study 1: spatial; Study 2: social), and different construal-level manipulations (low, high), an increase in the psychological distance (or construal) level attenuates consumers' unfavorable attitudinal and behavioral reactions while a decrease in the psychological distance (or construal) level intensifies consumers' responses. Furthermore, response intensity varies depending on the taboo type used, such that both violent and mixed taboo types produce more negative responses. Finally, gender has an impact, such that women react more negatively than men to different taboos, both across distance dimensions and across distance (construal) levels. A discussion of these findings and their implications, as well as suggestions for future research, concludes the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While neuromarketing research delineates how specific neurophysiological methods offer predictive power beyond traditional survey methods, few studies explore how these methods can be used concurrently to measure outcomes across marketing contexts. We address this gap by simultaneously eliciting multiple neurophysiological measures: inter‐beat interval from heart rate, skin conductance response, and frontal alpha asymmetry from electroencephalography (EEG) across multiple stimulus categories, and associating them with distinct psychological (emotional valence and arousal) and marketing (ad recognition and ad effectiveness) outcomes. We found that inter‐beat interval was associated with emotional valence while skin conductance response was associated with emotional arousal across all stimulus types. Critically, self‐reported arousal and inter‐beat interval at both the aggregate and frame level were associated with ad recognition, but self‐reported valence was not. Finally, inter‐beat interval and frontal alpha asymmetry played complementary roles in predicting out‐of‐sample ad effectiveness. Specifically, while inter‐beat interval was a significant predictor of out‐of‐sample brand recognition and not purchase intention, frontal alpha asymmetry was associated with purchase intention and not brand recognition components of ad effectiveness. Our results demonstrate distinct and complementary marketing applications for inter‐beat interval, skin conductance response, and frontal alpha asymmetry and provide valuable insights to practitioners seeking to incorporate findings from these neurophysiological methodologies into their marketing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior meta-analyses have found evidence for differences in the third-person effect across message types, indicating that the thirdperson effect is a communication context-specific phenomenon. These meta-analyses do not explain why effects of the perceptual hypothesis in advertising are smaller when compared to communication in general; they do not address the broad range of consumer behavior variables that are affected by third-person perceptions; and they have not investigated whether the perceived effects on the self or on others are better predictors for behavioral responses than third-person perceptions in advertising. This metaanalysis addresses these issues and investigates the perceptual and behavioral hypotheses of the third-person effect in an advertising context. Findings indicate that third-person perceptions in product advertising are weaker when compared to other communication messages due to developments over time and the mixed gratifications provided by product advertising messages. Third-person perceptions in advertising can increase or decrease consumer behavior depending on whether the behavior is self related (e.g., body-related responses) or other related (e.g., support for regulation). Furthermore, perceived effects on self or on others are better behavioral predictors than third-person perceptions, providing managerial implications for advertising campaign pretesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advertisers are increasingly monitoring people's online behavior and using the information collected to show people individually targeted advertisements. This phenomenon is called online behavioral advertising (OBA). Although advertisers can benefit from OBA, the practice also raises concerns about privacy. Therefore, OBA has received much attention from advertisers, consumers, policymakers, and scholars. Despite this attention, there is neither a strong definition of OBA nor a clear accumulation of empirical findings. This article defines OBA and provides an overview of the empirical findings by developing a framework that identifies and integrates all factors that can explain consumer responses toward OBA. The framework suggests that the outcomes of OBA are dependent on advertisercontrolled factors (e.g., the level of personalization) and consumer-controlled factors (e.g., knowledge and perceptions about OBA and individual characteristics). The article also overviews the theoretical positioning of OBA by placing the theories that are used to explain consumers' responses to OBA in our framework. Finally, we develop a research agenda and discuss implications for policymakers and advertisers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-roll advertising is a novel form of online video advertising that provides consumers with an option to skip after viewing a brief forced segment. Pre-roll ads are unique from other forms of online advertising because pre-roll ads play in exactly the space in which consumers are expecting to view their intended content. Such interruption and obstruction not only heightens consumer irritation but also causes attention-getting tactics, which are redundant in a highly attentive state, to backfire. For these reasons, existing ad avoidance literature may not adequately address this unique format. Employing a large industry data set of pre-roll ads representing multiple countries and product categories, we empirically examine skipping behavior using a broader range of ad characteristics than previous research. We propose that less complex affective ad characteristics increase skipping by failing to engage cognitive resources and therefore leaving cognitive resources available to experience irritation. We further posit that, in a pre-roll context, attention-getting ad characteristics are not only superfluous but actually increase the likelihood consumers recognize pre-roll content as advertising and skip. Our empirical findings support these assertions, identifying new factors driving ad avoidance, and calling into question the applicability of attentiongetting advertising approaches in the novel pre-roll environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of neurophysiological methods to study the effects of advertising on consumer purchase behavior has seen an enormous growth in recent years. However, little is known about the role social settings have on shaping the human brain during the processing of advertising stimuli. To address this issue, we first review previous key findings of neuroscience research on advertising effectiveness. Next, we discuss traditional advertising research into the effects social context has on the way consumers experience advertising messages and explain why marketers, who aim to predict advertising effectiveness, should place participants in social settings, in addition to the traditional ways of studying consumer brain responses to advertising in social isolation. This article contributes to the literature by offering advertising researchers a series of research agendas on the key indicators of advertising effectiveness (attention, emotion, memory, and preference). It aims to improve understanding of the impact social context has on consumers' neurophysiological responses to advertising messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As defined by Friestad and Wright (1994), "persuasion knowledge" is personal knowledge about persuasion attempts that consumers develop and use whenever they believe they are targets of persuasion. A significant majority of research on persuasion knowledge has suggested that persuasion knowledge and skepticism invariably go hand in hand, and that accessing persuasion knowledge therefore leads consumers to evaluate the agent and its offering less favorably. Across four studies, the authors demonstrate the novel effect that persuasion knowledge access can lead to greater credibility (rather than greater skepticism), a finding that they argue is theoretically consistent with Friestad and Wright's (1994) Persuasion Knowledge Model. Further, the authors demonstrate that when a persuasive agent uses a credible tactic, persuasion knowledge access can lead consumers to evaluate the agent and its offering more (rather than less) favorably. They also develop and test a new approach for increasing persuasion knowledge access in lab experiments, which can facilitate the investigation of other occasions where persuasion knowledge access increases trust and belief in a persuasive message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we examine plus-size female consumers' reactions to the use of plus-size female models in advertising. We demonstrate that not only objective body size but also implicit beliefs about the malleability of one's size affect attitudes toward a product advertised by a plus-size model. Further, we find that this interactive effect is mediated by perceived similarity to the model, and appears only when the plus-size model is used to advertise a body-relevant product. These findings contribute to the burgeoning study of larger-sized female models in advertising and suggest that “plus-size” is not a one-size-fits-all label. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research demonstrates the importance of thin slices of information in ad and brand evaluation, with important implications for advertising research and management. Three controlled experiments, two in the behavioral lab and one in the field, with exposure durations ranging from very brief (100 msec) to very long (30 sec), demonstrate that advertising evaluation critically depends on the duration of ad exposure and on how ads convey which product and brand they promote, but in surprising ways. The experiments show that upfront ads, which instantly convey what they promote, are evaluated positively after brief but also after longer exposure durations. Mystery ads, which suspend conveying what they promote, are evaluated negatively after brief but positively after longer exposure durations. False front ads, which initially convey another identity than what they promote, are evaluated positively after brief exposures but negatively after longer exposure durations. Bayesian mediation analysis demonstrates that the feeling of knowing what the ad promotes accounts for these ad-type effects on evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we examine differences in the impact of message framing and scarcity appeal types in advertisements on consumers with varying levels of need for uniqueness (NFU). Results from two experimental studies support a two-way NFU × scarcity interaction, wherein participants with lower levels of NFU show a greater impact of demand (versus supply) scarcity appeal on their attitudes and purchase intentions; whereas participants with higher levels of NFU show a greater impact of supply (versus demand) appeal. In addition, we found support for a three-way interaction, which shows that, under both gain and loss frames, participants with lower levels of NFU prefer demand over supply appeal; whereas under the loss frame, participants with higher levels of NFU prefer supply over demand appeal. We discuss the conceptual contribution and managerial implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Trust is a critical component of marketing for both brands and consumers. Competing theories suggest that high-religiosity consumers could be either more or less trusting of marketing. Thus, this article explores religiosity's influence on broad marketplace trust that influences more specific relational trust in the context of advertising messages. Study 1 shows that marketplace and relational trust positively mediate the relationship between religiosity and product evaluations. Studies 2 and 3 test moderators to this relationship based on three dimensions of religiosity: affective, behavioral, and cognitive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study uses meta-analytic techniques to examine the number of exposures that maximize consumer response to an ad. The results show that in an experimental setting maximum attitude is reached at approximately ten exposures, while recall increases linearly and does not level off before the eighth exposure. The findings are of interest for two opposing schools of thought in the advertising literature on effective frequency. They support the repetitionists’ beliefs over the minimalists’ beliefs on the number of ad exposures needed for maximum consumer response. The study further investigates whether the repetition effects depend on contingent factors. Low involvement and spaced exposures enhance repetition effects on attitude toward the brand. Embedded advertising and massed exposures enhance the repetition effects on recall. Repetition effects decay over time for both attitude toward the brand and recall. The study provides important implications for researchers by contributing to the discussion on effective frequency and providing support for the repetitionists’ view. This view has implications for practitioners who try to optimize advertising frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Advertising plays a critical role in the commercial success of services and products. However, despite a long history of attempts to evaluate the efficacy of advertisements, actual objective, consistent means of assessing and anticipating whether an advertisement might be effective and why it would be expected to translate to actual, desired purchasing decisions remain elusive—especially as this regards advertisements' ability to resonate or create emotional connections across audiences. In this study, focusing on female participants, we employed functional near‐infrared spectroscopy to monitor brain activations over empathy and emotional contagion regions as individuals viewed advertisements, matched with a multi‐brain network model for assessing synchronicity patterns across all participants' brains. Study 1 demonstrated that high‐scoring advertisements induced more densely coupled brain activations among participants in their right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), tied to emotional empathy via embodied experience, and thus potentially representing shared understandings and emotional resonance among consumers. Study 2 replicated this finding with popular music and confirmed that density of the right IFG multi‐brain network could predict real‐world population‐level performance, thus presenting an intriguing new tool that might be coupled with other assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of what is described as advertising pretesting is better viewed as an incomplete and imaginative attempt to measure steps along a surmised hierarchical process that is only indirectly related to the purposes for which the advertising is created. This paper reviews design weaknesses in current advertising pretesting and highlights prevalent misconceptions. Elements that, when present, contribute to enhanced brand feelings are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of two experiments reveal that the use of probability markers in advertisements affects brand attitude and purchase intentions, and that this is moderated by the type of service, customers’ involvement, and their level of tolerance for ambiguity. Services in the study were classified as more or less hedonic/utilitarian, and more or less involving. Probability markers affect consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intentions for less-involving services, while this effect is not significant for more-involving services. In addition, higher tolerance for ambiguity results in preference of hedges over pledges or no probability markers, while for consumers with lower tolerance for ambiguity the opposite holds. With regards to service type, for more-hedonic, less-involving services the use of hedges in advertising copy increases brand attitude and purchase intentions, while for more-utilitarian, less-involving services pledges result in highest levels of brand attitude and purchase intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article introduces a dual entertainment path model that integrates insights from media entertainment and transportation theory to show how links between entertainment motives (aspirational and playful) and experiences (celebrity fantasy and emotional investment) influence endorsed brand attitude. Results of two studies validate the salience of two paths. Fans, who hold parasocial bond with the celebrity, are driven by both aspirational and playful motives to engage in celebrity-induced entertainment experiences. Nonfans lack aspirational motive and are driven predominantly by playful motive. In either situation, celebrity-induced entertainment experiences enhance endorsed brand attitude. This model complements the existing celebrity endorsement literature by positing entertainment as a salient dimension of brand endorser effects. Its findings provide new insights on how advertisers promote their brands. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sexual appeals grab attention and elicit emotional responses, yet the existing literature surrounding this area of research has yielded inconsistent findings with regard to their ability to influence consumer liking and preference. Little attention has also been given to investigating sexual appeals beyond the scope of the effects of gratuitous sexual stimuli (nudity), and as such, most of what is known about sexual appeal advertising is centred on the effects of nudity alone. The current study examines sexual-stimuli intensity (explicit vs. mild) in print advertising and assesses its influence on advertising effectiveness and how this varies by gender for Australian consumers. An experiment is conducted as a test of the hypothesised relationships, with findings indicating that the level of sexual-stimuli intensity in print advertising is more effective in influencing consumers’ attitudinal and behavioural responses when depicted at a mild intensity level than at an explicit intensity level. These findings offer important insights for marketers in the design and configuration of sexual appeals used in advertising to maximise the effectiveness of ads to achieve favourable consumer behaviour outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of advertised reference price promotions, such as "regularly $119.99, sale price $39.99," is ubiquitous in the marketplace. Thirty years of research supports the conclusion that advertised reference prices (e.g., $119.99) exert an influence on consumers' responses to offer prices (e.g., $39.99) via their assimilative influence on consumers' internal reference prices. The present research provides an enriched account of this assimilation process. Specifically, three studies show that increasing the overlap in information made accessible by the advertised reference price and information made accessible by the offer price increases the influence of the information primed by the advertised reference price on the construction of the internal reference price. Consequently, the offer price is considered more attractive. The identification of this process provides insight into additional variables that moderate the influence of advertised reference prices on downstream deal evaluations. Implications for theory, practice, and public policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To estimate the association of e‐cigarette advertisement exposure with e‐cigarette and cigarette use behavior among US adults. Design Data from the 2013–14 National Adult Tobacco Survey (NATS) were linked to Kantar Media and National Consumer Study data to construct measures of e‐cigarette advertisements on TV and in magazines. The relationship between advertisement measures and outcomes was estimated using logistic and Poisson regressions, controlling for socio‐demographics, state cigarette taxes and state and year fixed‐effects. Setting: United States. Participants/cases: A total of 98 746 adults aged ≥ 18 years who responded to the 2013–14 NATS. Measurements: The independent variables of interest were the number of e‐cigarette advertisements in magazines to which an adult was exposed in the past 6 months and the number of e‐cigarette advertisements on TV to which an adult was exposed in the past 6 months. Outcomes were awareness of e‐cigarettes, ever e‐cigarette use, current e‐cigarette use, current cigarette use and number of cigarettes smoked per month. Findings Exposure to one additional e‐cigarette advertisement on TV was associated with a 0.18, 0.13 and 0.03 percentage point increase, respectively, in awareness, ever use and current use of e‐cigarettes among all adults (P < 0.05). This exposure also was associated with a 0.11 percentage point increase in current cigarette use among all adults and an increase in cigarette consumption of 2.24 cigarettes per month among adults aged ≥ 45 (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Exposure to e‐cigarette advertising appears to be positively associated with the use of e‐cigarettes and cigarettes among adults of all ages, and with increased cigarette consumption among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live sport broadcasts can evoke emotions in consumers and allow companies to reach their audience in environments that allow for automatic processing of brand messages. However, only few studies have applied psychophysiological methodologies to assess how the live nature of a competition and viewers' emotions affect the processing of sponsor messages, and prior research has mostly relied on ex‐post data. Therefore, to identify the interplay of game outcome uncertainty, viewers' emotions and attention to sponsor messages, this exploratory lab study tracks continuous viewer data during live sport broadcasts. Soccer fans' (n = 11) arousal, emotional valence, and visual attention to sponsors while watching live soccer broadcasts were measured using galvanic skin response, video‐based facial expressions, and infrared eye‐tracking. In‐play betting odds served as an indicator of outcome uncertainty. Multi‐level modeling reveals that greater outcome uncertainty increases arousal and the magnitude of emotional response. Further, the data reveal that low‐to‐moderate arousal and valence‐neutral emotional states increase viewer attention to sponsor messages. This study is the first to consider the dynamics of live sports experiences in the explanation of sponsorship effectiveness. It contributes to the literature by using continuous measurements involving psychophysiological data to investigate emotions and attention to sponsors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 2 (message format : story vs. nonstory) × 2 (message sidedness : one sided vs. two sided) between-subjects experiment tested the effectiveness of narrative communication as a potential tool for correcting misinformation about e-cigarettes. Results revealed that stories were more emotionally involving and engaging than nonstories but did not reduce counterarguing when used as correctives. The study found that prior experience of e-cigarette use moderated the interaction between message format and message sidedness. For participants who had never used e-cigarettes, the one-sided story was favored. However, for participants who had smoked e-cigarettes before, the advantages of the one-sided story disappeared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines empirically the differential influence of past brand associations (specifically, in-home childhood brand exposure and past personal attachment) on consumers' reactions to nostalgia-themed advertisements. Results support the expectation that the effect of nostalgia on brand-focused outcomes (purchase intentions and brand attitude) will be most pronounced for those who have had some past personal association with the advertised brand. However, this effect was not observed for ad-focused responses (ad involvement and attitude toward the ad); as hypothesized, the nostalgic ad produced more favorable responses than the non-nostalgic ad, irrespective of participants' past association with the brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

False memories are generally viewed as “dumb,” in the sense of being caused by deficient processing, but recent psychological research has shown that elaboration and inferences can result in “smart” false memories. These “smart” false memories are explained by fuzzy-trace theory (FTT), which assumes that they derive from comprehension of the meaning of experience. FTT predicts that “smart” false memories should be positively correlated with measured levels of Need for Cognition (NFC). In three experiments we find those higher in NFC are more likely to elaborate and infer information from advertising that causes them to create “smart” false memories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent academic research has focused on the use of novelty and shock in advertising executions. One manifestation of this approach in American television advertising is the use of aggressive humor; a dramatic change in the way humor has historically been employed. This investigation examines two studies of the responses of men and women to violence in humorous advertising. The results of both studies reveal differences in the responses of men and women suggesting there may be a risk in coupling humor with high physical violence in ads targeted toward female audiences. The second study examines in a path model the role of perceived violations of social norms and perceived humor on the attitudes of men and women toward the ad and the brand. The poor response of women to more violence with humor ads is closely related to their perceived violations of social norms; for men, their more positive response to such ads is related to their perception of humor in the ads with humor and stronger violence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using fMRI and self-reports, we explore the relationship between ad-elicited emotional arousal and memory for the ad, as well as the mechanisms involved in this relationship. A broad conceptual framework proposes three routes for emotional memory: attention, elaboration, and social cognition. Our exploratory study examines the association between ad-elicited emotional arousal and predetermined ad memorability, as a proxy for memory for the ad. Results reveal greater amygdala activation in memorable (versus unmemorable) ads, reinforcing the association between ad-elicited emotional arousal and memory for the ad. Amygdala activation was accompanied by activation in the brain region termed the superior temporal sulcus (STS), which is involved in social cognition. These results are indicative of a sociocognitive emotional memory process, which has been neglected in past research. Future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Participation in fantasy sports has become one of the most popular forms of interactive online entertainment, attracting more than 32 million players in North America. The purpose of this study was to examine the biasing effects of an advertisement promoting the popular online service. Using the illusion of control theory as a framework, a 2 x 2 between-subjects experiment {N = 156) was conducted to examine the effects of two marketer-controlled variables (i.e., customization level and expert information) on participants' illusory judgments and their decisions to participate in the advertised service. The results showed that both manipulated features evoked biases in control perceptions. Furthermore, illusory control increases winning expectancy and increased winning expectancy leads to favorable attitude and decision toward the advertised product. Findings suggest that promotional information emphasizing control heuristics and expert knowledge can increase consumers' beliefs that they can control their outcome, which subsequently influences their decision to participate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates that the spatial proximity between visual representations of cause and effect in an advertisement can influence consumers' judgments of the product effectiveness. Five studies show that the more proximal is the distance between the image of a potential cause (e.g., a facial cream that treats acne) and that of the potential effect (e.g., a smooth face), the more effective the product is judged to be. The reliance on spatial proximity is an intuitive reasoning process based on the "closeness is strength of effect" metaphor, which is a key characteristic in mechanical causal processes. This reliance on spatial proximity is weakened when consumers are more (vs. less) knowledgeable about a product domain, when they are primed with nonmechanical causal processes, or when they are expecting the effect to happen with a time delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers from cultures that read from left to right possess a spatial representation of time whereby the past is visualized on the left and the future is visualized on the right. Across four studies, the current research investigates whether and how this past-left, future-right conceptualization of time affects attitudes toward time-related products. Specifically, when consumers view advertisements in which product images are positioned congruently (incongruently) with their spatial representation of time, they have more (less) favorable attitudes toward the product. This effect occurs for both products that naturally involve the progression of time (e.g., self-improvement products) and also products for which a time component is a desired attribute (e.g., antiques). The effect of horizontal position reverses among consumers who read from right to left. The mediating role of processing fluency is highlighted as an underlying mechanism, and the moderating role of need for structure is identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is well known that advertising can momentarily activate specific consumer identities and thereby influence preference for identity-relevant products, the influence of such identity activation on consumer memory is undocumented. Identity activation encourages consumers to link advertising content to their identity during encoding, and these links facilitate subsequent recognition if the identity is again activated at retrieval. This identity-dependent processing produces different recognition outcomes for information that is strongly related, moderately related, and unrelated to the identity. Identity activation at both encoding and retrieval improved recognition of advertising content moderately related to the identity but had no effect on recognition of unrelated content. Identity activation at retrieval improved recognition of strongly related content, regardless of whether identity was primed externally at encoding. These results support an interpretative frame process at encoding and suggest that content-state association is a critical moderator of state-dependent learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer research largely examines television advertising effects using conventional psychological accounts of message processing. Consequently, there is an emphasis on the influence of textual content at the expense of the everyday interpersonal viewing contexts surrounding advertising audiences. To help restore this theoretical imbalance an ethnographic study was conducted in eight Australian homes to explore the influence of everyday viewing contexts on advertising audiences. This article examines how the everyday advertising contexts of social interaction, viewing space, media technology use, and time impact consumer responses to television advertising texts. Advertising viewing behavior in the family living room is framed within broader household activity and around cultural ideas regarding family life, and can enhance consumer and family identity value. Our theoretical framework details how television advertisements, everyday viewing contexts, household discourse, and viewer practices intersect to produce processes of advertising response and engagement not explicated in previous studies of consumer behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article extends the concept of virtual direct experience (VDE) from a product to an attribute as video gamers can virtually experience an attribute within a gaming environment. Using a 2 (VAE: present versus absent) x 2 (order of brand presentation: first or second) between subjects experimental design, we find that associating a brand with virtual attribute experience (VAE) by exposing consumers to the brand name and the virtual experience simultaneously has a positive effect on brand recall, brand extension acceptance, overall attitude, and purchase intention. In addition, our results demonstrate a significant interaction between VAE and telepresence on brand recall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-liked advergames foster favorable brand attitudes. Research has been conducted on games where the content offers positive associations (e.g., racing: speed) that may transfer to the brand. Yet games may offer negative associations (e.g., combat: violence). Using the affect transfer and associative-propositional evaluation models, we test the influence of game content (combat, racing) on implicit and explicit brand attitudes. Results of an experiment showed that negative content resulted in less favorable attitudes toward the game and the implicit (unfamiliar) brand attitudes. The relationship between content and explicit attitude toward the brand was mediated by attitude toward the game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on the effects of game-product congruity and product placement proximity on advergame players' brand memory, brand attitude, game enjoyment, and future intention to play. A 2 (congruity) x 2 (proximity) repeated-measures experiment was used. Results revealed that players' implicit memory improved for congruent games only. Explicit memory measures also showed signs of improvement for brands in the congruent/central game condition. Surprisingly, it appears that the incongruent/peripheral game condition produced the best results overall with the smallest negative attitude change, the most game enjoyment, and the highest intention to play again in the future. These contradictory findings suggest to brand marketers who design advergames to be careful when combining multiple game features (congruity and proximity) within a single advergame because this strategic move may provide optimal brand memory while also producing the opposite desired effect for attitude toward the brand, game enjoyment, and intention to play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although thousands of advergames are directed at children, little is known about how advergames affect children and whether this persuasive process differs from traditional advertising formats. Investigating the underlying persuasive mechanism, Study 1 shows that, for TV advertising, persuasion knowledge drives the persuasive effects while, for advergamers, persuasion is mainly driven by the attitude toward the game. Adding advertising cues to the advergame does not increase persuasion knowledge but does diminish the positive attitude toward the game effect, influencing behavior indirectly. Study 2 demonstrates that, for an advergame, the persuasive mechanism does no differ between a commercial versus a social persuasive message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of an online experiment using advergames associated with television series suggest playing advergames results in behavioral change toward the parent brand only for consumers who lack prior brand experiences. In essence, advergames appear to be more effective as a promotional tool used to encourage new product trial behavior. In addition, advergames with highly integrated brand elements produce more negative attitudes toward the advergame than advergames with fewer brand elements. Thus, advergame designers must delicately balance the use of brand elements to encourage product trial without being perceived as unnecessary advertising clutter that distracts from the enjoyment of game play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Metaphors appear frequently in contemporary advertising. The purpose of this study is to distinguish between two types of metaphor (explicit versus implicit) and to further examine potential influences associated with product type and consumer differences in need for cognition (NFC). Experimental results from two studies indicate that, regardless of metaphor type, ads with metaphors are more effective than nonmetaphor ads. An implicit metaphor is more effective than an explicit metaphor in hedonic product advertising. In contrast, an explicit metaphor is more effective than an implicit metaphor in utilitarian product promotion. These results hold only for individuals with high NFC, not for those with low NFC. Hence, in practice, marketers stand to gain not only by matching the metaphor type with their advertised products or brands but also by appropriately framing the products as hedonic or utilitarian. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article identifies important cognitive processes associated with processing narrative ads (comprehending narratives and generating mental imagery of depictions in the narratives) and related subjective experiences (perceptual/conceptual fluency, comprehension, and imagery fluency). In line with the idea that perceptual/conceptual fluency facilitates comprehension fluency and further improves imagery fluency, this study presents a model in which factors influence imagery fluency either indirectly through influences on perceptual/conceptual and comprehension fluency or directly. Findings from two experiments support the model; picture type (narrative versus product picture) and narrative type (highly versus less accessible) indirectly alter imagery fluency through their influence on comprehension fluency, whereas individual characteristics (experiential versus rational processing orientation) directly alter it, which further affects ad and brand attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study provides a theoretical grounding from social anthropology and psychoanalysis into the use of animal symbolism in marketing communications. The study analyses the adoption of animal symbols in brand communications, and considers these as either implicitly anthropomorphic (totemic) or explicitly anthropomorphic (fetishist). Contemporary advertising messages, as they become more visual, indirect, and implicit in their content (Phillips & McQuarrie, 2002), continue to employ animal symbols. Such integration of animal symbols serves to activate and connect archetypal associations automatically in consumers’ minds, thereby enabling them to activate the cultural schema that the brand represents. The effective application of cultural schema associated with a brand contributes to brand engagement and thereby to brand equity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This is a study of the dark side of anthropomorphism, which explores the depiction of cows in contemporary advertising. The study begins by tracing the cow's representation in culture as an object that is simultaneously revered and profaned, tracing this to its long-standing association with nature and the feminine. It then offers a historical perspective on the representation of cows in advertising, outlining some of the controversies that have raged about how cows are depicted. This leads to a consideration of ecofeminism and related issues around this, such as environmentalism and gender. Its central argument is that an anthropocentric world view has led to cows being positioned in anthropomorphic advertisements as ‘the Other'. Applying an ecofeminist analysis, the authors identify an overarching narrative of ‘benevolent mastery’ in many cow advertisements that adopt anthropomorphic devices. As such, these advertisements serve to delude us about the true nature of cows' lives. The authors conclude by suggesting that an ecofeminist lens enables us to unmask the ‘dark side' of anthropomorphism in marketing, revealing fundamental prejudices in contemporary culture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents three studies on how the negative emotions of guilt and shame differentially influence the effectiveness of health messages framed as gains or losses. Guilt appeals are more effective when paired with gain frames, whereas shame appeals are more effective when paired with loss frames. These framing effects occur because gain frames facilitate the use of problem-focused coping strategies favored by guilt, whereas loss frames facilitate the use of emotion-focused coping strategies favored by shame. Frames that fit with the emotion facilitate the activation of coping strategies consistent with that emotion and consequently lead to greater fluency and message effectiveness. These effects manifest on intentions to binge drink and time spent viewing alcohol advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growth of green marketing, there is a shortage of studies on green communication. Thus, this research aims to understand whether consumers who are concerned about the environment conserve resources and have environmentally friendly buying habits and whether they are skeptical about the green communications conveyed by companies. Using a proposal of a model about skepticism toward green advertising, several hypotheses are tested. The results indicate that the more environmentally concerned an individual is, the more skepticism he or she will be toward green claims exhibited on packages or featured in ads. In addition, results indicated no significant differences between men and women regarding this skepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]