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This research examined consumer responses to a company's communication of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Two prestudies verified the impact of company‐cause fit and message specificity on consumer skepticism toward CSR initiatives. These studies also showed that the resulting skepticism mediated the consumer responses. The main study explored how company‐cause fit and message specificity jointly influenced consumer skepticism and how this could be mediated by cognitive fluency. The results demonstrate that company‐cause fit and message specificity interacted and influenced consumer skepticism. In addition, cognitive fluency was found to be the key factor that explained this joint impact. These results explain how skepticism influences consumer responses to CSR. Theoretical and practical suggestions for effective CSR communication are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ad spending in the Asia-Pacific region is estimated to have reached $210.43 billion in 2018, or 33.5% of worldwide ad spending (McNair [74]). From these two approaches, research studies consider a general set of topics, including ad practices, consumers' perceptions and beliefs, ad content, ad effects, and ad education. Building on prior reviews of advertising research in general (e.g., Yale and Gilly [114]; West [113]), we explore the topics covered in Asian advertising studies with a seven-topic typology, comprising advertising practice, advertising content, advertising effects, consumers' perceptions and beliefs about advertising, topics tangential to advertising (e.g., media uses and consumer behaviors), advertising education, and other. Single-country studies have examined advertising practitioners' perceptions of advertising in general and the perceived benefits of different media, marketing communication activities, or advertising appeals. When ads use foreign models, Chang ([14]) finds that even though Taiwanese consumers perceive ads with Caucasian models as more global and representative of developed countries, they do not like them more than ads featuring Asian models. [Extracted from the article]

Research over the years has delved into the role of culture in advertising from various perspectives using both cross-country comparisons and within-country investigations. An assessment of recent research offers observations for scholars to consider for future work in this area: continue to expand theories, sample outside of the usual cultures, assess comparability, identify obstacles to publishing, consider changes in data collection and related issues, and connect the dots by providing periodic state-of-the-knowledge reviews and analyses. At the same time, it would be worthwhile for future work to respond to changes in the environment and new communication needs by studying consumer ethnocentrism during a period of heightened trade tensions and a slowdown in globalization, and by looking into philanthropy and corporate social responsibility communication for initiatives to help solve local, regional, and global problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controversies involving alcohol and tobacco billboard advertising have captured the attention of various activists particularly those coming from ethnic minority groups. These groups claim that such advertising strategies are aimed at minorities and low income groups. A content analysis was carried out to determine whether alcohol/tobacco advertising is related to neighborhood ethnicity. An analysis of 796 billboard ads in Detroit, MI, and San Antonio, TX reveals mixed results: in Detroit, alcohol and cigarette billboards were about equal in Anglo and African American neighborhoods, while in San Antonio, tobacco advertising was more prominent in Mexican American neighborhoods.

This research applied the Trans‐Theoretical Model and the Construal Level Theory to framing messages for blood donation. People can be at different degrees of readiness for blood donation and are, therefore, dispersed into discrete stages of change. These stages of change correspond to varying psychological distances that define the extent to which a person's thinking on the suggested behavior is abstract (high construal level) or concrete (low construal level). Differences in psychological distance thus affect whether individuals focus on how easy it is to donate blood (feasibility) or on why it is important to donate blood (desirability) in the ad message. This research conducted two studies using a 2 (types of message: feasibility vs. desirability—manipulated) × 3 (stages of change: pre‐contemplation vs. contemplation/preparation vs. action/maintenance—measured) between‐subject, randomly assigned factorial design experiment. The results of both studies showed that for individuals in the pre‐contemplation stage, desirability, rather than feasibility, messages were more likely to produce favorable attitudes toward the ad, its sponsoring organization, and blood donation behavior itself, whereas the opposite was true for those in the action/maintenance stage. Those differences were weakened or not observed for those in the contemplation/preparation stage. These patterns of interaction were not replicated for behavioral intention. Collectively, these findings suggest that tailoring a message according to the intended audience's stage of change should promote positive attitudes for blood donation. Meanwhile, future research is needed to bridge the attitude‐behavior gap when it comes to blood donation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore how consumers' chronic and momentarily activated national identity affect their responses to patriotism-themed ads across countries. Specifically, this study examines (1) how consumer response to patriotism-themed ads varies across cultures in terms of chronic level of national identification; (2) how the activation of national identity influences consumer response to patriotism-themed ads and how this influence varies across cultures. Findings from this study suggest that consumers' cultural orientations influenced their responses to patriotism-themed ads. And, this influence was mediated by the chronic level of national identification. Specifically, Koreans (collectivistic) were likely to respond to patriotism-themed ads more favorably than were Americans (individualistic) due to their higher level of national identification. Results from this study further showed that, when national identity was made salient through an identity prime, consumers' evaluation of the patriotism-themed ads were increased significantly, regardless of their cultural backgrounds. However, such an effect of national identity activation was found to be significantly stronger among Koreans than among Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this research is to understand the regulatory-fit effects of fundraising messages and the moderating role of image congruence. In Study 1, a content analysis was carried out to gauge the current practice of fundraising campaigns. Study 2 was an experiment to investigate regulatory-fit effects between regulatory-focused messages and individuals' chronic regulatory foci. In addition, the moderating role of congruent or incongruent image with the message was examined. Findings confirmed regulatory-fit effects but also found that subjects, regardless of their chronic regulatory foci, reported the most favorable attitudes toward the nonprofit organization when exposed to the ad combining a promotion message with a prevention image. This suggests that an incongruent image, especially a prevention-focused image, might undermine the existing regulatory-fit effects. This result calls for more research efforts to understand how best to communicate fundraising needs to prospective donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined philanthropy ad messages in terms of four key elements: philanthropy goal, beneficiary, expected fundraising impact, and how the suggested donation is appraised. A content analysis was carried out to systematically study ad messages from nonprofit organizations on the Philanthropy 400 list. Specifically, the frequency of appearance of each type of message elements was analyzed in terms of four theoretical concepts: regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention goal), egoism/altruism (self vs. others as beneficiary), temporal orientation (present vs. future fundraising impact), and efficacy appraisal (self- vs. response-efficacy in how a donation is appraised). Since past research further suggests that persuasion may be enhanced when message elements are well matched in terms of “compatible fits,” this study further analyzed how the four message elements were combined in usage. The findings of this research show that while most nonprofit organizations actively utilized all four types of elements in their messages, the current practice did not follow the guidelines as would be suggested by compatible fits literature. In this respect, more research is needed to understand the discrepancy and provide better guidelines for future communication strategies in the nonprofit sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of self-concept in consumer responses to advertising messages. Specifically, this study postulates that matching advertising message framing (concrete vs. abstract) with consumers’ self-concept (actual vs. ideal self) should yield positive ad evaluation. Results from an experimental study suggest that individuals primed into their actual self evaluated the concrete ad message more favorably than they did the abstract ad message. In contrast, those primed into their ideal self responded more favorably to the abstract ad than to the concrete ad. Implications from the study and suggestions for future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]