Gunnar Mau

Communicating brands playfully

An online experiment was conducted to study the effects of brand placements in computer games on brand attitude as well as game attitude (N = 521; between subject design: familiar vs unfamiliar brands vs no brand). Results show that particularly unfamiliar brands can achieve a better attitude, while the attitude towards the familiar brand worsens as a result of ad placements. In any case, the game will suffer as a result of the integration of advertising: attitude towards the game worsens as a result of ad placement. However, these effects were not moderated by ad scepticism. In terms of the process of attitude formation, attitude towards the game has a direct impact on attitude towards the advertised brand.

Who Is the Loser When I Lose the Game? Does Losing an Advergame Have a Negative Impact on the Perception of the Brand?

Many computer games are based on the principle of competition, making the outcome of the game, namely, the prospect of victory and the threat of defeat, a key element. A lab experiment was conducted to study the effects of a games outcome on the players mood, brand attitude, and game attitude as well as the experience of flow (N = 95; between-subject design: game lost versus game won versus no induction of the game outcome). The results show that although winners are not in a better mood after the game, they rate the game as better and assess the brands advertised more positively than before they played the game. They have an increased likelihood of experiencing flow, whereas no significant effects of losing the game could be detected due to the total mediation of the flow experience in the case of the losing condition.

Noradrenergic blockade and memory in patients with major depression and healthy participants

OBJECTIVE Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) often suffer from impaired declarative, episodic and working memory. Further, MDD is associated with alterations in the noradrenergic system. There is evidence that presynaptic α2 receptors that inhibit release of noradrenaline are upregulated in MDD. Results from our recent study demonstrated that increasing noradrenergic activity by blocking the α2 receptor with yohimbine leads to stronger memory consolidation in MDD patients. In the current study, we further examined the role of noradrenaline on memory in MDD by administering clonidine that activates presynaptic α2 receptors and thereby globally suppresses the noradrenergic output. METHODS In a placebo-controlled, within-subject crossover design, 20 patients with MDD and 20 healthy controls received either 0.15 mg of clonidine or placebo orally before memory testing. A word list paradigm (memory consolidation), an autobiographical memory test (retrieval) and a working memory test were applied. Salivary alpha-amylase and blood pressure were measured. RESULTS Across groups, clonidine decreased blood pressure and alpha-amylase. Clonidine impaired memory consolidation (word list learning) in depressed patients and controls. Memory retrieval and working memory were not affected by clonidine. CONCLUSIONS Reducing noradrenergic activity had a specific effect on memory consolidation in patients with MDD and healthy controls. The underlying mechanisms need further scrutiny.

Motive und Wirkungen im viralen Marketing

Dem Phanomen der klassischen Mund-zu-Mund-Propaganda (Word of Mouth, WOM) wird seit Jahren grose Aufmerksamkeit im Rahmen der Marketingwissenschaft gewidmet (Engel et al. 1969; Czepiel 1974; Haywood 1989; Mangold et al. 1999). Vor allem weil Informationen sich auf diesem Wege exponentiell weiter verbreiten, und die Verbreitung im Verhaltnis zu der Aufmerksamkeitswirkung geringe Kosten verursacht, spielt die klassische WOM-Kommunikation schon immer eine wichtige Rolle im Rahmen der Kommunikations- und Servicepolitik von Unternehmen (Haywood 1989; Mangold et al. 1999).

Game Outcome and In-Game Advertising Effects

Although the computer game industry celebrated its 50th birthday in 2008 with its first game “Tennis for Two”, it shows no signs of aging. While the film industry is facing a considerable decline, the computer game sector is booming with a turnover of 2.29 bn. euros in Germany in 2007 and an increase of 29% compared to the previous year (BIU 2008). The American computer game industry even recorded an increase in turnover of 43% last year. As the German market is still very much in its infancy compared to England, it seems likely that sales will rocket here, too (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2006).

How do marketing-events work? Marketing-events and brand attitudes

In the past few years a large number of studies have been published examining the various practical and theoretical aspects of event-marketing and event-sponsorship. The academic research aims to explain the effectiveness of these marketing communication tools. Primarily the elements of recall and recognition have become central factors within this field of research (Walliser 2003). However, the effects of marketing-events on creating a positive attitude towards the involved brands have received little consideration so far. Accordingly, there are inconsistent theoretical approaches and only few empirical studies focussing primarily on this aspect of event-marketing. It is known that marketing-events can modify a certain attitude towards a brand, but it is not clarified why and how. Even though different models have been established to estimate the influence of marketing-events on attitude formation (cf. Baux 1991; Walliser 1993; Ganassali & Didellon 1996; Gwinner 1997; Hoek et al. 1997; Courbet 2000; Meenaghan 2001; Nufer 2002; Drengner 2004), not one of those has proven its superiority in empirical research so far (Walliser 2003). Instead of adding another model to explain the effects of event-marketing and event-sponsorship on attitude formation this paper aims at reviewing the broad approach in this field of research in order to educe a general understanding of the effectiveness of marketing-events. We assume that the attitude towards the brand (AB), as a main objective of event-marketing and -sponsorship, is essentially influenced by three determining factors: The attitude towards the event (AE), the attitude towards the communication activities presented at the event (AAD) and the prior attitude towards the brand that existed before visiting the event (A0 B). This paper outlines the literature reporting an empirical or conceptual investigation of the attitude formation in the context of marketing-events. Based on this state of research we generate our understanding of the impact of marketing-events on the attitude towards the brand. The results of an empirical study which examined the influence of A0 B, AAD and AE on AB will be reported. Based on our findings practical and empirical implications will be given. We conclude with suggestions for further testing of our model.

Acceptance of visual search interfaces for the web – design and empirical evaluation of a book search interface

Theoretically, visual search interfaces are supposed to outperform list interfaces for such task types as nonspecific queries because they make use of additional semantic information (like price, date or review for a book). But why are web sites like Amazon or eBay still using classical textual list interfaces? Many visual interfaces performed well on objective measures (retrieval time, precision or recall). But subjective factors (ease, joy, usefulness) determining their acceptance in practice are often neglected. Therefore, we created a graphical interface for searching books and evaluated it in a 51 participant study. The study builds on the technology acceptance model which measures users’ subjective attitude towards using an interface. We found that the variable enjoyment is of higher relevance in both visual and textual search interfaces than previously stated. Finally, the novel interface yielded significantly better results for book searches than the textual one.

The Impact of Health Warnings on Children's Consumption Decisions

Children are a key target group for retailers and manufacturers (Effertz, 2008; Schor, 2004). Consequently, children are exposed to many marketing messages (Cross, 2002; Kunkel et al., 2004), which is evident in an increasing amount of advertising directly aimed at and targeted towards them (Kunkel, et al., 2004) and a large number of products specifically geared towards children as buyers (Cook, 2009; Honeyman, 2010; Lawlor, 2000; Wilson and Wood, 2004).

Kognitive und emotionale Regulation von Kaufhandlungen: Theoretische Impulse für eine prozessorientierte Betrachtung des Konsumentenverhaltens

Haben Sie Lust, heute Abend Video zu sehen? Angenommen Sie wurden gerne, aber ihr Videorekorder ist kaputt. Weil das schon langer so ist, haben Sie sich schon Gedanken daruber gemacht, einen DVD-Player zu kaufen. Sie nehmen Ihren Wunsch nach einem Videoabend als Anlass, um Ihr Vorhaben, einen neuen DVD-Player zu kaufen, heute nach der Arbeit in die Tat umzusetzen.

The In-store Location of Promotional Displays Can Alter Shoppers’ Attention and Buying Decisions: An Abstract

Products presented in reality have a higher chance to be purchased than products that are symbolically presented as a photograph (Muller 2013). Loewenstein (1996) explains the superiority of the products presented in reality by the fact that the presentation’s sensory richness increases vividness. Thus, shoppers experience the gratification arising from consuming the more intensively presented products in reality than concerning a symbolic presentation, which is supposed to lead to a higher buying impulse. In fact, especially in the context of online shopping, studies show that a higher vividness is accompanied by a greater intention to buy (Steinmann et al. 2014).