Elison Ai Ching Lim

The Influence of Metaphors and Product Type on Brand Personality Perceptions and Attitudes

This study investigates whether metaphors in advertising have a synergistic or compensatory effect on brand personality perceptions of utilitarian and symbolic products. The effects of metaphoric headlines versus pictures are also compared. In general, brands using metaphors in ads were perceived to be more sophisticated and exciting, but less sincere and competent than those using literal headlines or pictures. Ad attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intention were also enhanced with metaphoric advertising. In addition, compared with utilitarian products, symbolic products were perceived to be more sophisticated and exciting, but less sincere and competent. It is interesting to note that when metaphors were used for utilitarian products, perceptions of sophistication and excitement were enhanced, whereas sincerity was diluted. The results suggest that metaphors can be strategically used to influence brand personality perceptions, particularly for utilitarian products. Theoretical and managerial implications, as well as directions for future research, conclude this paper.

Preattentive processing of banner advertisements: The role of modality, location, and interference

This paper deals with the preattentive processing of banner advertisements under competitive interference conditions. In the absence of competitive interference, our experimental results were consistent with hemispheric lateralization: pictorial banner ads were evaluated more positively when positioned on the left (vs. right) side of a webpage, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for verbal banner ads. In contrast, this interaction disappeared in the presence of competitive interference. Specifically, verbal banner ads received more positive evaluations than pictorial ads when they featured products from the same category. In addition, banner ads were more liked when positioned on the left (vs. right) side when they were of the same ad modality.

What's Funny and What's Not: The Moderating Role of Cultural Orientation in Ad Humor

This empirical study predicts and finds that effectiveness of ad humor is jointly determined by the humor process (i.e., incongruity resolution and arousal safety) employed in the ad and the cultural orientation (i.e., uncertainty avoidance and individualism-collectivism) of the ad viewer. In particular, attitudinal effects elicited by the cognitive/affective uncertainty elements in ad humor are more pronounced among consumers who have higher uncertainty avoidance, as well as among those with more collectivistic orientations. The theoretical and managerial implications stemming from the cultural boundaries of ad humor are considered. Research avenues suggested by the findings are also discussed.