Conclusion explicitness in advertising: The moderating role of need for cognition (NFC) and argument quality (AQ) on persuasion

Previous research into the use of explicit and implicit conclusions in advertising has yet to demonstrate consistent effects for both brand attitudes and purchase intentions. While research has examined the role of involvement, this study contributes by examining the trait called need for cognition (NFC), which addresses a person’s propensity to engage in effortful thinking. In addition, this study introduces argument quality (AQ) as another potential moderator of conclusion explicitness effects. In a 2 × 2 experiment of 261 subjects, conclusion explicitness (explicit conclusion, implicit conclusion) and AQ (strong, weak) are manipulated, with NFC (high NFC, low NFC) as a third measured variable. Results indicate more favorable evaluations for implicit conclusions over explicit conclusions for high-NFC individuals. Further, implicit conclusions result in more favorable brand attitudes and purchase intentions when linked with strong AQ for high-NFC individuals. The findings confirm that conclusion explicitness does not differentially affect the evaluations of low-NFC subjects. Results suggest that NFC may represent an important moderating variable for future conclusion explicitness research.

Email advertising : exploratory insights from Finland

Since the advent of the internet, much speculation has ensued regarding its tangible benefits to business. This article looks at the effectiveness of email advertising to promote information to consumers. Within this email promotion context, and using data from a survey of 838 female Finnish consumers of a major international cosmetics brand, we investigate consumer perceptions of email advertising. Specifically, within an exploratory research context we address two research questions: (1) What email advertising factors may influence visits to the company website? and (2) What email advertising factors may influence visits to a physical (i.e., bricks-and-mortar) company sales outlet? Results suggest that email advertisers should strive to generate emails that are perceived as useful. Useful emails appear to influence consumers to visit the store primarily to either buy the product or view the product firsthand, rather than visit the company website. However, as consumers could not buy the advertised products from the website, these findings should be regarded as preliminary. Factors influencing perceptions of email advertising usefulness are explored along with limitations and future research directions.

The influence of gender on mood effects in advertising

The main objective of this article is to study the impact of gender on mood effects in relation to attitude toward the ad and brand attitudes. Specifically, gender, mood state, and ad affective tone are posited to interact. Data from an experiment support two hypotheses predicting the most favorable combinations of mood and affective tone for males and females for attitude toward the ad. Findings also support previous research that female gender and sad moods, respectively, result in more detailed processing. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Infomercials and advertising effectiveness : an empirical study

Despite their increasing use by advertisers, little research has examined the effectiveness of infomercials. This study explores the influence of infomercial advertisement design elements, such as the use of customer testimonials or expert comments, and consumer characteristics, such as level of prior interest in the advertised product, upon perceptions of advertising effectiveness. With the assistance of the New Zealand division of an international infomercial marketer, we conducted a survey of consumers who had bought products in response to viewing an infomercial. Based on 878 respondents, our findings indicate that infomercial advertising is more effective when employing expert comments, testimonials, product demonstrations, the use of target market models, celebrity endorsers, product comparisons, and bonus offers. Age also impacted how consumers view infomercials, as did the type of product purchased.

The media and communications in Australia (3rd ed.)

Traditional media are under assault from digital technologies. Online advertising is eroding the financial basis of newspapers and television, demarcations between different forms of media are fading, and audiences are fragmenting. We can podcast our favourite radio show, data accompanies television programs, and we catch up with newspaper stories on our laptops. Yet mainstream media remain enormously powerful. The Media and Communications in Australia offers a systematic introduction to this dynamic field. Fully updated and revised to take account of recent developments, this third edition outlines the key media industries and explains how communications technologies are impacting on them. It provides a thorough overview of the main approaches taken in studying the media, and includes new chapters on social media, gaming, telecommunications, sport and cultural diversity. With contributions from some of Australia's best researchers and teachers in the field, The Media and Communications in Australia is the most comprehensive and reliable introduction to media and communications available. It is an ideal student text, and a reference for teachers of media and anyone interested in this influential industry.

Using self-referencing to explain the effectiveness of ethnic minority models in advertising

Advertising research has generally not gone beyond offering support for a positive effect where ethnic models in advertising are viewed by consumers of the same ethnicity. This study offers an explanation behind this phenomenon that can be useful to marketers using self-reference theory. Our experiment reveals a strong self-referencing effect for ethnic minority individuals. Specifically, Asian subjects (the ethnic minority group) self-referenced ads with Asian models more than white subjects (the ethnic majority group). However, this result was not evident for white subjects. Implications for academics and advertisers are discussed.

Daddies, assistants and foolsbdifferentiation of male representations in present-day advertising.

This paper explores the way men are represented in present-day advertising. Most gender related studies have concentrated in studying women in advertising and claim that men are still represented as the dominant gender and in more active, independent and functional roles than women. This paper asks whether this still holds for advertising in the beginning of 21st century. Many cultural changes may have broken the earlier stereotypes, for example changes in the family life, attitudes toward various sexual identities, concepts of masculinity and femininity, and changes in cultural style.

Emailing experts and novices : effects of knowledge, copy type and testimonials on email advertising effectiveness

In this article we examine how consumer knowledge and two aspects of email ad design (copy type and testimonial type) influence attitudes and purchase intentions. Results from a field experiment reveal differences between experts and novices in their responses to email advertising. Specifically, experts report more favorable evaluations for email advertising than novices. Experts also demonstrate a preference for expert testimonials, when exposed to attribute copy. Yet when benefits-only ad copy was used, experts are most influenced by novice testimonials. In contrast, novice consumers show no copy-testimonial preference. Expert testimonials are also more effective than novice testimonials for expert and novice consumers. We discuss the results with respect to theoretical contributions and managerial implications.

What do we really know about designing and evaluating road safety advertising? : current knowledge and future challenges

This paper provides much needed consolidation of the available evidence in relation to the design and evaluation of road safety advertising messages. Drawing upon current knowledge, the paper identifies some key challenges for improving both the persuasiveness of messages and the methods utilised to assess their effectiveness. The paper identifies some key message-related and individual difference factors, such as response efficacy, emotion, gender and involvement, which theoretical and empirical evidence has shown to be key determinants of message persuasiveness. In relation to message evaluation, the paper focuses upon research relating to the direct, persuasive role of advertising as opposed to evaluations of the combined effects of advertising and enforcement. The paper reviews methodological limitations of previous studies and gaps in existing knowledge that together limit the ability to draw accurate and comprehensive conclusions regarding message effectiveness. Overall, this paper provides a significant and timely review of what is currently known about road safety advertising design and evaluation.

Explaining International new venture internationalisation: an innovation adoption model

The increasing prevalence of International New Ventures (INVs) during the past twenty years has been highlighted by numerous studies (Knight and Cavusgil, 1996, Moen, 2002). International New Ventures are firms, typically small to medium enterprises, that internationalise within six years of inception (Oviatt and McDougall, 1997). To date there has been no general consensus within the literature on a theoretical framework of internationalisation to explain the internationalisation process of INVs (Madsen and Servais, 1997). However, some researchers have suggested that the innovation diffusion model may provide a suitable theoretical framework (Chetty & Hamilton, 1996, Fan & Phan, 2007).The proposed model was based on the existing and well-established innovation diffusion theories drawn from consumer behaviour and internationalisation literature to explain the internationalisation process of INVs (Lim, Sharkey, and Kim, 1991, Reid, 1981, Robertson, 1971, Rogers, 1962, Wickramasekera and Oczkowski, 2006). The results of this analysis indicated that the synthesied model of export adoption was effective in explaining the internationalisation process of INVs within the Queensland Food and Beverage Industry. Significantly the results of the analysis also indicated that features of the original I-models developed in the consumer behaviour literature, that had limited examination within the internationalisation literature were confirmed. This includes the ability of firms, or specifically decision-makers, to skip stages based om previous experience.

Explaining international new venture internationalisation : an innovation adoption mode

The increasing prevalence of International New Ventures (INVs) during the past twenty years has been highlighted by numerous studies (Knight and Cavusgil, 1996, Moen, 2002). International New Ventures are firms, typically small to medium enterprises, that internationalise within six years of inception (Oviatt and McDougall, 1997). To date there has been no general consensus within the literature on a theoretical framework of internationalisation to explain the internationalisation process of INVs (Madsen and Servais, 1997). However, some researchers have suggested that the innovation diffusion model may provide a suitable theoretical framework (Chetty & Hamilton, 1996, Fan & Phan, 2007).The proposed model was based on the existing and well-established innovation diffusion theories drawn from consumer behaviour and internationalisation literature to explain the internationalisation process of INVs (Lim, Sharkey, and Kim, 1991, Reid, 1981, Robertson, 1971, Rogers, 1962, Wickramasekera and Oczkowski, 2006). The results of this analysis indicated that the synthesied model of export adoption was effective in explaining the internationalisation process of INVs within the Queensland Food and Beverage Industry. Significantly the results of the analysis also indicated that features of the original I-models developed in the consumer behaviour literature, that had limited examination within the internationalisation literature were confirmed. This includes the ability of firms, or specifically decision-makers, to skip stages based om previous experience.

'Try hard' : Attitudes to advertising in online social networks

Advertising has recently entered many new spaces it does not fully understand. The rules that apply in traditional media do not always translate in new media environments. However, their low cost of entry and the availability of hard-to-reach target markets, such as Generation Y, make environments such as online social networking sites attractive to marketers. This paper accumulates teenage perspectives from two qualitative studies to identify attitudes towards advertising in online social network sites and develop implications for marketers seeking to advertising on social network sites.

Australian student reactions to U.S. tourism advertising : a test of advertising as public diplomacy

A study among Australian college students gauged their reactions to a television commercial produced for the U.S. Commerce Department to bolster sagging tourism numbers among international visitors. In addition to using traditional measures applied to tourism advertisements, the student also concluded items to measure attitudes toward the U.S. government and its people Pre- and post-viewing results indicated that while the Hollywood-movie-themed commercial was not well received by the Australian students as a tourism message, it did result in more favorable attitudes toward the U.S. government, though not the U.S. people. The findings lend partial support for the potential of tourism advertising efforts to exert a "bleed-over effect" in terms of their contributions to overall attitudes toward a country, regardless of whether viewers plan to visit the country whose travel advertisements they see.

Australian student reactions to US tourism advertising : a test of advertising as public diplomacy

A study among Australian college students gauged their reactions to a television commercial produced for the US Commerce Department to bolster sagging tourism numbers among international visitors. In additional to using traditional measures applied to tourism advertisements, the study also included items to measure attitudes toward the US government and its people. Pre- and post-viewing results indicated that although the Hollywood-movie-themes commercial was not well received by the Australian students as a tourism message, it did result in more favourable attitudes toward the US government, although not the US people. The findings lend partial support for the potential of tourism advertising efforts to exert a 'bleed-over effect' in terms of their contribution to overall attitudes toward a country, regardless of whether viewers plan to visit the country whose travel advertisements of which they see.