P.E. Ketelaar

Attention for open and closed advertisements

Abstract In the last few decades there has been an increase in ads that need more effort to unravel and do not guide consumers to a specific interpretation as traditional ads do. These ads are open in the sense that their interpretation is less determined by the ad and more dependent on the mind of the “beholder.” Investigations into the benefits of open ads have generally employed forced exposure, which is likely to lead to relatively more attention for open ads as they are more difficult to interpret. Therefore, the advantages of open ads that these investigations reveal may not materialize in natural viewing conditions, if open ads do not—as they do in forced exposure—attract more attention in those natural conditions. This article investigates whether open ads command more attention than closed ads in circumstances simulating natural viewing conditions. Two studies were carried out, showing no differences in length of attention, but suggesting that open ads may be processed a little deeper then closed ads.

On the use of virtual environments for the evaluation of location-based applications

User experience (UX) research on pervasive technologies faces considerable challenges regarding todays mobile context-sensitive applications: evaluative field studies lack control, whereas lab studies miss the interaction with a dynamic context. This dilemma has inspired researchers to use virtual environments (VEs) to acquire control while offering the user a rich contextual experience. Although promising, these studies are mainly concerned with usability and the technical realization of their setup. Furthermore, previous setups leave room for improvement regarding the users immersive experience. This paper contributes to this line of research by presenting a UX case study on mobile advertising with a novel CAVE-smartphone interface. We conducted two experiments in which we evaluated the intrusiveness of a mobile location-based advertising app in a virtual supermarket. The results confirm our hypothesis that context-congruent ads lessen the experienced intrusiveness thereby demonstrating that our setup is capable of generating preliminary meaningful results with regards to UX. Furthermore, we share insights in conducting these studies.

In ads we trust: Religiousness as a predictor of advertising trustworthiness and avoidance

Purpose – This paper aims to provide insight into the relationship between religiousness, trust in advertising and advertisement avoidance. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 4,984 participants from the USA, the UK, Germany, Spain and France was conducted. Findings – This paper shows that religiousness is a (negative) predictor of avoidance of advertisements in traditional and digital media and that advertisement trustworthiness mediates this effect. Higher perceived trustworthiness of advertising among the more religious people leads to less advertisement avoidance. Less religious people trust advertising less and, consequently, show higher advertisement avoidance. The role of religiousness is explained by a positive relationship between religiousness and perceived advertisement trustworthiness because of religious people’s general conformity to authority and because of religion’s emphasis on the good of fellow human beings. Research limitations/implications – One limitation is that response bias ...

The Effects of Openness on Attitude toward the Ad, Attitude toward the Brand, and Brand Beliefs in Dutch Magazine Ads

Abstract In recent decades, magazine advertisers have used an increasing number of open ads. Open ads do not guide consumers towards a specific interpretation as traditional ads do, and they require more effort to decipher. An experiment was carried out to determine the effects of ad openness on the attitude towards the ad, brand beliefs, the attitude towards the brand, and the moderating role of ease of comprehension on the attitude towards the ad. We also assessed the effects of openness in relation to an individuals need for cognition. As expected, openness was found to have an overall negative effect on the attitude towards the ad, brand beliefs, and the attitude towards the brand. The negative effect of openness was related to the difficulty participants experience searching for an interpretation. Contrary to expectations, however, need for cognition did not moderate the effects of openness on the attitude towards the ad and the ability to interpret open ads.

How Do Teaser Advertisements Boost Word of Mouth about New Products?: For Consumers, the Future Is More Exciting Than the Present

ABSTRACT Future-framed marketing is highly effective in generating positive product-related word of mouth (WOM) for new products. This was demonstrated in two studies: Study 1 reported a novel online field experiment on WOM behavior; Study 2 tested the proposed WOM effects in a more controlled laboratory setting on a representative sample. Results of the current research revealed that product pre-announcements significantly increased consumers9 product interest and WOM behavior. And, more so than messaging about currently available products, pre-announcements increased the favorability and elaborateness of WOM.

Does location congruence matter? A field study on the effects of location-based advertising on perceived ad intrusiveness, relevance & value

We investigate the effect of location-congruent mobile messages on perceived intrusiveness, value, and relevance through a field experiment using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). We developed a mobile application for undergraduate students, featuring campus news and information concerning class schedules. This application also included daily ads for the University restaurant, which were either location-(semi)congruent or location-incongruent. Immediately after viewing the ads the app presented a short questionnaire to the participants for a period of four weeks, thereby measuring their perceived intrusiveness, relevance and value of these ads. During these four weeks daily ads were sent to 40 students, resulting in 107 responses from 23 participants. The results show that our participants perceived location-(semi)congruent ads as significantly more valuable and relevant, whereas no significant results were found for perceived intrusiveness. By investigating LBA in a field-study based on ESM utilizing participants own smartphone devices this study corroborates the presumed effects of location-(semi)congruency on marketing relevant ad perceptions. Field experiment examines how individuals react to Location-Based Ads (LBAs).In situ data collection via ESM using a context-triggered sampling design.Location (semi)congruency has a positive influence on perceived relevance and value.LBA has no significant influence on perceived ad intrusiveness.Intra-individual variations are significant with all three dependent variables.

Interpretation of Highly Visual 'Open' Advertisements in Dutch Magazines

Abstract In recent decades magazine advertisers have used an increasing number of highly visual open ads. Open ads do not guide consumers toward a specific interpretation as traditional ads do. An experiment was carried out to establish the effects of openness on interpretation. As expected, openness was found to have an overall negative effect on interpretation because more consumers were unable to interpret open ads and were not able to create their intended interpretation. Contrary to our expectations, however, we did not establish a higher number of alternative interpretations for open ads.

Media generations and their advertising attitudes and avoidance: a six-country comparison

This cross-national survey (N = 5784) examined generational differences in media use, advertising attitudes and avoidance for five media (websites, social media, mobile phones, television, newspapers) in six countries (Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, France, and the Netherlands). The results showed that the net generation and the newspaper generation, but not the TV generation, were clearly distinct in the frequency of their media use in all six countries. For advertising attitudes, generational patterns were visible, however, neither for all media nor in all countries. When generational differences did occur, the net generation was on the positive end, whereas the newspaper generation was usually the most negative. For advertising avoidance, generational patterns were less present and consistent. The findings point out interesting directions for future research. Practical implications for advertisers and media planners are discussed.

Taking the full view: How viewers respond to 360-degree video news

Abstract Immersive storytelling technologies in journalism are thought to have the power to boost viewer responses to news in ways heretofore undreamed of. However, research is scarce. This study is the first to investigate what 360-degree camera video as a means for conveying news stories might add to traditional 2D video. A one-factorial between subjects experiment (N = 83) was conducted to investigate the effect of 360-degree news on presence, enjoyment, credibility, recognition, and understanding. The experimental group watched a news video in 360-degree format, whereas the control group viewed the same video in 2D. Results show that 360-degree video is evaluated higher in terms of presence, enjoyment, and credibility, while there are no negative effects of 360- degree video on recognition and understanding. The effects on enjoyment and credibility are mediated by presence. Although 360-degree journalism research is still in its infancy, the current study indicates that this form of news reporting has the potential to involve audiences as never before.

Positive uncertainty: the benefit of the doubt in advertising

Positive uncertainty refers to uncertainty surrounding an anticipated positive outcome. It provides consumers with the opportunity to imagine and speculate on a products or experiences potentially positive characteristics. Research has shown that when uncertainty is associated with something positive, consumers may prefer uncertainty to certainty. In a between-subjects experimental design with a large US (n = 446) and Japanese sample (n = 453), the present study demonstrates that positive uncertainty increases consumers’ positive feelings when they evaluate a product, particularly for high-involvement products that allow consumers to imagine and speculate about potentially positive product benefits. Unexpectedly, the study findings are consistent across the two different markets, which vary substantially in terms of consumers’ level of uncertainty avoidance. Specifically, results show that future-framed advertisements are effective in generating positive uncertainty and that positive uncertainty generates positive attitudes, both in countries scoring high (Japan) and low (USA) on uncertainty avoidance.