Martin Eisend

Immediate and delayed advertising effects of celebrity endorsers’ attractiveness and expertise

Previous research on advertising effectiveness of celebrity endorsers has applied immediate measures only and neglected delayed effects, although the literature suggests that endorser traits, such as attractiveness or expertise, trigger either cognitive or affective processes that do not necessarily occur immediately and simultaneously. In order to fill this research gap, this study applies the affective-cognitive framework and investigates immediate versus delayed effects of celebrity endorsers’ attractiveness and expertise on attitude towards brands (as related to transformational products). The results show that attractiveness is the dominant driver in the immediate condition, whereas in the delayed condition a high expertise exerts its influence. High expertise is particularly effective when the celebrity endorser is highly attractive, whereas the impact of less attractive celebrity endorsers with low expertise can even worsen over time.

A Global Investigation into the Cultural and Individual Antecedents of Banner Advertising Effectiveness

This study introduces and tests a framework to show the influence of national-level cultural and sociodemographic variables on banner advertising effectiveness. The authors analyze online survey data from 7775 respondents from 34 countries using hierarchical linear modeling and also analyze click-through rates from 2192 users from 26 countries. The findings show that banner advertising effectiveness in terms of attitudes toward banner advertising and intention to click on banner ads varies along Hofstedes cultural dimensions of individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity. In particular, consumers from individualist countries show less acceptance of banner advertising than those from collectivist countries. The acceptance of Web banner advertising is related to the consumers’ click behavior. Individual-level variables contribute only marginally to explain banner advertising effectiveness, which strengthens the significance of the direct effects of national-level cultural variables. The findings suggest that marketers should view banner advertising, though largely standardized when targeting a global audience, as a culture-specific issue.

Gender roles and humor in advertising: : The occurrence of stereotyping in humorous and nonhumorous advertising and its consequences for advertising effectiveness

The advertising literature includes extensive research on the occurrence and effects of gender-role portrayals in advertising. None of these studies has examined the ways in which humor affects depictions and the advertising effectiveness of these portrayals. This article reports the results of content-analytic and experimental studies that investigate the occurrence and effectiveness of gender stereotyping in humorous and nonhumorous advertising. The findings from these studies are in line with the assumptions of information processing theories. They indicate that the way women and men are stereotyped in advertising is dependent on humor; in particular, traditional male stereotypes are more prevalent in humorous ads, whereas traditional female stereotypes are more prevalent in nonhumorous ads. With respect to the influence of these stereotypes, humor improves consumers’ attitudes, particularly if nontraditional stereotyping is utilized instead of traditional stereotyping. Furthermore, humor in stereotyped advertising influences women more than men. Women evaluate gender portrayals more favorably and as more credible in humorous ads than in nonhumorous ads, particularly when nontraditional stereotyping instead of traditional stereotypes are used. These findings provide implications for gender-role and humor research in advertising and for practitioners who wish to increase the effectiveness of ads that use stereotypes.

Gender roles in advertising

This study discusses and provides a measure for the degree of stereotyping in advertisements. Applying this measure, the study shows to what degree gender stereotypes in advertising differ between public and private TV channels in Germany. The results show that gender stereotyping in advertising still prevails despite the change in the roles of men and women over the years. Contrary to their public mission, public TV channels do not show fewer gender stereotypes in advertisements compared to private TV channels. The degree of stereotyping as related to different stereotyping components differs significantly between these two types of channel. Gender stereotypes on private channels refer to role behaviour and physical characteristics and, thus, function as a means to sell a product. On the other hand, advertisements on public channels stereotype gender in terms of occupational status, and therefore interfere with the major goal of gender equality policy.

Advertising Repetition: A Meta-Analysis on Effective Frequency in Advertising

This study uses meta-analytic techniques to examine the number of exposures that maximize consumer response to an ad. The results show that in an experimental setting maximum attitude is reached at approximately ten exposures, while recall increases linearly and does not level off before the eighth exposure. The findings are of interest for two opposing schools of thought in the advertising literature on effective frequency. They support the repetitionists’ beliefs over the minimalists’ beliefs on the number of ad exposures needed for maximum consumer response. The study further investigates whether the repetition effects depend on contingent factors. Low involvement and spaced exposures enhance repetition effects on attitude toward the brand. Embedded advertising and massed exposures enhance the repetition effects on recall. Repetition effects decay over time for both attitude toward the brand and recall. The study provides important implications for researchers by contributing to the discussion on effective frequency and providing support for the repetitionists’ view. This view has implications for practitioners who try to optimize advertising frequency.

A Cross-Cultural Generalizability Study of Consumers’ Acceptance of Product Placements in Movies

Abstract By applying a generalizability theory approach, the study shows that product placement acceptability of ethically charged/controversial products is generalizable over different cultures, but not product placement acceptability of neutral products. The universe score shows that attitudes towards product placement for ethically charged/controversial products can be described as “indifferent” (in between “acceptable” and “unacceptable”) consistently over all countries, while neutral products are highly accepted, though the acceptance varies from country to country. The results hold for males and females and are independent of changing product placement acceptance over the years. The findings support cross-cultural convergence of consumer perceptions for problematic marketing and divergence for other issues. Such findings bear some practical implications for international promotional strategies. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the usability of generalizability theory for cross-cultural studies dealing with marketing communication stimuli.

Have We Progressed Marketing Knowledge? A Meta-Meta-Analysis of Effect Sizes in Marketing Research

This study measures the value and progress of knowledge produced in marketing research by using meta-analytic effect sizes as a measure of scientific knowledge. The author combines the results of 176 meta-analyses that include data from more than 7,500 primary studies published between 1918 and 2012. The 1,841 meta-analytic effect sizes show that a considerable body of marketing knowledge has been developed, as expressed by a meta-meta-analytic correlation of .24. This medium-sized effect is as strong or stronger than effects that have been found in compilations of meta-analyses in other, more basic fields of inquiry (e.g., psychology), which shows that marketing is a successful academic discipline. The effect sizes vary across subject areas, with pricing showing the strongest effects, followed by consumer behavior; methods and new product development show the weakest effects. This finding reveals different degrees of knowledge production and varying benchmarks to assess the contribution of future research outcomes in these subject areas. Marketing knowledge follows a discontinuous model of progress: knowledge has increased over time, but at a decreasing rate; the marketing field, which is currently characterized by fragmentation and specialization, has reached a stage of maturity. The findings provide implications for further research regarding how to measure, evaluate, and progress knowledge in marketing.

Reinquiries in advertising research

The idea that replicated studies should always get the same results is a common belief and one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objectivity and truth. Consistent with this perspective, advertising research is dominated by original studies that are often based on small sample sizes and imperfect measures. Unfortunately, belief in the expectation of uniformity of results across replicated studies, regardless of the sample sizes involved, is both naive and widespread (Tversky and Kahneman 1971). Statistical theory and research experience show that results may differ across similar studies in a research stream. To trust the findings of seminal studies, no matter how carefully conducted and widely cited, replications are needed. Overgeneralizing from any single study is dangerous for several reasons:

Zu viel des Guten? Zum Einfluss der Anzahl von Ökolabels auf die Konsumentenverwirrtheit

Executive Summary Vor dem Hintergrund entsprechender Bewusstseinsentwicklung in der Gesellschaft hat sich in den letzten ca. 30 Jahren die Verwendung von Okolabels bei unterschiedlichen Produkten ausgebreitet. Diese sollen dokumentieren und den Kaufern leicht verstandlich und deutlich kommunizieren, dass ein Produkt in besonderem Mase okologischen Anforderungen entspricht. Initiatoren solcher Labels sind einerseits staatliche Stellen, die ein entsprechendes Kaufverhalten stimulieren wollen. In den letzten Jahren sind aber auch Unternehmen und Verbunde davon dazu ubergegangen, Okolabels zu entwickeln und auf ihren Produkten zu platzieren. Das dient naturlich der Steigerung der Attraktivitat der Produkte, aber auch der Demonstration okologischen Verantwortungsbewusstseins des jeweiligen Unternehmens.

The Effectiveness of Advertising: A Meta-Meta-Analysis of Advertising Inputs and Outcomes

This study measures the degree of advertising effectiveness in previous advertising research studies. By analyzing 324 meta-analytic effect sizes taken from 44 meta-analyses that included more than 1,700 primary studies with more than 2.4 million subjects, the meta-meta-analytic effect size of .2 shows that advertising is effective. The findings differ across advertising inputs and outcomes, and identify different hierarchies of effects due to different underlying processes. The source primarily influences attitudes and behavior due to an acceptability–inference process; the message influences cognitions and emotions due to an emotion–cognition process; strategies foster processing and effects on memory due to a retrieval process; and receiver characteristics primarily influence attitudes, cognitions, and emotions due to a sense-making process. These findings provide quantitative evidence for the effectiveness of advertising and major advertising tools, provide empirical generalizations for researchers and practitioners, and suggest a new contingency for the applicability of hierarchy of effects models.