Brett Martin

THE INFLUENCE OF AD MODEL ETHNICITY AND SELF-REFERENCING ON ATTITUDES : Evidence from New Zealand

This paper examines consumer self-referencing as a mechanism for explaining ethnicity effects in advertising. Data was collected from a 2 (model ethnicity: Asian, white) ´ 2 (product stereotypicality: stereotypical, nonstereotypical) experiment. Measured independent variables included participant ethnicity and self-referencing. Results show that (1) Asians exhibit greater self-referencing of Asian models than do whites; (2) self-referencing mediates ethnicity effects on attitudes (i.e., attitude toward the model, attitude toward the ad, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions); (3) high-self-referencing Asians have more favorable attitude toward the ad and purchase intentions than low-self-referencing Asians; and (4) Asian models advertising atypical products generate more self-referencing and more favorable attitudes toward the model, Aad, and purchase intentions from both Asians and whites.

Using the Imagination: Consumer Evoking and Thematizing of the Fantastic Imaginary

This article explores the process by which consumers evoke and thematize the fantastic imaginary when playing a fantasy-based trading card game. Interviews with 15 informants, all players of Magic: The Gathering, serve as data. The result is a new framework that reveals how the fantastic imaginary is evoked and thematized. A typology of thematizing strategies employed by consumers is also presented. Implications are discussed in relation to consumer research, imagination theory, literary theory of the evoked fantastic imaginary, and the imaginary in play.

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.

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 persons 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.

Temporal Construal in Advertising

In two experiments, we study how the temporal orientation of consumers (i.e., future-oriented or present-oriented), temporal construal (distant future, near future), and product attribute importance (primary, secondary) influence advertisement evaluations. Data suggest that future-oriented consumers react most favorably to ads that feature a product to be released in the distant future and that highlight primary product attributes. In contrast, present-oriented consumers prefer near-future ads that highlight secondary product attributes. Study 2 shows that consumer attitudes are mediated by perceptions of attribute diagnosticity (i.e., the perceived usefulness of the attribute information). Together, these experiments shed light on how individual differences, such as temporal orientation, offer valuable insights into temporal construal effects in advertising.

The interaction of message framing and felt involvement in the context of cell phone commercials

Investigates the relationship between print advertisement wording and consumer interest in relation to cell phone promotion. Reports on an experiment involving two independent variables: message framing and felt involvement levels. Shows how these variables interact regarding attitudes towards cell phones for a New Zealand sample. These findings provide new insights as well as support for previous empirical research. Discusses theoretical and managerial implications and directions for future research.

If Kate voted Conservative, would you?: The role of celebrity endorsements in political party advertising

Purpose – This research has been conducted with the aim of determining if celebrity endorsers in political party advertising have a significant impact on UK voter intentions. The use of celebrity endorsements is commonplace in the USA, but little is known about its effects in the UK. This research also aims to incorporate the use of celebrity endorsements in political party advertising with the political salience construct. Political salience represents how prominent politics and political issues are in the minds of the eligible voter.Design/methodology/approach – A 2 (endorser: celebrity; non‐celebrity)×2 (political salience: high; low) between‐subjects factorial design experiment was used. The results show that celebrity endorsements do play a significant role in attitudes towards the political advert, attitudes towards the endorser and voter intention. However, this effect is significantly moderated by political salience.Findings – The results show that low political salience respondents were significa...

A Stranger's Touch: Effects of Accidental Interpersonal Touch on Consumer Evaluations and Shopping Time

This article examines an unexplored area of consumer research—the effect of accidental interpersonal touch (AIT) from a stranger on consumer evaluations and shopping times. The research presents a field experiment in a retail setting. This study shows that men and women who have been touched by another consumer when examining products report more negative brand evaluations, negative product beliefs, less willingness to pay, and spend less time in-store than their control (no-touch) counterparts. Our findings indicate that the AIT effect is especially negative for touch from a male stranger for both men (same-sex touch) and women (opposite-sex touch). Directions are provided for future study that highlight potential moderators and process explanations underlying the AIT effect.

Planned or Impulse Purchases? How to Create Effective Infomercials

ABSTRACT Conventional wisdom suggests that most purchases made from infomercials - 30-minute direct-response television advertisements - are made on impulse. However, this study of 878 infomercial purchasers of six products from a major international infomercial marketer indicates that the majority of purchase decisions involved some degree of planning rather than simply being made on the spur of the moment. Factors influencing whether a purchase was an impulse or planned decision included: comments by experts, demonstrations, the levels of previous product interest, pre-purchase thinking about the product, and prior exposure to the advertisement, as well as the number of infomercials viewed by consumers. Having children aged between 10 and 14 years old also had an influence.

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.