George Anghelcev

Doing It All: An Exploratory Study of Predictors of Media Multitasking

Multitasking with media is increasing. This shift in media consumption presents challenges to advertising practitioners and researchers because it may affect peoples attention, perception, and memory for advertising contained in those media. However, while audience multitasking behavior has recently received increased attention, the individual predictors of media multitasking are underexplored. To better understand the audience factors associated with heavy media multitasking we conducted a survey with samples from a student population (N = 308) and a national consumer population (N = 501). Age and gender were significant predictors only in the national sample, while personal control and need for simplicity were predictors only in the student sample. Results also indicated that sensation seeking and creativity were significant predictors of multitasking in both samples. Interestingly for advertisers, increased perception of advertising utility was also a predictor of multitasking in both the student and national sample.

The Influence of Pre-existing Audience Mood and Message Relevance on the Effectiveness of Health PSAs: Differential Effects by Message Type

Most health communication research is grounded in theories of rational human behavior, which emphasize the role of cognition in health-related decision making. The role of affect—particularly pre-exposure mood—as a determinant of responses to health campaigns is underexplored. Using experimental data, the present study describes variations in attitudinal and behavioral responses to health communication as a function of preexisting mood (positive/negative), message relevance (high/low), and health message type (prevention/detection). Data show that message relevance moderated the effects of health message type under positive, but not under negative, mood.

Perceived risk mediates the impact of mood on the effectiveness of health PSAs: Implications for public health marketing

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to investigate the impact of pre‐existing audience mood on responses to health public service advertisements (PSAs). The paper also aims to show the practical and theoretical importance of mood as a variable in health communication.Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses regarding the impact of audience mood on the outcome of health PSAs were tested experimentally using health PSAs about vaccination and virus detection behaviors.Findings – The influence of pre‐existing mood was mediated by the perceived risk of contracting the illness mentioned in the health advertisement. Personal estimations of risk mediated the impact of audience mood on behavioral intent and actual behavior. The more negative ones mood, the higher the perceived risk of contracting the disease mentioned in the message, and the more likely one was to adopt the precautionary behavior recommended by the PSA. Positive mood had opposite effects.Practical implications – The findings suggest a novel media p...

A ZMET-based analysis of perceptions of climate change among young south koreans: Implications for social marketing communication

Purpose Successful marketing communication campaigns require a thorough assessment of the publics current perceptions and attitudes toward the topic of the campaign. Such insights are most likely attained if a range of research methods are employed. However, in the area of pro-environmental campaigns, there has been an over-reliance on quantitative surveys. To illustrate the benefits of complementary, qualitative approaches, this paper reports a qualitative investigation of perceptions of climate change among young South Koreans. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a variant of the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), a hybrid protocol which combines photo elicitation with metaphor analysis of subsequent in-depth individual interviews. Unlike survey research, ZMET uncovers the emotional, interpretive and sensory mental structures which, along with factual knowledge, make up the public mindset about climate change. Findings – The analysis revealed a multifaceted mental model of clim...

Congruity between mood and message regulatory focus enhances the effectiveness of anti drinking and driving advertisements: a global versus local processing explanation

Alcohol-impaired driving (AID) has devastating effects on society. To decrease the incidence of AID, high-risk populations like college students are often targeted by anti-AID advertising campaigns. The present study examines the effectiveness of anti-AID advertisements as a function of pre-existing audience mood. Two experiments showed that congruity between the mood of the audience (positive, negative) and the regulatory focus of the ad (promotion, prevention) can increase advertising effectiveness. Positive mood enhanced the effectiveness of promotion-framed ads, whereas negative mood enhanced the effectiveness of prevention-framed ads. The effects were attributable to differential engagement in global or local processing. Positive mood induced a tendency to engage in global processing, and negative mood fostered engagement in local processing. Theoretical contributions are considered along with actionable recommendations for the creators of anti-AID advertising campaigns.

In the mood for [the right kind of] social marketing communication: How congruity between consumer mood and message framing influences intentions to recycle

Purpose – The effectiveness of social marketing communication should depend both on message features and on the psychological characteristics of message recipients. This premise was tested in an experiment focused on why consumers may respond differently to different types of pro-recycling advertisements. The message feature was the way in which the advertisements were framed. The psychological characteristic of the message recipient was the respondents mood. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses were tested in the context of an experiment focused on paper recycling. Findings – It was hypothesized that congruity between mood and the frame of the message would result in more favorable message evaluations and higher intentions to recycle than incongruity. Supporting the studys hypotheses, the data showed that participants in a negative mood had higher intentions to recycle paper and evaluated pro-recycling advertisements more favorably when the ads emphasized avo...

Unintended effects of incentivizing consumers to recommend a favorite brand

Marketers often use incentives such as coupons, rewards or special membership discounts in order to motivate consumers to purchase or recommend a particular brand. This practice is based on the underlying assumption that an increase in incentives will lead to an increase in consumer response – an idea which has been at the core of traditional economic thinking for decades. Some psychologists have claimed, however, that under specific conditions an increase in incentives can reduce (rather than increase) ones willingness to perform the behavior which is being incentivized. If materialized, the possibility that extrinsic incentives may diminish consumer willingness to recommend a favorite brand could have important theoretical and practical consequences in the context of word-of-mouth or buzz marketing. This study tests that possibility in the context of an experiment about Apple computers, a favorite brand among US college students. Participants were asked to recommend the brand to a friend (1) in absence of any monetary reward and (2) for a small monetary incentive. Students who were promised a small monetary reward experienced a decrease in intrinsic motivation and wrote shorter recommendations than those who were not promised any incentives. Data also suggest that the quality of the recommendation may decrease when incentives are offered. The results are discussed in line of their possible theoretical and practical significance.

The Interaction Effects of Mood and Ad Appeals on Type of Elaboration and Advertising Effectiveness

ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted to examine how mood (positive vs. negative) and ad appeals (experiential vs. utilitarian) influence ad and product evaluation and purchase intention. Specifically, mood and ad appeals both influenced type of elaboration (relational vs. item-specific processing). As a result, people in a positive mood evaluated ad and product more positively when exposed to a utilitarian ad, whereas people in a negative mood evaluated ad and product more positively when exposed to an experiential ad. Also, people in a negative mood showed stronger purchase intention when exposed to an experiential ad. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

The impact of extrinsic incentives on students' willingness to volunteer as peer mentors: Implications for advertising education

Using motivation crowding theory, the study examined the possibility that low monetary incentives may reduce (rather than increase) students’ motivation to volunteer as mentors, compared to situations when no incentives are offered. Data from an experiment supported this counter-intuitive proposition. Advertising students exposed to an ad promising a small monetary reward experienced a significant drop in intrinsic motivation and were overall less likely to volunteer as peer mentors than those exposed to an ad promising no reward. The impact of high incentives on motivation was studied also. Students exposed to an ad that promised a large monetary reward were more likely to volunteer than the low-incentive and no-incentive groups, but their intrinsic motivation to help was replaced by the desire for monetary gain. The study has theoretical and practical implications for the use of incentives in advertising education to promote peer mentorship and for motivating volunteers in general.