Ann Kronrod

Go Green! Should Environmental Messages Be So Assertive?

Environmental communications often contain assertive commands, even though research in consumer behavior, psycholinguistics, and communications has repeatedly shown that gentler phrasing is more effective when seeking consumer compliance. This article shows that the persuasiveness of assertive language depends on the perceived importance of the issue at hand: Recipients respond better to pushy requests in domains that they view as important, but they need more suggestive appeals when they lack initial conviction. The authors examine this effect in three laboratory studies and one field experiment using Google AdWords. Their findings refer to various environmental contexts (i.e., economizing water, recycling plastic containers, reducing air and sea pollution). The key implication of these findings is that issue importance needs to be carefully assessed (or affected) before the language of effective environmental campaigns can be selected.

Weapons of Mass Distraction: Optimal Innovation and Pleasure Ratings

In 6 experiments we test the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis, according to which an optimally innovative stimulus, such that induces a novel response while allowing for the recovery of a salient one (Giora, 1997b, 2003), would be rated as more pleasing than either a more or a less familiar stimulus. Experiment 1 shows that it is the stimulus that meets the requirements for optimal innovativeness that is most pleasurable. Reading times obtained in Experiment 2 support the assumption that the stimuli found most pleasurable involve processing a salient meaning. Experiment 3 corroborates the results of Experiment 1 and Experiment 2, showing that they also hold for identical (rather than different) stimuli. Experiment 4 controls for the possibility that the lengthy reading times found earlier might reflect lack of understanding. Experiment 5 shows that optimal innovation supersedes figurativity. Experiment 6 demonstrates that the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis applies to nonverbal stimuli as well.

Wii will rock you! The use and effect of figurative language in consumer reviews of hedonic and utilitarian consumption.

Figurative language in advertising affects product attitudes positively across contexts. In contrast, the present research demonstrates that the use and effectiveness of figurative language in consumer-generated content is context specific, because of conversational norms unique to this form of communication. Study 1 shows that consumer reviews containing more figurative language lead to more favorable attitudes in hedonic, but not utilitarian, consumption contexts, and that conversational norms about figurative language govern this effect. Study 2 reveals that reading a review containing figurative language increases choice of hedonic over utilitarian options. Finally, via analysis of online consumer reviews and a lab experiment, studies 3 and 4 indicate that consumers use figurative language more when sharing experiences about hedonic than utilitarian consumption, and that review extremity influences figurative language use only in reviews of hedonic consumption. The studies highlight the critical role of conversational norms in interpreting and creating user-generated content.

Enjoy! Hedonic Consumption and Compliance with Assertive Messages

This paper examines the persuasiveness of assertive language (as in Nike’s slogan “Just do it”) as compared to nonassertive language (as in Microsoft’s slogan “Where do you want to go today?”). Previous research implies that assertive language should reduce consumer compliance. Two experiments show that assertiveness is more effective in communications involving hedonic products, as well as hedonically advertised utilitarian products. This prediction builds on sociolinguistic research addressing relationships between mood, communication expectations, and compliance to requests. A third experiment reaffirms the role of linguistic expectations by showing that an unknown product advertised using assertive language is more likely to be perceived as hedonic.

Is the Devil in the Details

Abstract Numerical information is an important feature in green advertising claims. In four experiments, the authors examine the extent to which numerical precision signals the competence of an advertised company. The results suggest that consumers who are low in advertising skepticism tend to perceive the advertised company as more competent when presented with precise numbers, which are considered more informative and scientific. Highly skeptical consumers are less likely to be affected by numerical precision. Furthermore, the moderation effect of advertising skepticism can be mitigated by consumer topic knowledge about the advertised environmental issue: Highly skeptical but less knowledgeable consumers are also susceptible to numerical precision.

Accessibility theory and referring expressions in newspaper headlines

In any spoken or written, visual or auditory discourse the speaker must enable the addressee to identify the entities mentioned in the text by using appropriate referring expressions. A speaker who uses a definite referring expression, presupposes that a mental representation of the entity being referred to exists in the addressees mind (Prince, 1978). In this research we examined patterns of referring in various Israeli daily newspaper headlines according to accessibility theory (Ariel, 1988, 1990). We focused on headlines, relying on Jucker (1996) in assuming that the headline is a unit, separate from the news item itself. The research examined two kinds of daily newspapers: one is sold out in kiosks on the street, and the other is a subscription paper. In addition we distinguished between various sections within the newspapers. These types form different sub-genres within the journalist genre (Fox, 1987). The genre hypothesis would have been confirmed by findings showing consistent genre-related referential patterns (Bell, 1991). The results of this study clearly showed that the Accessibility scale is not influenced by genre differences in newspapers. However, the results also showed that accessibility considerations do not exclusively determine referential form. As argued by Ariel (1990: Part III), other, possibly conflicting factors, intervene, so that the resulting referential pattern may deviate from the expected accessibility pattern in predicable ways. In headlines, we suggest, brevity and curiosity-arousal encourage the preference for accessibility markers, which mark a higher degree of accessibility than accessibility theory would have predicted.

Does Sparing the Rod Spoil the Child? How Praising, Scolding, and an Assertive Tone Can Encourage Desired Behaviors

In search of effective ways to encourage consumers to follow desired behaviors such as healthy eating, recycling, or financial planning, marketers sometimes use praise (e.g., “You are doing great”) and sometimes use scolding (e.g., “You are not doing enough”). However, the effectiveness of each approach in triggering behavior is not clear. A possible reason for the mixed results in this area is that it is not only what one says that matters but also how one says it: praising and scolding can be performed with a more or less assertive tone. This research introduces assertiveness as a moderator that can explain when praising or scolding would be more effective. Two field experiments in the context of hand hygiene and financial planning demonstrate that when communicators praise consumers, an assertive tone may be more effective in encouraging behavior, whereas scolding requires a nonassertive tone. The authors then replicate these field findings in a controlled laboratory experiment, which also provides click rates as an actual behavioral outcome.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Water Conservation Campaign: Combining Experimental and Field Methods

a Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa 39105, Israel b D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA c Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands d Faculty Affiliate Cognitive Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1212, USA e The Federmann School of Public Policy and Government, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel