David W. Schumann

Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement

Undergraduates expressed their attitudes about a product after being exposed to a magazine ad under conditions of either high or low product involvement. The ad contained either strong or weak arguments for the product and featured either prominent sports celebrities or average citizens as endorsers. The manipulation of argument quality had a greater impact on attitudes under high than low involvement, but the manipulation of product endorser had a greater impact under low than high involvement. These results are consistent with the view that there are two relatively distinct routes to persuasion.

Predicting the Effectiveness of Different Strategies of Advertising Variation: A Test of the Repetition-Variation Hypotheses

Two strategies for varying the content of ads over repeated presentations are distinguished, and the effectiveness of these strategies are examined at two different levels of consumer motivation to process the ads. Consistent with the hypothesis, experiment 1 found that a cosmetic variation strategy (variation in nonsubstantive features of an ad across multiple presentations) had greater impact on attitude when motivation to porcess the ad was low (as induced by low personal relevance of the product). Experiment 2 found thata substantive variation strategy (variation in relevant product attributes across multiple presentations) was more influential when motivation to process the ad was high. These results are consistent with the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion. Copyright 1990 by the University of Chicago.

Segmenting the non‐adopter category in the diffusion of internet banking

Purpose – For a new technology‐based product or service at an early stage of diffusion, it is likely that only a small subset of consumers have adopted it. When non‐adopters still comprise the majority of the target populations, describing all non‐adopters as a homogeneous population may be inaccurate and inappropriate. It is important to be able to identify differences, not only between adopters and non‐adopters, but also among non‐adopters, the latter providing a means of identifying the consumer segments likely to be profitable in the future. The first objective of this paper is to demonstrate the appropriateness of further segmenting the non‐adopter category based on motivations (intentions) to adopt internet‐banking by those who are “persistent non‐adopters” and those who are likely “prospective adopters”. The second objective of this paper is to further the understanding of the adoption process of internet banking by examining a range of diffusion factors that affect consumers’ adoption behavior.Des...

Advertising Repetition and Variation Strategies: Implications for Understanding Attitude Strength

We argue that researchers need to move beyond the simple measure of attitude extremity to more clearly assess the impact of various advertising repetition strategies on consumer attitude. In study 1, we show that different advertising variation strategies can lead to the development of equally positive attitudes, even though the basis of the attitudes is quite different. In study 2, we show that, despite the appearance of equal effectiveness on the dimensions of extremity, persistence, and confidence, type of advertising repetition strategy differentially influences the extent to which individuals resist change in the face of a counterpersuasive attack. Coauthors are David W. Schumann, Wendy L. Schneier, and Wendy L. Warren. Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.

USING ANIMATED SPOKES-CHARACTERS IN ADVERTISING TO YOUNG CHILDREN: Does Increasing Attention to Advertising Necessarily Lead to Product Preference?

The use of animated spokes-characters in advertising to young children is a strategic communication tactic frequently examined, debated, and criticized by parents, researchers, child advocates, and government officials. Although public opinion suggests that spokes-characters influence young childrens product desires, academic research has generally failed to demonstrate this effect. The present study extends previous studies examining spokes-character influence on children, and specifically examines the effects of character action and voice. Results of two studies support previous findings that although character action and voice may influence a young childs attention to an ad, character, and product recognition, and even a positive attitude toward the product, the relation between spokes-characters and a childs preference, intention, and choice of a product is uncertain.

Corporate Advertising in America: A Review of Published Studies on Use, Measurement, and Effectiveness

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of corporate advertising in America with the objective of addressing certain key questions. The review summarizes results from a number of survey type studies as well as corporate case studies and presents certain methodological flaws and reported concerns. In general, the literature appears to reflect that corporate advertising has been successful in promoting image, products and services, and company position statements (issue and advocacy) to a variety of audiences. The review concludes with an agenda for future research.

Explaining the Special Case of Incongruity in Advertising: Combining Classic Theoretical Approaches

In order to assess the effectiveness of an advertisement employing incongruity, it would be most helpful to determine when and how incongruity is likely to be processed by consumers and the nature of the response it is likely to evoke. By combining the tenets of two classic processing theories, Petty and Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood Model (1981, 1986) and Mandler’s Schema Incongruity Theory (1982), this article develops an integrative framework for better understanding viewer responses to incongruity.

The Future of Interactive Advertising Viewed Through an IMC Lens

Abstract This paper considers the future of interactive advertising (IA). While some suggest that IA is the wave of the future, others suggest that in five years IA will be mainstream marketing and will no longer be a novel concept. In order to examine this issue, the authors consider IA as it serves another important marketing concept, Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). Thus IA is examined through an IMC lens. After a brief discussion of the definition of IA and the focus on a five-year time frame, three trends are presented with a focus on expected technologies. This presentation is followed with a discussion of IA as it contributes to IMC, and an examination of questions for future research. The paper concludes that IA will likely evolve and expand in form and that this evolution will remain a key in successful advertising and product/service interaction.

The Theoretical and Practical Implications of Marketing Scholarship

Although considerable attention has been paid to the subject of scholarship in other disciplines, relatively little attention has been devoted to this vital topic in marketing. Moreover, while there has been attention paid to the influence of marketing research on pedagogy, the impact of input from learning environments into research has virtually been ignored. There are increasing pressures on higher education that brings to question the sustainability of scholarship. This paper briefly reviews the historical evolution and the modern conceptualization of scholarship, and presents an inclusive process model of marketing scholarship that attempts to address these pressures. Suggestions are made for implementing the model.

Processing and Retrieval of Inferences and Descriptive Advertising Information: The Effects of Message Elaboration

Abstract Two issues make advertising effectiveness difficult to assess: (1) advertising effects occur both during ad processing and when ad information is retrieved, and (2) the information that consumers derive from advertisements is likely to be some combination of explicit information and inferences. The study reported in this paper addresses these issues, examining the effects of encoding and time delay on advertising processing. Results indicate that while some types of inferences (product features) are more likely to be made under strong than weak encoding conditions, other types of inferences (consumption situation) are not affected by encoding. In addition, at the time of a decision (after a time delay), memory information use depends both upon individual brand accessibility and the relative accessibility of alternative brands in the memory set. Implications for both advertising researchers and managers are offered.