Michael J. Houston

Conditions for a Picture-Superiority Effect on Consumer Memory

Based on three explanations of imagery effects on memory, hypotheses regarding the conditions under which pictorial ads are or are not remembered better than verbal-only ads are generated and tested. The memorability of brand names semantically related to product class was tested in pictorial versus verbal-only form under various conditions. The results indicate that picture superiority occurs in both immediate and delayed recall tasks when processing is directed at appearance features. Verbal-only stimuli are recalled as well as pictures in immediate recall but become inferior once again in delayed recall, when processing is directed at the semantic content of the ads.

Measurement of Individual Differences in Visual versus Verbal Information Processing

The examination of individual differences in consumer information processing is an emerging area of research within both marketing and consumer behavior. In this article, we report on two studies that focus on ability versus preference for imaginal or visual processing. The first study assesses the psychometric properties of frequently used measures of imaginal processing ability and preference; the studys results were somewhat supportive of the two ability measures but not supportive of the preference measure. The second study proposes and tests a new measure of processing preference—the Style of Processing (SOP) scale—which exhibits internal consistency as well as discriminant and criterion validity.

The effects of brand name suggestiveness on advertising recall

The authors report the results of a laboratory experiment examining the effects of the meaningfulness of brand names on recall of advertising. The findings indicate that a brand name explicitly con...

Picture-Word Consistency and the Elaborative Processing of Advertisement s

Many advertisers believe the pictorial and verbal components of an ad should convey the same meaning. Based on theoretical and empirical evidence from a variety of areas, three experiments were con...

Goal-oriented Experiences and the Development of Knowledge

This research investigates the learning that occurs throughout several information acquisition and choice experiences. The effects of three factors that may naturally vary in consumer experiences are studied: a consumers goals, how much the consumer knows about the products features prior to information acquisition and choice, and the content of feedback received after choice. Results show that the information consumers learn is organized in memory around the goal(s) that drives the experiences. Further, higher levels of prior feature knowledge result in more accurate knowledge after experience, but, contrary to predictions, subjects with no prior feature knowledge are quite adept at focusing on their goal in the choice process and learning goal-appropriate information. The presence of feedback and its consistency with a consumers goal are also shown to affect the goal orientation and organization of brand and feature knowledge gained during choice experiences. Copyright 1993 by the University of Chicago.

Cultural Paradoxes Reflected in Brand Meaning: McDonald’s in Shanghai, China

Brands are powerful symbols that reflect not only the image with which marketers hope to imbue them but also the cultural milieu in which they are imbedded. If that milieu is in a state of flux, brands can come to represent some surprising ideas and values to which marketing efforts must be sensitive. In this research, the authors relate the nature of societal change, a common occurrence in many developing markets and especially China, to evaluation of a brand by a broad cross-section of urban Chinese consumers. Using the methodology of scenario completion, the authors reveal that the McDonalds brand is evaluated in the context of societal norms and values that are brought up in various usage situations. Brand evaluations can be inconsistent and often paradoxical depending on the context. The results suggest that marketers should be closely involved with the way their brand is interacting with cultural values in transitional markets.

A methodological assessment of the use of key informants

Abstract The key informant technique is assessed in terms of the ability of different types of informants to report on various aspects of the social system in which they perform role functions. Role theory suggests that informants occupying a specialized role within a social structure provide greater information on role-related aspects of the structure than informants occupying positions unrelated to the area being investigated. Empirical evidence in support of this assertion is presented.

The Effect of Unit-Pricing on Choices of Brand and Size in Economic Shopping

M OST consumer research has been concerned with how knowledge of consumer behavior patterns can direct the firm in the development of marketing strategy and policies. However, relatively little research has investigated how policies of the firm can be beneficial to the consumer in his buying behavior.1 This article examines unitpricing as a potential aid to consumers. It reports a study designed to determine the effect of unit-pricing on the ability of consumers to choose the most economical brand and size in a product class. Unit-pricing, a retail pricing policy, is designed to aid primarily the economy-minded consumerthat consumer who is interested in minimizing the cost of a single purchase or set of purchases without regard to quality. Its benefits seem to exist primarily in the purchase of grocery items. When a good is unit-priced, its price is expressed in terms of the cost per unit of measure of the product in addition to its total price. For example, with unit-pricing a consumer would know that a ten-ounce container of instant coffee priced at

Fading Optimism in Products: Temporal Changes in Expectations About Performance

1.65 costs 16.5 per ounce. The numerous brands and sizes of grocery items now available to the consumer often make it difficult for her to determine the lowest unit-cost item in a product class. Therefore, unit-pricing should enable the value-conscious shopper to better determine the item with the lowest unit-price.

Field dependency and brand cognitive structures

The authors demonstrate that choosing one product from a set of competing alternatives can change expectations about the chosen product such that consumers can become optimistic about the products performance, and this optimism can then fade away. In five experiments, the authors show that this phenomenon of fading optimism in products is robust across different experimental settings and product categories and is moderated by prior attitude toward the product category and ambiguity of the products performance.