Advertising 2011 Abstracts
Research Papers
The Clearer, the Better?: The Effect of Sufficient Clarification and Specificity of Risk Disclosure in Broadcast Direct-To-Consumer Advertising • Ho-Young (Anthony) Ahn, U of Tennessee; Lei Wu, University of Tennessee; Eric Haley, U of Tennessee • This study examined the effectiveness of clarifying the limitation of broadcast DTCA and the disclosure specificity. Results of a randomized 2 x 2 online experiment (n=235) indicated that the ad featuring numerical disclosure without the ad-limitation statement produced more favorable attitude and trustfulness than (1) the ad featuring numerical disclosure with the ad-limitation statement, and (2) the ad featuring general disclosure without the ad-limitation statement. The ad presenting general disclosure with the ad-limitation statement earned more trust than that presenting general disclosure without the ad-limitation statement. Perceived trustfulness did not guarantee favorable attitude toward the ad. The implications for researchers and DTCA advertisers are discussed.
Practitioner Views of Comparative Advertising: A Twenty-Year Update • Fred Beard, University o Oklahoma • A replication of a survey of senior advertising creative practitioners revealed there has likely been neither a significant increase or decrease in the use of comparative advertising since the late-1980s, although the findings also show their beliefs remain quite favorable toward the tactic. In addition, respondents rated both comparative and noncomparative advertising effective for achieving almost all the same objectives and outcomes and under almost all the same conditions that the original study’s respondents did. Differences between the original survey and its replication suggest valuable directions for future research.
Science, Restraint, and J. Edgar Hoover: Building and Maintaining the FBI Brand, 1933 to 1972 • Matthew Cecil, South Dakota State University; Jennifer Tiernan, South Dakota State University; Didem Koroglu, South Dakota State University • This study argues that J. Edgar Hoover’s disciplined focus on the FBI brand and on accruing brand equity and social capital was a key factor in the Bureau’s dramatic growth from a bureaucratic backwater into an iconic giant in American society. The success of FBI branding during the Hoover era offers an early, normative model of how to generate brand equity on a nationwide scale.
Children’s Prime-Time Food Commercials in China: A Content Analysis of National and Provincial TV Channels • Xiaoduo Wang, Ohio University; Hong Cheng, Ohio University • In this content analysis of children’s prime-time TV commercials (N = 761) in China, two national channels (CCTV-1 and CCTV-Children) were compared with two channels (SXTV and HNTV) at the provincial level. Particular attention was paid to food product categories, promotional claims, eating occasions and locales, and characters’ body sizes. It was found that while China’s national channels were more likely to promote healthier food products and eating locales, its provincial channels tended to advertise more high-calorie food products, away-from-home eating locales, and underweight characters. Possible reasons and managerial implications of these disparities in the national and provincial TV commercials—a new and important finding about advertising in this booming market—were discussed.
Brand Placement in the Mosaic Screen: How Placement, Animation, and Onset Timing Impact Viewer Attention • Glenn Cummins, Texas Tech University College of Mass Communications; Jillian Lellis; Robert Meeds • Concerns over ad avoidance have led advertisers and content producers to explore novel forms of co-presentation of commercial and television content. We report on two studies that used eye tracking to examine one possible vehicle for co-presentation, a mosaic-style presentation of televised sports. Evidence demonstrated the effectiveness of this technique, as viewers did attend to the inserted brands. Moreover, attention varied dependent upon spatial location of the insertion, use of animation, and timing of onset.
Seeing the Big Picture: Multitasking and Memory for the Ad • Brittany Duff, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign; Sela Sar, Iowa State University; Sangdo Oh, UIUC; Yulia Lutchyn, U of Tennessee; Sydney Chinchanachokchai, U of Illinois • While media multitasking is said to be an increasing behavior for consumers, little work has been done looking at ads exposed during multitasking. Multitasking is largely thought to have detrimental effects for consumer memory, particularly toward ads encountered during these times. However, there may be situations and individuals for which multitasking does not cause a detriment to performance. Two studies explore how holistic and systematic processing (either primed, state or mood induced) may affect both individual propensities toward multitasking as well as memory for the ads exposed during multitasking.
Responses to User-Generated Brand Videos: The Persuasion Inference Model • Chang-Dae Ham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • User-generated brand videos are online video contents created and shared by ordinary people, collectively describing a brand. Based on the concept of the Marketplace Metacognition (Wright 2002), this study proposes a simultaneous process of the Persuasion Inference Model in which two different metacognitions i.e., persuasion knowledge (PK) and persuasion acceptance (PA) interact with each other in response to user-generated vs. advertiser-produced brand videos. In particular, the impact of persuasion knowledge (PK), evoked from recognizing message source’s motives of persuasion intention, was significantly mitigated when persuasion acceptance (PA) was aroused by the brand video’s strong emotional appeal.
Consumer Attitude Toward Product Placement in the Movies: The Hierarchical Model of Individual Differences • Ilwoo Ju, University of Tennessee; Spencer Tinkham, University of Georgia • This study examines the influence of six individual differences (self-concept clarity, need for emotion, consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, attention to social comparison information, need for cognition, and transportability) on consumer attitude toward product placement in the movies. The results show statistically significant relationships between three hierarchical levels of individual differences and attitude toward product placement in the movies. Two dimensions of attitude toward product placement in the movies exhibited substantially different patterns of relationships to these individual differences. The theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.
Think Smart: Smartphone User’s Intention to Accept Mobile Advertising • Jong-Hyuok Jung, Syracuse University; Yongjun Sung; Wei-Na Lee • This study explores motivations that influence smartphone users’ intention to accept mobile advertising. In order to accomplish this research objective, the relationships among various factors identified from past literature were tested via online survey. The empirical findings from the current study suggest that consumer’s attitude toward mobile advertising from his or her previous experience is the most powerful predictor of intention to accept mobile advertising on smartphone. In addition, consumer perception of the smartphone as a compatible device that fits with individual life style and the social benefits of using a smartphone predict intention to accept mobile advertising among smartphone users.
Direct-to-consumer prescription drug websites for stigmatized illnesses • Hannah Kang, University of Florida; Soontae An, Ewha Womans University • Given the growing importance of Internet as a source of health information, this study evaluated whether DTC prescription drug websites for stigmatized illnesses contained stigma-reducing components. We examined the content of first-level and second-level web pages in 88 stand-alone websites for 15 different stigmatized conditions. Results showed that on the homepages, textual cues and visual cues were rarely offered, especially for onset controllability. On the second layer, 22.7 percent of websites offered the three components together. Onset controllability (52.3 percent) and recategorization (54.5 percent) were the more prevalent, while offset controllability (38.6 percent) was relatively less frequent. Implications of the finding were discussed from health theory perspectives.
Assessing Circumplex Model as an Alternative Approach for Measuring Brand Personality • Chang Won Choi, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies; Hyoungkoo Khang, University of Alabama; Yoo-Kyung Kim, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies • In responding to the limitations of the factor approach to brand personality, this study aims to suggest Circumplex model that demonstrates the correlations among the brand personality attributes. The results show that brand personality traits are related to each other in a highly systematic mode. Two dominant factors, activity and potency, were extracted and most brand personality attributes were evenly distributed around the circumference of these two dimensions. To some extents, thus, brand personality attributes are considered to be combinations of these two dimensions. In addition, the finding showed that brand personality items were identified into eight facets, youth, cheerfulness, warmheartedness, tradition, faithfulness, ascendancy, leadership and innovation. This study is expected to provide a theoretical foundation of brand personality studies, complement limitations of the five-factor model, and serve as a practical implication for creating varied brand related strategies in marketing and advertising. Applicability and implication of the findings as well as suggestions for further research are discussed.
When Does Green Advertising Work? — The Modertating Role of Product Type • Ying Kong, Towson University; Lingling Zhang • Using environmental appeals to promote products is a popular marketing technique. However, little is known about how the effectiveness of green appeals varies across different product categories. The purpose of this study is to examine whether and to what extent green appeals in advertising are effective and how that effectiveness differs between products with more vs. less environmental impact. Using the theoretical frameworks of ad-product fit hypothesis, our two product types (more harmful vs. less harmful) x two appeal types (green appeal vs. non-green appeal) experiment shows that ads with a green appeal are more effective for more-harmful products, whereas for less-harmful products, there is no significant difference between a green and a non-green appeal. Furthermore, cognitive response was found to mediate the interaction effect of green appeal and product type on ad persuasiveness. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Country-of-Origin Cues in Cross-Border Strategic Brand Alliance: How Do Advertisers Do it? • Jin Kyun Lee, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; Wei-Na Lee • This study explores the effects of cross-border strategic brand alliance (SBA) through two studies. A content analysis of magazines ad found that cross-border SBA was a dominant communication strategy. Follow-up experimental study confirmed that subjects in the low COO fit condition were more likely to recall partner brand’s product category and brand name than those in the high COO fit condition. Discussions and suggestions for future research in this area are provided.
Learning from the competition: Analysis of advertising appeals for healthy foods and unhealthy foods • Jung-Sook Lee, Towson University • Food advertising appeals are analyzed from 173 food advertisements found in 12 issues of People magazine from January through December 2008. Findings indicate that both taste appeals (30%) and emotional appeals (31%) are more common than nutritional appeals (22%). The other common appeals are new product appeals and convenience appeals. Taste appeals are dominant in food advertising for both healthy foods and unhealthy foods. Nutritional appeals are also found to a similar extent in ads for unhealthy foods as in ads for healthy foods. However, emotional appeals, are used more frequently in ads for unhealthy foods than in ads for healthy foods.
Combining Product Placements and Spot Advertising: Forward Encoding, Backward Encoding, and Image Activation Effects • Joerg Matthes, University of Zurich; Florence Horisberger • Although brand placements are frequently accompanied by traditional advertising in marketing campaigns, prior academic research has focused primarily on the distinct stand-alone effects of placements. In an experiment working with realistic audiovisual stimuli, the combined effects of product placements and TV spot advertising were examined. Three conditions involving the same target brand were created (placement-only, commercial-only, commercial-placement). Results revealed higher brand awareness for the placement-only and the placement-commercial condition compared to the commercial-only condition. It was also shown that exposure to a subsequent placement can enhance memory for the preceding commercial (backward encoding). However, exposure to a preceding commercial did not facilitate placement recall (forward encoding). Results also revealed that placements can strengthen brand images that were established by a preceding TV commercial (image activation). However, this effect was conditional on individuals’ persuasion knowledge. Implications of these findings for advertising campaigns are discussed.
Practitioner and Audience Attitudes toward Product Placement in Reality Television • Alex Walton, Cartoon Network; Barbara Miller, Elon University • As product placement continues to become a part of the television advertising landscape, television audiences are becoming more exposed to product placements and more aware of product placement as a persuasion tactic. Reality television, which represents a large percentage of the primetime television programming, provides an opportunity to present brand information in a context involving real events with real persona, perhaps limiting the activation of persuasion knowledge. Further, while including a brand name in a scripted show requires planning, capturing reality inevitably provides opportunities to place brand names into programming. This study examined product placements in reality television from multiple perspectives, including (1) in-depth interviews with network entertainment executives; and (2) a series of focus groups with audiences. The Persuasion Knowledge Model was applied as an analytic induction tool to analyze the findings for synthesis with existing literature. Implications for practitioners are discussed and a model of audience response to product placements and integrations is presented.
PKM: Changes in Millennials’ Experience with Media & Attitudes, Attention, and Coping Behaviors Regarding Advertisements Since 2004 • Jensen Moore-Copple, West Virginia University; Blair Dowler, West Virginia University; Kelley Crowley, West Virginia University • This study examines changing attitudes, attention, and avoidance of advertising as well as experience with different media for early (born between 1979 and 1987) vs. late (born between 1985 and 1993) millennials. The Persuasion Knowledge Model is used as a basis for understanding how audiences develop attitudes about persuasive attempts (e.g., advertising messages) and use this information to “”cope”” with future advertising interactions. This investigation extends work done by Speck & Elliot (1997) and Moore (2004) by comparing both traditional media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television) and the Internet. Using survey methodology, this research examines “”coping”” behaviors associated with exposure to today’s abundant advertising messages. Results suggest that between the five media, early vs. late millennials report very different attitudes toward advertising, attention to advertising, avoidance of advertising, and media usage. Implications for advertisers wishing to target millennials are discussed.
Direct-to-Consumer Antidepressant Advertising, Skepticism toward Advertising, and Consumers’ Optimistic Bias about the Future Risk of Depression • Jin Seong Park, University of Tennessee; Ilwoo Ju, University of Tennessee; kenneth eunhan kim, oklahoma state university • Although exposure to direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising is reported to influence the public’s beliefs about diseases, no research has investigated how DTC advertising may affect the extent of consumers’ optimistic bias about the future risk of diseases. Based on a survey with members of an online consumer panel (N = 699), the current study revealed that: (a) consumers exhibited a tendency to believe they were at less risk of developing clinical depression in the future than their peers, demonstrating an optimistic bias; (b) exposure to DTC antidepressant advertising acted to reduce the extent of such bias, especially when consumers were less skeptical towards prescription drug advertising. When consumers were highly skeptical, DTC exposure did not significantly relate to the extent of optimistic bias; and (c) once formed, the extent of optimistic bias negatively related to consumers’ intention to seek information about depression. Implications of the research for the theory and practice of DTC advertising were discussed.
Can You Say What You Feel? A Matter of “”Wearin”” for (Musical) Codes in Advertising • Caroline Johnson; Carson Wagner, Ohio University • Research has shown that viewers may have more negative explicit attitudes toward brands using advertising codes perceived as “”worn out,”” the presence of the code led to more positive implicit attitudes. This suggests the possibility of detecting wearin—wherein viewers engage the codes—using implicit measures. While viewers may express more positive explicit attitudes toward a brand that has replaced the codes with new ones, implicit attitudes may be more negative in response to the new code.
Effects of Emotion and Interface Design on Mobile Advertising Effectiveness among Chinese College Students • wenjing xie, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Yunze Zhao, Renmin University of China; Wenya Xie • This study examines the effect of emotional appeals and the interface design of mobile devices on people’s emotional reaction to attitude towards mobile ads as well as their purchase intention of the advertised products. A survey with 442 college students in Beijing shows that emotional appeal as a whole predicts all three dependent variables. Interface design factors of hand-held device, especially screen size, also predict attitude and purchase intention. Moreover, the ubiquitous feature, interface friendliness and advertisement size influence attention to mobile Internet ads. People’s emotional reaction to mobile ads can also predict their attitude and purchase behavior.
Young American Consumers’ Social Media Use, Online Privacy Concerns, Trust, Risk, and Support for Advertising Regulation • Hongwei Yang, Appalachian State University • A web survey study of 422 American college students was conducted in October, 2010 to test a conceptual model of consumers’ regulatory support for social media advertising, built upon previous studies. It shows that consumers’ prior negative experience of online disclosure significantly increased their online privacy concerns that in turn elevated their perceived risks and undermined their trust of online companies, marketers and laws. Consumers’ heightened risks built up their support for government regulation of social media advertising while their trust enhanced their support for industry self-regulation. Interestingly, young consumers’ trust and perceived risk of online disclosure did not negatively influence their time spent on social networking and blogging websites. Implications for digital interactive marketers, government and self-regulatory agencies are discussed.
Predicting Reactions to Sex in Advertising: The Interplay of Emotional Arousal, Ethical Judgment, and Sexual Self-Schema on Responses to Sexual Content • Kyunga Yoo, University of Georgia; Hojoon Choi, University of Georgia; Tom Reichert, University of Georgia; Michael S. LaTour, University of Nevada Las Vegas; John B. Ford, Old Dominion University • Employing a large national sample, the current research examined how consumer’s emotional arousal and ethical judgment mediate between their sexual ad perception and ad response processes. Simultaneously, the influence of Sexual Self-Schema (SSS) on this mediating mechanism was also assessed. Findings show that consumers experience a conflict between their emotional arousal and ethical morality on processing sexual content in advertising, and SSS plays an important role in manipulating the extent of this conflict.
Effects of Purchasing Experience and Repeated Exposure to the Website on Online Customers’ Brand Relationship • Doyle Yoon, University of Oklahoma • This study examines the effects of prior purchase experience, Internet efficacy, and repeated exposure on consumers’ relationship with retailers, using data collected from an online survey of 802 respondents (465 for a web-based e-retailer version and 337 for a click-and-mortar retailer version). Three relationship quality constructs – trust, satisfaction, and commitment  are higher in respondents with prior purchasing experience and higher Internet efficacy. However, decreasing trends are found in all three constructs over repeated exposure to the Website. Belyne’s (1970) Two-Factor Theory is used to explain the decrease of relationship quality over repeated exposure. More implications are discussed.
To Help You or To Serve Myself? Exploring the Two Psychological Tendencies that Motivate Online Influentials to Communicate • Jie Zhang, University of Evansville; Wei-Na Lee • This paper describes a study in the psychology of eMavenism, the consumer tendency to acquire general marketplace information from the Internet and become especially involved in electronic word-of-mouth communication. The purpose of the study was to investigate empirically the associations between eMavenism and two important psychological tendencies, altruism and status seeking. The findings support the notion that eMavenism is driven by both other-regarding concern and self-serving interest. Furthermore, the relationship between altruism and eMavenism was found to be negatively moderated by revealing true identity online. Revealing true identity online did not significantly impact the relationship between status seeking and eMavenism. These findings enrich the knowledge of the psychology of eMavenism, improve the concept of eMavenism, and suggest some motivations for engaging in eMavenism. Practically, advertising strategies can be fine-tuned to appeal more effectively to eMavens by satisfying their psychological tendencies.
Am I Really Doing It For Your Benefit? Exploring Social and Personal Motivations for Providing Positive versus Negative Electronic Word-of-Mouth • Jie Zhang, University of Evansville; Wei-Na Lee • This paper describes a study examining whether social and personal motivations affect presenting positive versus negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) similarly or differently. Altruism, consumer self-confidence—social outcome decision making, and personal innovativeness for Web were selected to represent social, social-personal, and personal motivations for eWOM giving. The findings support that all three motivations are important driving forces for eWOM provision in general. In particular, the social-personal motivation, consumer self-confidence—social outcome decision making, was significantly more associated with positive than negative eWOM giving. Advertisers need to incorporate themes linked to this motivation in their campaigns in order to get more “”good”” word from consumers. Both altruism and personal innovativeness for Web affected providing pleasant versus unpleasant product information similarly. Advertisers need to monitor these two motivations when consumers form negative impressions concerning a product. The findings expand the knowledge of social and personal motivations for providing eWOM and improve the theoretical understanding of the relationship between motivations and the type of eWOM presented.
Risk, Realism, and Responsibility in Beer Commercials • Lara Zwarun • When exposed to beer commercials that creatively circumvent the spirit of self-regulatory advertising guidelines by juxtaposing drinking with risky physical activities, participants who drink alcohol perceived them as more realistic than non-drinkers did. The Message Information Processing (MIP) model is applied to illustrate how this perceived realism is part of logical mental processing that reinforces drinking beliefs and behaviors. Drinkers also found the commercials more responsible than non-drinkers, despite some participants believing they had seen people engaging in risky activities while under the influence. A commercial featuring designated driving was viewed as less realistic by drinkers; open-ended comments reveal this may be because in their experience, the use of designated drivers is rare.
Teaching Papers
Consumer Insights, Clients, and Capstone Campaigns Courses: Teaching Research in Advertising Curricula • Danielle Coombs, Kent State University • Evidence suggests that teaching research to undergraduate advertising students can be one of the most challenging roles an advertising faculty member will undertake. Unlike classes in copywriting, media planning, or account management, students often fail to see the connection between the course content and their eventual careers. This disconnect is exacerbated by fears and anxiety surrounding the topics of statistics (and its often equally disliked sibling, mathematics in general). Evidence indicates that some students chose advertising over marketing majors in part because of the reduced math requirements, and—for many—research classes are explicitly linked to these dreaded areas. Despite these challenges, research remains core component for most advertising curricula. This research is designed to understand how research currently is taught and the perceived value of teaching research in a contemporary advertising program, both in terms of individual, specific research-centered classes and as a component of strategy- or campaigns-driven courses. Within that context, we also explore how experiential learning (operationalized for our purposes as client-based projects) can be utilized to better support objectives associated with teaching research to undergraduate advertising students.
Is diversity “”non-existent”” or a “”non-issue?””: Preliminary results from a thematic analysis ascertaining how educators define diversity in advertising • Laurie Phillips • In the past four decades, diversity has been the subject of heated debate on Madison Avenue and within the halls of the academy alike. Within the ad industry, diversity has been the catalyst for lawsuits concerning employment discrimination, vitriol about monocultural representations within ad messaging, and frequent trade press coverage of America’s changing demographics. Building upon this information, this study reports on qualitative data from an on-going nationwide survey assessing educators’ attitudes toward teaching about diversity in advertising. Reviewing nearly 300 responses to the query “”how do you define diversity in advertising?”” from educators at both accredited and unaccredited institutions, the study includes feedback from those who are rarely surveyed: educators in ad programs housed both inside and outside of schools of journalism and mass communication.
Why Students Major in Advertising • Ron Taylor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • A total of 145 essays written by students seeking admission to an advertising degree program at a major Southeastern university were examined for student motivation for pursuing an advertising major. All essays for three academic years, each five years apart, were selected to maximize the opportunity to find differences. The essays were submitted in the academic years 1997-98 (46 essays), 2002-03 (38 essays), and 2007-08 (61 essays). The opportunity to express one’s creativity ability is the primary reason students are attracted to advertising.
Professional Freedom & Responsibility (PF&R) Papers
Job Satisfaction Among Minority Advertising Professionals: An Update • Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University; Alice Kendrick, Southern Methodist University • This paper partially replicated and updated a study of job satisfaction among minority advertising graduates honored through a national program. In the current study, responses from alumni of the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Minority Students in Advertising from the years 2006-2010 were compared with results from a similar study of alumni from 1997-2005. In the current study, overall job satisfaction for those working in advertising was on the positive side of neutral but significantly lower than alumni who did not work in advertising. Minority advertising professionals were most satisfied with their co-workers and least satisfied with their compensation. Salary was positively correlated with job satisfaction, as was the presence of a professional mentor. Verbatim responses about employment challenges described a steep learning curve for recent graduates who joined the workforce. Implications for industry and academic programs are discussed.
Special Topics Papers
Dealing with Conflicting Health Messages: A Qualitative Study of College Students’ Understandings of Tanning and Skin Cancer Prevention Advertising Messages • Ho-Young (Anthony) Ahn, U of Tennessee; Stephanie Kelly, University of Tennessee; Lei Wu, University of Tennessee; Eric Haley, U of Tennessee • The aim of the current study was to explore how college students make sense of conflicting health messages in relation to tanning in an advertising context. In-depth interviews with 30 college students revealed a certain degree of conflict between advertising message claims, their beliefs and feelings toward the messages. Self-resolution strategies such as problem-solving, compromising and avoiding emerged. Suggestions and implications for health promotion practitioners were provided in terms of advertising skepticism, advertising moderation, credible message sources in advertising and a gap between attitude and behavior.
Maximizing Optimization: A Small Business Owner Confronts SEM (A Case Study In Search Engine Marketing) • Martine Beachboard, Idaho State University • A New England auto mechanic launches an online specialty auto parts shop and considers how best to market it: through pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, or a combination. He seeks advice from a professional web consulting firm and examines their proposal for three levels of analysis and support. This teaching case offers a relevant and detailed example to supplement textbook coverage of search engine marketing. It is designed to promote class discussion and critical problem solving.
Connecting Virtual World Perception to Real World Consumption: Chinese Female White-Collar Professionals’ Interpretation of Product Placement in SNSs • Huan Chen; Eric Haley, U of Tennessee • A phenomenology study reveals the lived meanings of product placement in social network sites (SNSs) among Chinese female white-collar professional users through an investigation of a newly launched SNS, Happy Network. In total, 15 face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect data. Findings indicated that participants’ interpretations of product placement were interrelated with the socially constructed meanings of the SNS, participants’ social role of white-collar professionals, and consumer culture of contemporary Chinese society. In particular, the socially constructed meanings of product placement in the context of SNS are jutisfying the existence, connecting to the real world, noticing the familiar, insinuating brand image, and linking to consumption.
“The Other Hangover””: A Case Study in Implementing and Evaluating an Anti-Binge Drinking Advertising Campaign • Nathan Gilkerson, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities; Michelle Gross; Andrea Ahneman • The Other Hangover is an award-winning anti-binge drinking advertising campaign created by students and launched on the University of Minnesota campus in the fall of 2010. Undergraduates led development and implementation of the campaign, and multiple surveys were designed to evaluate the impact and success of the project. Following an overview of the research and creative strategy behind the campaign, a summary of the evaluation results — including both quantitative and qualitative data — is presented.
Exploring the Effects of External Brand Placement on Game Players’ Processing of In-Game Brand • Eunice Kim, The University of Texas at Austin; Matthew Eastin, The University of Texas at Austin • There are many branded game-related products, which we call as external brands. This study explores the effects of external brand experience during game play on players’ processing of in-game brand. Results reveal that the in-game brand is better recalled by players experiencing an identical external brand to the in-game brand than players experiencing no external brand or a competing brand. Brand memory was greater for the competing external brand than the in-game brand.
The Cat Herder: The Role and Function of the Agency Creative Director • Karen Mallia, University of South Carolina; Kasey Windels, DePaul University; Sheri Broyles, University of North Texas • While creativity is the lifeblood of the advertising agency, little is known about the role of the creative director in guiding the creative process. This exploratory research aims to uncover the role of the creative director as perceived by agency creatives. Utilizing quasi-ethnographic methods, this research is based on data from six agencies. Findings suggest successful creative directors are transformational leaders with many roles, including brand steward, culture builder, and champion of creative teams.
Channeling the Spirit of IMC: Analysis of the Context and Conditions that Underscore Integrated Marketing Communication • Brian Smith • Integrated marketing communication (IMC) has been discussed as both a process and a concept. On the one hand it is mechanical, through message and image matching, channel management, and measurement. On the other hand, it is also conceptual, based on a unique organizing philosophy that underscores communication mechanics. The latter, which can be termed “”the spirit”” of integration, has received little attention in the literature in spite of its influence on communication. This study outlines the organizational variables that underscore integration, including informal processes and social interactions, which facilitate the mechanics of integration. Results provide theoretical insight and progress integrated communication theory beyond the current emphasis on mechanics to co-creational and socially-constructed considerations in communication integration.
Extending TPB and TAM to Mobile Viral Marketing: A Cross-cultural Study of Young American and Chinese Consumers’ Attitude, Intent and Behavior • Hongwei Yang, Appalachian State University; Liuning Zhou, Center for the Digital Future, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California • A web survey of 440 American college students was conducted in April, 2010 and a paper survey of 835 Chinese college students was administered in May, June and October, 2010 to validate the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Technology Acceptance Model in predicting young American and Chinese young consumers’ mobile viral marketing attitude, intention and behavior. Structural model testing results confirmed the chain of mobile viral marketing attitude to intent to actual behavior. Subjective norm, behavioral control, perceived utility, and perceived cost predicted their attitude toward viral marketing. Their attitude and perceived utility predicted their viral marketing intent while their intent and attitude predicted the actual behavior. The implications for the industry and academia were discussed.
Student Papers
Advertising Images of Gender and Race Portrayed in Sports Illustrated Kids, 2000-2009 • Ashley Furrow, Ohio University • Gender and racial discrimination in sport remains rampant, and sports media continue as a leading arena for the reproduction of dominant, traditional images of gender and race and of inequality between the sexes and races (Sage, 1990; Smith, 2007). This study conducted a content analysis of advertising images (N=1,490) in Sports Illustrated Kids to determine whether these visual images reflect actual participation rates in athletic competition based on gender and race and whether the number of images of women in the magazine has increased during the magazine’s second decade of publication, 2000 to 2009. This study found that women and racial minorities continue to be vastly underrepresented within the magazine’s advertising pages. Photographs featuring men were found to vastly outnumber those featuring women in SIK advertising photographs by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1 (79.7% to 20.3%). As far as a racial difference, African, Asian, and Hispanic models are still fighting for representation in the magazine with only 27.8% depicted in advertising images.
Examining the Influences of Online Comments on Viewers’ Perceptions of Corporate Advertising on YouTube • Jiran Hou, The University of Georgia; Hojoon Choi, University of Georgia • This study examines the impact of the co-appearance of online peer comments and corporate advertising on online viewers’ attitudes toward the ad, claim believability and attitudes toward the brand. The findings show that the impacts of online peer comments on ad processing and attitudes varied depending on the comment valences and individuals’ previous attitude toward the brand. Negative comments were more influential than positive comments in affecting viewers’ claim believability, attitude toward the ad and attitude toward the brand. Viewers with negative prior brand attitudes were hardly influenced by any types of peer comments, and viewers with positive prior brand attitudes were more easily influenced by negative comments.
The influence of fear appeal on persuasion effects for skin cancer public service announcements (PSAs) according to fear message framing and fear type • Hannah Kang, University of Florida • This study examined the impact of fear message framing and fear type in fear appeal on the persuasion effect of skin cancer public service announcement (PSA). To examine persuasion effects, this study used attitude toward advertising, attitude toward using tanning beds and sunbathing, and behavioral intention as the dependent variable. The experiment was designed by a 2 (message framing: positive message/negative message) X 2 (fear type: health risk/ social risk) factorial design between-subjects experimental design. Results indicated that the main effect of fear type was found on the attitude toward advertising. Moreover, there was significant interaction between fear message framing and fear type not only on the attitude toward using tanning beds or sunbathing, but also on behavioral intention. Implications and limitations of the findings were discussed.
Goal Theories and Attention to Online Banner Advertisements • Dae-Hee Kim, University of Florida • Drawing upon several findings from goal theories in cognitive psychology, the present study investigates a potential mechanism about how consumers process online banner advertising. Two online experiments with simulated web pages revealed that consumer’s goals could determine the attention to online banner advertising. More specifically, the first study showed that subjects paid more attention to the banner stimuli that was relevant to their primed goal. In the second study, subjects attended more to banner advertising on the webpage where they completed the goal-directed tasks rather than on a webpage where their tasks were ongoing. Implications and directions for future research are extensively discussed.
Boys will be Boys: An Analysis of the Male Image in Advertising over the Past 60 Years • Katherine Krauss, Manhattan College • This paper examines conceptions of masculinity, commercialization of personal hygiene, and the formation of the American male identity in order to create a general foundation of understanding as to why masculinity is perceived in the way that it is and why advertisers sell the way that they do to men. Focusing on the advertising efforts of Proctor & Gamble’s beauty and grooming product, Old Spice, this paper analyzes the commonalities and differences of theme and content in advertisements of the 1950s and 2000s. This paper discusses the advertised messages being conveyed to the 18- to 36-year old age demographic in both decades, where each ad is examined for the cultural values it represents and markets to men. Using a textural analysis approach, each advertisement is examined in its wording and image to highlight the representation of hegemonic ideals, namely, sex, pleasure-seeking, and reputation. This in-depth analysis of the Old Spice campaigns allows this paper to identify that the image of the young macho-man lifestyle has been strongly static throughout American history, mirroring and perpetuating the hegemonic male ideal.
The influence of relevance and emotional appeals in public service ads on attitudes and behavioral intentions toward global climate change • Supathida Kulpavaropas • This study examines the main and interactive effects of two emotional appeals (happy and fear) in public service advertisements and the degree to which this topic is assessed as relevant on people’s attitudes and behavioral intention toward global climate change. The results of an experiment showed that participants with high issue relevance reported more positive attitude toward global climate change and more positive behavioral intention when they viewed an ad with a happy vs. fearful appeal.
Effects of Message Involvement and the Tone of Reviews on Facebook:Perceived Credibility, Attitude toward the Ad and Brand • Jinhyon Kwon, University of Florida; Ji Young Kim • This study examines how the Facebook brand page environment, where advertisements and consumer reviews coexist, affects consumers’ attitudes toward the advertisement and the brand. A 2 x 3 experiment manipulated the level of ad message involvement and the tone of online reviews. Results suggest that the tone of online reviews affects consumers’ perceptions of review credibility. Furthermore, an ad message involvement and the review tone interaction emerged for attitude toward the brand.
Effects of Fair Trade Label, Consumers’ Social Responsibility, and Message Framing on Attitudes and Behavior • Seul Lee • This study explored the effectiveness of a Fair Trade certified label, differences of personal social responsibility, and the message framing through an online experiment. The findings indicated that more socially concerned group manifested more positive attitudes and purchase intention than less socially concerned group and that gain-framed messages had a more positive impact than did loss-framed messages. However, this study failed to present that a Fair Trade certified label generated more positive impact.
Effectiveness of blog advertising: Impact of message sidedness, communicator expertise, and advertising intent • Hyun-Ji Lim; Jin Sook Im; Yoo Jin Chung, University of Florida • This study attempts to examine how three factors — message sidedness, communicator expertise, and advertising intent of blog messages — can affect the perception of the message recipients regarding the credibility of the message, improve their attitudes toward the product or the brand reviewed, and provoke changes in their intended behavior. A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial experiment was designed. The experiment involved stimulus material in the form of a blog post, which was modified according to the treatment factors of message sidedness (one-sided vs. refutational two-sided), communicator expertise (high vs. low), and advertising intent (explicit vs. implicit). 388 data sets were collected. This study concluded that a one-sided message was found to be more effective than a refutational two-sided message for blog advertising. Communicator expertise is an important factor while advertising intent was not. This study suggested additional findings related to gender difference.
What Path, Advertising Framing? Tracing the Travels of Framing Through the Advertising Journals, 1996-2010. • Carmen Maye, University of South Carolina • Frame analysis in advertising journals is examined between 1996 and 2010. Included are Advertising & Society Review, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising and Journal of Interactive Advertising. Frame analysis appears to be gaining traction in the advertising literature. That advertising journals have more slowly embraced framing research than their communications counterparts may owe to inherent differences between news content and advertising.
From Unspeakable to Homosexual to Gay to LGBT: The Evolution of Research on Marketing’s Most Controversial Market Segment • Laurie Phillips • For nearly two decades, collectively the trade press, LGBT marketing firms, tremendous ad expenditure growth in LGBT publications, the explosion of LGBT-targeted, ad-supported media outlets, and strong buying power figures have justified the existence of an LGBT market. Through an in-depth literature review of over 75 five pieces of peer-reviewed advertising and marketing scholarship, this study addresses how scholars have studied the market. In addition to providing one of the most extensive literature reviews on the topic to date, this study provides researchers with a roadmap for future research.
The Effects of Using “”Real Women”” In Advertising • Amber Remke, Oklahoma State University • Are advertisements that use more realistic models as effective as those that use “”ideal”” models? This study seeks to answer that question using an experimental design to determine whether there is a difference in how females will respond to ads featuring an “”ideal”” model or a more realistic model and whether body-esteem or self-esteem are moderating variables. Results show that regardless of high or low body- or self-esteem, the women surveyed preferred the ad featuring the more realistic model. This study has important implications for providing a greater understanding of how media affects self-image, as well as the implications of these unrealistic standards and how they impact a consumer’s attitudes toward advertising. This study also has important implications for American women with an unrealistic image of true beauty. If advertisements focused on portraying more realistic models, American females’ perception of beauty could possibly shift away from an unattainable ideal to a more realistic vision of beauty.
Trappist or Tropist? The Monastic Brewing Heritage and Its Effect on Perceptions of Product Authenticity and Intentions to Purchase • Susan Sarapin, Purdue University; Christine Spinetta, Purdue University • This study explored perceived authenticity of a beer brewed by monks in a monastery and four inauthentic beers, measured on respondents’ awareness of the “”real”” beer’s heritage, and what influence that knowledge has on intentions to buy it. The heritage narrative had a significant effect on authenticity ratings and purchase intentions. Respondents’ religious preferences had no effect on the dependent variable. The study has implications for the marketing of Trappist and inauthentic, abbey-style beers.
Signaling Theory and Its Role in Branding University Contract Training Programs • Shelley Stephens, University of South Alabama • Academic outreach divisions (AOD) within institutions provide open enrollment and contract training. Often surrounding businesses are unaware of this resource, despite holding the institution’s name in high regard through association sets and frequency. The unawareness creates information asymmetry for AODs according to the Signaling Theory. Larger association sets and frequency of encounters with the institution’s brand name deepens implicit memory encoding. This quantitative study found that feelings for the institution transfers to other divisions AODs are cobranded.
Verbal Claims and Graphical Features on Toddler Food Packaging: Advertising “”Healthy”” Products • Chan Le Thai, University of California, Santa Barbara • Advertising features, verbal and graphic, on food packages and labels can convey a wealth of information to consumers, including whether the product is healthy. A content analysis was conducted to investigate how often certain health-implying front-of-package features appear on packages of toddler snack foods. Five undergraduate coders coded 68 products for health claims, nutrient claims, ingredient claims, and graphics. Ingredient claims and graphics of potential ingredients were identified and cross-referenced with the ingredient list on the back of the package. The data revealed that almost all of the packages used the coded features: 82% of the sample featured nutrient claims; 52% featured health claims; 97% included graphical depictions and 66% of those graphics were possible ingredients in the product; and 86% featured ingredient claims. Of all the products that contained an ingredient claim or graphics of a potential ingredient, the ingredient used in the claim or graphical feature was present in the ingredient list, but the ingredient was rarely the first ingredient on the list and was often in a non-conventional form, such as a puree, a powder, flavor, or color. The findings from this study provide a foundation of knowledge that may guide future research and policies related to package advertising and labeling.
Use of Culturally Meaningful Symbols or Iconographies in Gay-Themed Ads • Nam-Hyun Um • This study examines the characteristics of gay-themed ads, focusing on culturally meaningful symbols and iconographies, in gay magazines (specifically The Advocate, Out, and Curve). In recent years, advertising scholars and practitioners have grown more interested in how gay-themed ads influence gay consumers and non-gay consumers. In gay-themed ads, advertisers employ culturally meaningful symbols or iconographies as part of an effort to not alienate non-gay consumers. Gay-themed advertising, however, has yet to be deeply analyzed in terms of creativity or consumer reactions. Hence, Study 1 examines the characteristics of gay-themed ads using content analysis of gay-targeted magazines (The Advocate, Out, and Curve). As a follow up study, Study 2 assesses consumers’ responses to gay-themed ads. The study, using implicit and explicit gay-themed ads, gathers reactions from straight and gay participants. We go on to clarify the findings’ implications, discuss some concerns raised over gay-themed ads, and suggest directions for future research.
What should I eat today? An exploration of how college-aged females use different media platforms to influence food decisions • Mari Luz Zapata Ramos, University of Florida • This study sought to assess if and how college-aged females use smart phones and other informational sources to make or influence food related decisions. A survey administered to 365 female college students revealed that respondents use smart phones to influence food decisions. Four focus groups were conducted using survey participants with the required characteristics. Dominant reasons for using a range of informational sources to influence food decisions were identified.
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