Research Papers
Between “Likes” and “Shares”: Effects of Emotional Appeal and Virality of Social Marketing Messages on Facebook • Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University; Anna McAlister, Michigan State University; Elizabeth Taylor Quilliam, Michigan State University; Amy Hagerstrom, Michigan State University; Shupei Yuan, Michigan State University; Nora Rifon, Michigan State University; Jef Richards, Michigan State University • An online experiment (N=365) explored the effects of emotional tone, affective evaluation (number of likes) and viral reach (number of shares) of Facebook status updates of a fictitious anti-cyberbullying nonprofit organization. We found more positive attitudes toward status updates and anti-cyberbullying, as well as stronger viral sharing intentions, with positive messages. Further, affective evaluation only mattered and led to more favorable attitudes when status updates were negative. Highly liked messages lead to more positive anti-cyberbullying.
Affective Valence, Level-of-Processing and Message Regulatory Focus: How the Effectiveness of Anti-Drinking-and-Driving Advertisements is Influenced by Audience Mood • George Anghelcev, Penn State University; Sela Sar, Iowa State University • Message content (type of appeal, focus of message) and message delivery (media placement) have been identified by recent reviews of campaigns against Alcohol-Impaired Driving (AID) as the two main determinants of campaign success. The present study advances theoretical knowledge on both types of variables, and has actionable implications on how media placement can maximize the effectiveness of anti-AID campaigns. As hypothesized, responses to anti-AID advertisements with different regulatory foci (promotion-framed vs. prevention-framed) were differentially impacted by pre-existing audience mood. The proposed theoretical explanation (namely, that mood effects are due to differential engagement in global or local processing induced by the mood), as well as the identified interaction between message regulatory focus and mood, have never been tested in the context of advertising. Theoretical contributions to advertising literature and to regulatory focus research are considered along with recommendations for advertising practitioners.
The Effectiveness of Comparative versus Noncomparative Advertising for Nonprofessional Services • Fred Beard, University of Oklahoma • Although both services advertising and comparative advertising for products have received considerable attention, few researchers have examined the effectiveness of comparative services advertising. This study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the effectiveness of comparative advertising for a nonprofessional service. The results of an experiment revealed no significant differences in the effects of comparative and noncomparative service and product ads on several important advertising outcomes. Empirical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Understanding the Effects of Negative Celebrity Information • Mihyun Kang; William Reeves; Sejung Marina Choi; Weonkyung Kim • This study investigates the effects of two dimensions of congruence in the negative celebrity endorser information on consumer responses to the celebrity endorser as well as the brand endorsed by the celebrity. Results indicated that perceived credibility of the celebrity endorser, in terms of morality and expertise, decreased when the negative event was closely related to the celebrity endorser’s area of expertise. The findings also revealed that the two types of congruence indeed interact in determining consumers’ responses to the celebrity and the endorsed brand; consumers’ responses were least favorable when both types of congruence were high.
London, Lyrics, & Louis: A cross-cultural content analysis of product placement in popular music • Clay Craig; Shannon Bichard, Texas Tech University • The search for alternative forms of advertising corresponds with the proliferation of traditional advertising clutter. One method that has seen an increase in exploration is product placement. Though commonly applied to visual media, this study examines this practice in song lyrics (i.e. lyrical product placement). The current study seeks to add a cross-cultural dimension by evaluating the use of lyrical product placement in the top 100 songs from the U.S., Europe, and Japan from 2010 (N = 300). Findings indicate regional differences in lyrical product placement and thus opportunities for diversification in the use of lyrical product placement across regions.
Pre-Roll Advertising in Videogames: Effects on Brand Recall and Attitudes • Frank Dardis, Penn State University; Mike Schmierbach; Brett Sherrick, The Pennsylvania State University; Julia Daisy Fraustino, The Pennsylvania State University • Although brands continue to spend large amounts of their marketing budgets on videogame advertising, little research has investigated the effects of pre-roll advertising on players’ recall of and attitudes toward brands partaking in the increasingly common brand-communication strategy. The current experiment indicated that unaided recall scores of brands appearing in pre-roll advertisements were quite robust. Attitudes toward the brands also were positively influenced: players who saw pre-roll ads had more positive attitudes toward the advertised brands compared to players who did not see any ads. A significant interaction indicated that this effect became more pronounced as players enjoyed the game more. Practical implications are discussed.
“Ultimate” sponsorship: Fan identity, brand congruence and the Ultimate Fighting Championship • Michael Devlin, University of Alabama; Natalie Brown, University of Alabama; Andrew Billings, University of Alabama; Stacy Bishop, University of Alabama • This study examined how fan identity towards a sport, in this case, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), impacted the evaluations of congruent and incongruent sponsors. An online questionnaire was used to survey 911 participants, revealing that highly identified fans evaluated all sponsors of the sport more favorable than fans who are not highly identified. Results also showed that highly identified fans evaluated sport-congruent sponsors more favorable than incongruent sponsors, suggesting that fan identification is a critical factor to consider when examining the effectiveness of sport sponsorship.
Advertising enjoyment and time perception in multitasking • Brittany Duff, University of Illinois; Sela Sar, Iowa State University; Sydney Chinchanachokchai, University of Illinois • Consumers are increasingly focused on multiple media, and are exposed to advertisements that divide their attention. This study looks at differences in attitude towards advertisements when advertisements are either the sole recipient of attention versus when attention toward the ads is divided between the ad and one or two additional tasks. Results show that increasing tasks does decrease the attention given to the ads but increases perception of time passing quickly, enjoyment of the task(s) and enhances ad attitude.
An ethical dilemma? An assessment of commercials from the 12 top fast-food businesses • Julie Fudge, North Dakota State University; Nan Yu, North Dakota State University; Laura C. Farrell, North Dakota State University • Scholars suggest that TV commercials can be an important factor contributing to food and drink choices. This study investigated commercials from the top 12 fast-food businesses in the U.S. Our findings revealed that nutrition appeals were rarely used independently to attract consumers and the majority of fast-food ads did not meet a standard test for ethical use of persuasion.
Is Green Advertising Recommended When Things Go Wrong? • Harsha Gangadharbatla; Gergely Nyilasy; Angela Paladino • The current project investigates the effects of green advertising and a corporation’s environmental performance on brand attitudes and purchase intentions. In order to test the effects, an experiment with n=302 subjects was conducted with advertising (green, corporate, and none) and a firm’s environmental performance (high, low, and no information) as independent variables and brand attitude and purchase intention as dependent variables. Results indicate a significant interaction effect between advertising and a firm’s environmental performance. More specifically, controlling for pre-existing industry or category attitudes, the negative effect of a firm’s low performance on brand attitudes becomes stronger in the presence of green advertising compared to general corporate advertising and no advertising. Similarly, when the firm’s environmental performance is positive, both green and general corporate advertising result in unfavorable brand attitudes compared to when there is no advertising. We explain these somewhat counter-intuitive results by using attribution theory and draw both theoretical and managerial implications.
The Effect of Acculturation on the Language of Advertising Among Hispanics • Ashley Garcia, Oklahoma State University; Cynthia Nichols, Oklahoma State University • This study examines the influence of acculturation and language on the emotional response of three print advertisements (English, Spanish, Code-Switched). The advertising treatments and surveys were administered to a convenience sample of 283 respondents in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Bidimensional Acculturation Scale (BAS) for Hispanics was used to measure acculturation (Low, High, Bicultural). Emotional responses to the print advertisements were measured using the Emotional Quotient (EQ) scale and the condensed Reaction Profile. Results revealed some significant differences in advertising preferences. Results also suggested that a code-switched advertisement could be both culturally relevant and appropriate for reaching the majority of the Hispanic market. Implications, limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Eco-Friendly Buying Behavior: Examining the Roles of Environmental Knowledge, Concern, and Perceived Consumer Effectiveness • Jun Heo; Sidharth Muralidharan, The University of Southern Mississippi • The current study examined the causal relationships among selected environmental antecedents and their impacts on consumers’ green purchase behavior. A total of 283 respondents completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling revealed that environmental knowledge (EK) and environmental concern (EC) were significant predictors of environmentally conscious consumer behavior (ECCB), with EC being the stronger predictor. The study also suggests a major mediating role of EC in predicting ECCB. Implications for advertisers are discussed.
Happy to Help?: The Role of Antecedent Mood with Emotional Appeals in Disaster Relief Advertising • Seungae Lee; David Tisdale, University of Southern Mississippi; Jun Heo • In the last decade, devastating natural disasters have been omnipresent in the world. This study focused on the application of hedonic contingency hypothesis to the donation advertising. It was hypothesized that antecedent mood of audience would moderate the relationship between emotional appeals and evaluations of advertisement. A 2 x 2 experiment was conducted. The results supported the significant role of antecedent mood highlighting the influence of editorial placement of disaster relief advertisements in the media.
Cultural Cues in Advertising: Context Effects on Perceived Model Similarity, Identification Processes, and Advertising Outcomes • Gregory Hoplamazian, Loyola University Maryland • Perceptions of similarity and identification with advertising characters has been linked with positive advertising outcomes. However, relatively little is known about how context cues in advertising impact viewer perceptions of ad characters. This paper reports findings from an experiment which manipulated racial cultural cues that appear with White, Black, and racially ambiguous characters. Results indicate background cultural cues, in the form of artwork associated with Black/White culture, have a significant impact on advertising character perceptions (e.g., similarity, identification) and advertising outcomes (e.g. brand attitudes, purchase intentions). Findings help explain past research finding White viewers respond no different to advertisements based on character race, by demonstrating that background cultural cues moderate the effects of character race. Further, results suggest source ambiguity is not a necessary condition for context effects in advertising, and also provide novel insight into viewer responses to racial ambiguity.
Does DTCA Influence Consumers’ Perceived Importance of a Health Issue? Two-Sided Message-Order and DTCA Skepticism • Ilwoo Ju, The University of Tennessee; Jinseong Park, The University of Tennessee • To better understand consumers’ coping mechanisms of DTC advertising and to address socially important health issues, the current study examined whether perceived importance of sleep disorders are influenced by DTC advertising. Two-sided message order and DTCA skepticism were hypothesized as predictors of the perceived importance. The results showed that there is an interaction between the two-sided message order effects and DTCA skepticism. Theoretical, practical, and regulatory implications are discussed.
Young Consumers’ Motivations for Scan QR Code Advertising • Jong-Hyuok Jung, Syracuse University; Rachel Sommerstein, Syracuse University; Eun Seon Kwon, Syracuse University • This study explores consumers’ motivation to use QR codes on advertising. Based on previous literature from consumer media use, technology/innovation adoption, and advertising effectiveness, predictors of consumer intention to use QR code advertising were tested via an online survey of 160 college students. The empirical findings from the current study suggest that consumers’ intentions to use QR code advertising are largely influenced by perceived information value of QR code advertising followed by entertainment and perceived ease of use. Additionally, the current study suggests consumers who have any previous experience with QR code advertising are more likely to use QR code advertising in the future. Both practical and theoretical implications of the study results are also discussed.
Assessing the relationship of attitude toward the ad to intentions to use direct-to-consumer drugs: A systematic quantitative meta-analysis • Wan Seop Jung; E. Soo Rhee • A number of studies have addressed Aad in the DTCA literature. Despite this interest in Aad, there has not been a comprehensive attempt to investigate general findings across independent DTCA studies. Such an investigation is useful in understanding the general strength and variability of the relationships. In the current meta-analysis, the data provided a summary of 278 samples. The aggregated study effects suggested a significant relationship between Aad and a number of important constructs, including both antecedents (education and income) and consequences (behavioral intention). However, the strength of each of these relationships was small or small to moderate.
Characteristics of Advergames on Online Gaming Websites targeting Children • Soontae An, Ewha Womans University; Hannah Kang, University of Florida • This study analyzed advergames on top online gaming websites for children. The content of 131 websites was analyzed to see whether each site contained advergames, particularly advergames for food products, and the way the advergames were presented to children. Results showed that very few websites made a distinction between advergames and general games. In many cases, advergames were mixed in with other general games. Only half of the advergames provided some form of ad breaks to notify users of the commercial nature of advergames. Furthermore, many ad breaks demonstrated problems in terms of visibility, contents, and readability.
The Effect of Tempo in the Background Music of Political Television Spots on Candidates’ Issue Images, Humane Images, and Voters’ Recall • Sang Chon Kim, University of Oklahoma; Doyle Yoon • The current study attempts to examine the effect of background music in political television advertising on candidate images—both issue-related and humane-related images—and voters’ recall, focusing on the musical tempo of background music. In addition, the study uses two concepts as the covariates—motivation (political interest) and ability (political knowledge), which are the core concepts in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)—to control the effects of individual difference. An experiment is conducted to investigate the effect of musical tempos on candidate images and on voters’ recall of the ad content. One hundred and fifty participants for the experiment were allocated to three groups—fast-tempo music, slow-tempo music, and no music. The findings revealed that a slow tempo led to issue images of candidates; however, a fast tempo did not lead to humane images. Also, the findings showed that a fast tempo resulted in less recall of the ad content than a slow tempo and a control condition with no music. No significant influences of political interest and knowledge were found on recall and both issue and humane images. More implications are discussed.
I “Unlike” You! Reasons for Unliking Brand Pages on Facebook • Eun Sook Kwon; Eunice Kim, University of Texas at Austin; Sejung Marina Choi • Social networking sites (SNSs) enable consumers to visibly exhibit their relationship, taste and voice. Often, consumers “like” or become friends with a brand on SNSs, but they may discontinue the relationship by “unliking” the brand page. We surveyed 176 college students who have “unliked” commercial brands on Facebook to determine what causes consumers to end their relationships with brands on SNSs. Findings suggest four reasons for “unliking” brands on Facebook: excessive information, lack of information, lack of brand interest, and lack of incentive. Additional analyses indicate that when consumers feel that they are generally overloaded with information, and perceive brand posts as irritating on Facebook, they are more likely to “unlike” the brand pages they have previously associated with. Implications for advertisers and brand managers are discussed.
Engagement Ads in Social Network Games: Persuasion Knowledge and Consumer Choices to Send Marketer-Generated eWOM to Friends • Jin Kyun Lee, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; Sara Hansen • This study investigates antecedents for persuasion knowledge about sending marketer-generated electronic word of mouth via advertisements in social network games (SNGs). Survey data from 319 consumers who play SNGs was analyzed using regression analysis. While overall persuasion knowledge did not impact eWOM, SNG advertiser sincerity and game involvement positively enhanced opinion passing and opinion giving. Product knowledge positively affected opinion giving. Implications suggest that as consumers feel SNG advertiser sincerity, they willingly become persuasion agents.
When does personalized advertising really work? The conceptual difference between actual personalization and perceived personalization • Cong Li • Personalized advertising is becoming an industrial trend and a number of prior studies have concluded that personalization is more efficacious than non-personalization. However, it is somewhat confusing in the literature whether the test of personalization effects should be based on the message sender’s objective personalization process or the message receiver’s subjective perception. It is argued in this article that, due to potentially biased consumer perception, an actual personalization process does not automatically yield more favorable outcomes. Two laboratory experiments demonstrate that it is possible for a personalized message to be perceived as generic and for a generic message to be perceived as personalized. The key finding is that perceived personalization instead of actual personalization determines message effectiveness. A message only shows superior effects when it is perceived to be personalized by the message recipient, regardless of whether it is actually personalized or not.
How Connected Are Connected Consumers? Comparing the Contextual Use of Traditional and Nontraditional Video Platforms • Kelty Logan • The “connected consumer” adds video platforms to their use of traditional television. Because this behavior is prevalent among teens and young adults, an elusive media target, advertisers have embraced digital video platforms to augment their traditional media plans. This study indicates that while the media content may be constant across video platforms, the user experience differs. Furthermore, receptiveness to advertising varies according to user experiences suggesting that ads are not uniformly effective across video platforms.
Child Exposure to Food and Beverage Placements in Movies: Toward an Implicit Persuasion Model (Top Paper, Ad Division) • Jorg Matthes, University of Vienna • There is little knowledge about how product placements shape the food choices of children. Informed by an implicit persuasion model, two studies demonstrate that exposure to brands in movies can have a significant impact on children’s food and beverage choices. Due to an implicit attitude formation mechanism, no effects on explicit attitudes such as brand liking and future consumption intentions were observed. These findings bear great importance to advertising scholars, nutrition experts, and policy regulators.
Objectification or evolution? Examining male representations in advertisements in Singapore’s men’s magazines, 1985-2011 • Fernando Paragas, Nanyang Technological University; Jack Yong Ho • Higher incidences of body dissatisfaction amongst males have led to speculation that men are increasingly experiencing what had previously been observed between women and their exposure to female objectification in the mass media. While it may be tempting to assume a similar relationship between male body dissatisfaction and exposure to male objectification in the media, few studies have been conducted to understand the extent to which males are being objectified in the first place – and even less so in Asia. Through a random stratified sampling of advertisements within four popular Singapore-based men’s magazines from 1985 to 2011, a content analysis revealed patterns similar to Western-based studies, with young, lean-muscular Caucasian men taking up a highly disproportionate amount of Singapore’s media space over the decades. It was also found that males are increasingly portrayed to be sexual and of a mesomorphic and well-defined physique; trends that may explain men’s body-image discrepancies and subsequently, desires for bodily change. The study also revealed that Asian male representations, while often stereotyped as asexual in the West, are increasingly following the footsteps of their Caucasian counterparts.
To help or not to help: Effects of affective expectancies on responses to prosocial advertisements • Sheetal Patel; Sri Kalyanaraman • This experimental study examines the suggestion that negative affective expectancies about the outcomes of prosocial acts resulting from the news and related to compassion fatigue can negatively influence compassion, attitudes, and prosocial behavior in response to an advertisement. Using affective expectancy and attitude toward the ad theory, the findings suggested affective expectancies directly influenced feelings and compassion while indirectly influencing attitudes and behaviors. The implications of these effects on advertisements and resulting behavior are discussed.
The Effects of Spokes-characters and Mood on Children’s Attitudes toward Advertising and Purchase Intention • Bin Shen; Karla Gower, University of Alabama • Research on mood in cognitive psychology supports the idea that affective cues of mood convey information, but it has not yet been systematically studied in children. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of children’s mood (happy vs. sad) and the presence of spokes-characters (present vs. non-present) on their attitudes toward advertising and purchase intention, with specific focus given to the interaction of children’s affective state and product endorsers in advertising. Eighty-five third graders participated in a 2 _ 2 factorial experiment. The results indicated a significant interaction between mood and spokes-characters on children’s attitudes toward advertising for the unfamiliar brand. Significance was also found in the unfamiliar brand condition between spokes-characters and attitudes toward advertising. Furthermore, the study indicated a significant relationship between mood and attitudes toward advertising under both brand conditions, and that children in a happy mood have higher purchase intention than in a sad mood. The implications of these findings for advertisers, marketers, and public-policy makers are discussed.
Exploring interactive media from the perspective of creative professionals at advertising agencies in the Midwest • Adam Wagler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Interactive media is creating new challenges for creative professionals in advertising. This qualitative study explores how leading advertising agencies in the Midwest are integrating interactive media into campaigns. The findings begin with a fundamental shift in the industry that is moving away from “advertising.” Agencies must engage audiences while embracing change by building interactivity into their “DNA.” Professionals and educators will benefit from findings that identify strategies to stay current with a rapidly changing medium.
Examining Perceived Control of Navigation and Its Interaction with Perceived Fit in Cause-Sponsorship Leveraging on Corporate Web Sites • Ye Wang, University of Missouri – Kansas City • Web-based interactivity can facilitate central-route processing of sponsorship, which is different from low-level processing and mere-exposure effects in traditional situations of sponsorship. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of Web-based interactivity, specifically perceived control of navigation, on audience processing of sponsorship. The results showed that low perceived control of navigation was associated with lower attitude toward the sponsorship and the sponsor’s brand, and purchase intent than high perceived control of navigation. The effect of perceived fit on the number of negative thoughts of the sponsorship depends upon levels of perceived control of navigation.
Sex sells? A meta-analysis of the effect of sexual content in advertisements on persuasive outcomes • John Wirtz, Texas Tech University; Johnny Sparks; Kelli Lyons, Texas Tech University • This paper presents a meta-analysis of the effects sexual content in advertisements has on recall and recognition, attitudes, and purchase intention. We identified 76 relevant effects from 54 studies that used the experimental method. The primary analysis tested for main effects, although we also conducted exploratory analyses of three moderator variables—appeal intensity, gender, and study publishing date. Our analysis revealed significant main effects for sexual content on ad and brand recall and recognition and purchase intention, although the effect for brand recall was negative (i.e., recall lower). Main effects for attitude toward the ad and brand were not significant.
Branding Potentials of Keyword Search Ads (Second Place, Best Paper) • Chan Yoo, University of Kentucky • Based on the priming theory including the inclusion and exclusion model, this study examined the effects of ad rankings in search engine result pages, especially for an unknown brand, on memory and perceptions. Both topic knowledge and persuasion knowledge about keyword search ads were examined as moderators. A total of 228 undergraduate students participated in the experiment featuring a 2 (rank: 1st vs. 4th) x 2 (persuasion knowledge: activation vs. no activation) between-subjects design with some covariates (i.e., click-through, search confidence, and demographic information). The results suggest that a keyword search ad for the unknown brand may generate greater recognition and more favorable brand perceptions, when it has a high ranking than when it has a lower ranking than well-known brands. Furthermore, subjects’ topic knowledge and persuasion knowledge were working together to influence brand recognition and perceptions.
Narrative Transportation in Radio Advertising: A Study of the Effects of Dispositional Traits on Mental Transportation • Lu Zheng, University of Florida; Yunmi Choi, University of Florida • This study examined the potential influence of three individual traits, namely transportability, mental imagery vividness and need for cognition on one’s psychological transportation and ensuing belief change in a narrative radio advertising context. The study demonstrated that all three dispositional factors tend to significantly influence one’s degree of transportedness. Moreover, the study showed that a higher degree of transportedness leads to a more potent persuasive impact on one’s affective and conative responses to narrative radio commercial.
A Content Analysis of the Information Content of Over-the-Counter Drug Advertising in Magazines • Lu Zheng, University of Florida; John Sutherland; Shine Lyui • Despite the pivotal role played by OTC advertising in consumers’ health-related decisions, little research has examined the information content of OTC advertising in the past three decades. This study content analyzed the information cues portrayed in OTC ads from six popular magazines representing three categories (women, men, and general interest) from 2008 to 2010. The study provides insight into the current state of OTC print advertising. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
Teaching Papers
Where the Bottom Line Is Higher: What Small IMC Agencies Need from New Graduates • Martine Robinson Beachboard, Idaho State University; Lisa Weidman, Linfield College • In non-metropolitan areas, colleges may find themselves developing IMC curricula based on national studies of major markets. The authors, whose students find work primarily in smaller organizations, surveyed advertising professionals in a mostly rural state. Survey results indicate that employers in small agencies need the same things larger agencies need – and more. Here, even entry-level employees must have a client-centered business perspective. In this world, everyone has to contribute to the bottom line.
Overview of Technology’s Role in the Advertising Creative Classroom • Lisa Duke; Sabrina Habib • Digital interactive platforms have permeated every aspect of day-to-day life, with the potential to profoundly affect the ways advertising creative students and professionals generate and develop ideas. However, little work has been done to better understand the ways in which new technologies are used to construct and sustain creative ideas. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of technology in advertising creative classrooms.
Learning from the best: A study of the growth, goals and methods of exemplary teachers • Brett Robbs, University of Colorado at Boulder; Sheri Broyles, Mayborn School of Journalism • University of North Texas • This study provides insight into the growth of 15 exemplary advertising teachers and the skills and attributes essential to their success. It’s based on interviews with teachers characterized as exemplary because of their experience and their having won a national or major university teaching award. The paper examines the methods respondents use to improve, the key change in their evolution as teachers, the responsibilities seen as critical and the ways they achieve their goals.
Professional Freedom & Responsibility Papers
Perceptions of Work-life Balance Among US Advertising Students: A Study of Gender Differences • Jami Fullerton; Alice Kendrick • US advertising students who rated statements pertaining to work/life balance in the advertising industry as part of a national survey generally indicated that they “want it all” with respect to a rewarding career and a full personal and family life. Yet the majority who said they would work 60-80 hours per week if necessary seems to indicate that they might anticipate a compromise in terms of their leisure or family time. Gender differences were not apparent in terms of the students’ willingness to work long hours and their desire to have a good quality of life. Women, however, were more likely than men to believe in early-career burnout, that they might not work in advertising if they had children and that society might look down on them if they worked full time after having children. Results of this survey suggest that the advertising industry’s notorious dearth of work/life balance appears destined to repeat itself with Millennial Generation, despite predictions to the contrary.
Special Topics Papers
Creative Reconstruction in Tokyo: The Rebuilding of an American/Japanese Advertising Agency • Daniel Haygood, Elon University • Doing business in Japan can be treacherous for any American firm, particularly one trying to navigate a joint venture comprised of an American advertising agency and a traditional Japanese advertising agency. Different organizational structures, management philosophies, company cultures, and approaches to the advertising business create immense challenges. This rare success story of one such venture revealed lessons of organizational structure assimilation, inter-cultural management, and basic common sense.
An Exploratory Study of An Emerging Phenomenon in Advertising Agencies: Project Management Is Taking Over? • Daniel Ng, University of Oklahoma • The advertising industry has evolved into an unparalleled yet acute competitive environment where the demand for performance and service is endless. Agencies are under unprecedented pressure to meet client expectations, stay up to date on ever-changing technology trends and meet insurmountable deadlines. As change within the marketplace transpires and the need for ingenious campaign to reach a fragmented audience trends upward, agencies are forced to reevaluate how they are structured from the inside. This paper attempts to find current perspective toward the evolution of account management in ad agencies settings. Intriguing results are found via using personal interviews with advertising professionals. It also discusses key differences between the both account management and project management. It delves into the perspective of the evolution and gradual transition from account management to project management as well as evaluating how agencies are being affected by new required needs in the marketplace.
Advertising in Flux: The Exodus of Account Planning from St. Louis • Sara Roedl, Southern Illinois University • This research focuses on account planning in St. Louis, examining its role in the St. Louis advertising community. Information was gathered through personal interviews. Account planning has declined significantly in St. Louis. While planning is typically utilized by full service agencies, in St. Louis it is popular among promotions agencies. Advertising practitioners have adapted to the declining presence of account planning by nesting planning practices within other efforts in order to remain competitive.
From Credibility to Engagement: Determining Meaning in Public Relations and Advertising • Brian Smith • Scholars have long maintained that public relations content is more effective than advertising content because the former carries increased credibility through the value of third-person testimonials in publicity and editorial coverage. However, scholars have been unable to conclusively prove public relations’ advantage. In order to understand the difference in impact between public relations and advertising, this study assesses the way publics assign value to each communication source in three focus groups. Results reveal a dichotomy between public relations as personal responsibility and advertising as entertainment, and the possibility that the two communication types balance each other toward communication impact. This study also challenges assumptions that audiences seek the same value in both communication forms and suggests that engagement, rather than credibility, is the more appropriate point of evaluation.
Using Taylor’s Six-Segment Strategy Model to Generate Messages That Help to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Infections • Ron Taylor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a serious problem worldwide, costing in the United States alone $30 billion annually. About five percent of hospital patients will develop an HAI. Encouraging health care workers to adhere to a recommended hand washing protocol has become a major health care initiative. This study demonstrates how messages based in Taylor’s Six-Segment Strategy Wheel may be more effective than the current ones, most of which are based in models of rational decision-making.
Student Papers
Separating Motivational Activation from Implicit Attitudes in a Food Advertising Context • Rachel Bailey, Indiana University • The study is a first step in differentiating the contributions of motivational activation from attitude accessibility and strength to evaluative priming responses. An evaluative priming procedure as well as psychophysiological indicators of motivational activation are used to gauge their contributions to responses toward symbols of appetitive stimuli (branded packaging representing food) and primary appetitive stimuli (unpackaged food). In general, results show unpackaged food is generally more appetitive showing better implicit attitudes and greater motivational activation.
When do consumers seek brand recommendations online? Updating existing theory on product choice and the form of information • Hyuk Jun Cheong • Consumers have been enabled to share their product purchase experiences, brand-relevant information, and product recommendations more easily since the advent of social media and User-Generated Content (UGC). Moreover, product information and brand recommendations in the context of UGC are deemed more trustworthy than online advertising or the product information produced by companies because they are mostly generated by their peers (Goldsmith and Horowitz 2006; Cheong and Morrison 2008). In this study, we attempted to identify and provisionally update empirical aspects of advertising theories – mainly the ELM and the FCB grid – that don’t currently accommodate things like UGC, by performing three focus groups with 29 college students (the number of participants – FG1: 9, FG2: 10, FG3: 10). Based on the results of the focus groups, the FCB grid was updated, and several propositions pertaining to consumers’ brand- or product-related information-seeking behaviors in the context of UGC and a list of 12 product categories, generated by using three product dimensions (i.e., “product involvement,” “think-feel,” and “online-offline shopping”), were provided for the future research. Preliminary findings and discussion points for scholars and professionals working in relevant fields are also offered in the study.
Effects of violent television programs on advertising effectiveness among young children • Eunji Cho, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Seung Chul Yoo, The University of Texas at Austin • Using an experimental method, this study found violent TV programs elicits a high level of excitation among young children, which substantially enhances their advertising effectiveness. When advertising was viewed in a violent program, children showed higher ad recall and more favorable attitudes toward the ad when the advertising was viewed in a nonviolent program. Higher purchase intention and brand preference were also founded among subjects who viewed the ad embedded in a violent program.
The Relationship Between Uncertainty Avoidance and Children’s Online Advertising Regulation Code: Examining the EASA • Nathaniel Evans, University of Tennessee • The current study examines variations in children’s advertising regulation code across the pan-European community and seeks to understand the relationship such code has with uncertainty avoidance (UAI). A content analysis of 18 European nation states’ advertising regulatory bodies’ (SROs) policies in the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) was carried out. Findings reveal that nation states with higher UAI tend to have regulation code that mirrors a liberal market model of regulation reflective of the International Camber of Commerce (ICC) rather than a national-cultural model of advertising regulation reflective of EASA. The findings have implications for advertisers and regulators. Future research suggestions for EASA and children’s online advertising regulation code are discussed.
The Effect of Arousal Variance and Presentation Sequence on Audience Responses to Animal Protection PSAs • Hyejin Kim, University of Minnesota; Okhyun Kim, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities • This study investigated the effect of arousal variance and presentation sequence on visual message recall in the context of animal protection Public Service Announcements (PSAs) with an unpleasant image appeal. The results demonstrated that an arousal generated from a visual message is more effective in the PSA element recalls. The findings contribute to advancing the limited capacity model of emotional message processing and to building more memorable PSA campaign strategies.
The Effects of Visual Metaphor in Advertising on Attitude Changes • Soojin Kim, University of Florida; Jihye Kim, University of Florida • The purpose of this experimental study was to test the persuasive effects of visual metaphors in ads on consumers’ attitudes and intention and gain a greater understanding of the effects of visual metaphors under the levels of the corporate credibility and involvement in ads. An experimental study was conducted to examine three-way interactions in a 2 (involvement: high/low) x 2 (corporate credibility: high/low) x 2 (metaphor or non-metaphor) factorial design. The findings showed that a high credibility and visual metaphor association for the individuals who have high level of involvement produced more positive attitudes toward the ad and brand than a non-metaphor. The theoretical explanation and practical implications of the results of the study are further discussed.
The Impact of Music-Product Fit in Television Ads on Advertising Effect • Chih-Fan Chen; Hui-Fei Lin, National Chiao Tung University; Shu Ning Tang • Music is perhaps the most important stimulating element of an advertisement. If properly utilized, music becomes the catalyst for advertisements. Prior research has focused on the type of music, the style of the melody or rhythm, and how it combines with the product in the ad. However, the effectiveness of ad jingles, especially those written for a product or brand on the persuasion has received little attention. In view of these, the purpose of this study is to examine whether under the different level of ad involvement, fit with the product and the background music in the ad that has the brand written in the lyrics will influence the advertising effect. The theoretical foundations draw on the Limited Capacity of Attention Model and Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). A 2 (involvement: high/low) x 2 (background music in ad: fit/no fit) between-subjects design was conducted. The results revealed that people with high involvement have higher memory about the brand, better attitudes toward the ad, and greater attitudes toward the brand when the music and product fit compared to when did not.
Strategies and Effectiveness of Product Placement in Idol Dramas • Pin-Chun Chen; Hui-Fei Lin, National Chiao Tung University; Shu Ning Tang • The purpose of this study was 1) to investigate the current status and implementation strategies of product placement and 2) to examine the relationships among exposure times, plot connection and the effects of product placement in Taiwanese idol dramas. The in-depth interview method was executed on 10 interviewees, including producers, television executives and script writers and an experiment with a 2 (number of exposures: high/low) x 2 (plot connection: high/low) between-subjects design taking Taiwanese idol drama “Hana Kimi” as example were conducted (N=95). The findings indicated that first product placement in Taiwanese idol dramas can be divided into three phases, including Front Period/Story Plotting, Planning Period/Script Writing as well as Implementation Period/Release and Broadcast. The number of exposures and plot connection had a significant main effect on memory, brand attitude, and purchase intention, respectively. Second, there was a significant number of exposures and plot connection interactions on brand attitude rather than purchase intention. More specifically, brand placements with a high number of exposures that were highly connected to plots resulted in more positive brand attitudes than those with few exposures that were loosely connected to the plots. The findings suggested that increasing the brand exposure time and the plot connection strategies have to be planned at the story plotting and script writing stages. Brand involvement and types are the main criteria in deciding the level of plot-connection. The strategy must be well-prepared before execution to have a more effective reach.
Testing ‘Visibly’ Disabled Spokesperson Credibility on the Advertising Attitudes and Purchase Intentions of Able-bodied Consumers • Wilbur Martin, University of Southern Mississippi; Sidharth Muralidharan, The University of Southern Mississippi • The purpose of this study was to determine whether commercials for high and low involvement products with a visibly disabled spokesperson made a difference in advertising attitudes and purchase intentions. A between-subjects experimental study was followed by a focus group. Findings showed that disabled spokespersons for a low involvement product generated positive brand attitudes and purchase intentions. In terms of credibility, trustworthiness was the most important source credibility dimension. Implications for advertisers are discussed.
Something Old, Something New: Convergence Culture, Lifestage Marketing, and The Knot, Inc. • Jamie Schleser, American University • This paper uses The Knot, Inc. as a case study to examine emergent trends in marketing in response to convergent media culture and the evolution of the hybrid consumer, the shopper who is able to transition seamlessly between different mediums and participate simultaneously in online and offline consumer behavior. I will argue that by interacting with consumers across a variety of platforms, deeply integrating participatory and social media tools, and developing a model of “lifestage marketing,” The Knot, Inc. is at the forefront of marketing strategies designed to engage consumers beyond their primary point of interaction with the company in order to develop loyal lifetime brand users. Some consideration is paid to the challenges of this strategy, including technological evolution cycles and continuing relevance.
The Influence of Identity Fusion on Patriotic Consumption: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Korea and the U.S. • Jinnie Yoo, University of Texas at Austin; KyungOk Kim, The University of Texas at Austin • This study proposes that there is a significant relationship between identity fusion with a country and patriotic consumption behaviors, and individuals’ cultural backgrounds play an important role in this relationship. To test this idea, this study focuses on fused persons and explored how these persons reacted to advertising that contained patriotic messages. Further, to uncover possible cross-cultural differences in individuals responding to those patriotic ad messages depending on their fusion level, this study explores and compares people from two different cultural contexts; Korea vs. the United States. The results demonstrated that fused persons in both countries increase their willingness to be patriotic consumers by showing a high consumer ethnocentric tendency and favorable responses to patriotic advertising while such influences of identity fusion on patriotic consumption behaviors are stronger in the collectivistic country (i.e., Korea) than in the individualistic country (i.e., the U.S.). Additionally, the findings of study suggest that fusion can be a more influential factor to predict consumers’ patriotic consumption behaviors than identification.
Country Music is Cool: Advertising, Symbolic Excludivores and Musical Omnivores • Dawn Ziegerer Behnken, Penn State University • Music from many genres is used in television advertising, with the exception of country music. Omnivorousness predicted more positive attitudes in those viewing an advertisement using “indie” music. A measure for “coolness” was developed and a dimension called “trendy” mediated between omnivorousness and attitude related variables. The term “symbolic excludivore” refers to those stating a dislike for country music. Symbolic excludivores exposed to country music in television advertising did not have negative attitudes compared to those liking country music.