Ioannis Kareklas

Reexamining Health Messages in the Digital Age: A Fresh Look at Source Credibility Effects

This article investigates the influence of perceived source credibility on the effectiveness of health-related public service announcements (PSAs) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communications. Findings indicate that online commenters who are perceived to be credible are instrumental in influencing consumers’ responses to pro- versus antivaccination online PSAs. Results further suggest it is not the advertising message (i.e., the PSA-advocated position) alone that influences consumers’ responses (even when consumers perceive the PSA sponsor to be highly credible) but rather the commenters’ reactions to the claims presented in the PSA that also independently contribute to consumers’ vaccination attitudes and behavioral intentions. Finally, results also show that when the relevant expertise of online commenters is identified, the effectiveness of the PSAs advertising message is moderated by the interactive effect of the online comments and their associated perceived credibility.

The Role of Regulatory Focus and Self-View in 'Green' Advertising Message Framing

Abstract This research draws on theoretical perspectives related to regulatory focus and self-view in the context of “green” advertising appeals. A pattern of results similar to that typically reported in the literature is replicated (i.e., promotion-framed messages are more persuasive for individuals with an active independent self-view, whereas prevention-framed messages are more persuasive for individuals with an active interdependent self-view)—but only when persuasive messages focus on personal health appeals. A considerably different set of relationships is observed when messages focus on environmental appeals. Consistent with our theoretical expectations regarding goal compatibility effects, prevention-(as opposed to promotion-) focused environmental appeals generated more favorable attitudes for individuals who are situationally primed to have an independent self-view. In the interdependent self-view condition, the promotion-focused appeals performed as well as or better than the prevention-focused appeals. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed, and future research directions are offered.

Remembering the Good Old Days: The Moderating Role of Consumer Affective State on the Effectiveness of Nostalgic Advertising

Employing different experimental priming procedures and advertising treatments across two studies, we examine the moderating role of consumer affective state on individuals’ responses to nostalgic and nonnostalgic advertising. Consistent with hypothesized expectations, our findings indicate that when consumers are in a positive affective state they respond more favorably (i.e., report more positive memories and favorable brand-related responses) to nostalgic (versus nonnostalgic) ads. In contrast, ones negative affective state appears to play a limited role in affecting responses between ad types. The theoretical implications of these findings as they relate to nostalgic advertising effects are discussed, and recommendations for advertising practitioners are offered.

Judgment is Not Color Blind: The Impact of Automatic Color Preference on Product and Advertising Preferences

This research examines the colors white and black and highlights the importance of automatic preference for the color white over black in product choice and advertising contexts. Across three studies, we incorporate multiple Implicit Association Tests to assess automatic preferences for colors, products, races, and advertisements. In Study 1, we demonstrate an automatic color preference for white over black, show that this preference holds for Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans, and find that automatic color preference predicts automatic product preference of white over black-colored products. Study 2 extends these findings by showing that actual behavioral product choice is best predicted by a combination of automatic and explicit color preferences. In the advertising domain, Study 3 demonstrates how automatic color preference influences advertising responses and how it explains the lack of in-group preference by African-Americans in previous implicit studies of racial preference. Collectively, our research draws attention to the need to disentangle white and black as designation of colors versus racial groups, and offers significant and novel contributions to the work on color and race in consumer psychology.

Images paired with concrete claims improve skeptical consumers’ responses to advertising promoting a firm’s good deeds

Skepticism has been identified as one of the main impediments to successful CSR communication and previous research has established a robust effect of individual differences in ad skepticism on negative responses to advertising. However, little work has explored how ad skepticism impacts responses to CSR communication. Integrating work on CSR communication and ad skepticism, the present work advances a conceptual model addressing how concrete CSR claims and images supporting those claims can override skeptical consumers’ less favorable response to CSR advertising. Results show that highly skeptical consumers (a) respond less favorably to CSR ads than less skeptical consumers, overall; (b) respond more favorably to CSR ads that contain a combination of concrete (vs. vague) CSR claims and images (vs. no images) supporting those claims; and (c) respond as favorably as less skeptical consumers when ads feature concrete CSR claims with supporting images. Additional results reveal that images are especially effective among highly skeptical consumers because skeptical consumers have a reduced ability to visualize advertising claims. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Parental Mediation in the Digital Era: Increasing Children’s Critical Thinking May Help Decrease Positive Attitudes toward Alcohol

We demonstrate in our research that discussion-based parental mediation may successfully decrease the negative effects that youth’s engagement with alcohol brands on social media may have on attitudes toward alcohol through its effects on critical thinking. A clear pattern was found with positive mediation leading to unhealthy outcomes and negative mediation predicting healthier behaviors. Youth whose parents critiqued media messages reported more critical thinking skills, which predicted less interaction with alcohol brands on social media and fewer expectancies toward alcohol. On the other hand, youth whose parents endorsed media portrayals of drinking reported fewer critical thinking skills and were thus more likely to interact with alcohol brands on social media. Including a media literacy component in alcohol education that target parental strategies and that are conducive to discussion may lead to beneficial health outcomes in the digital era.