Stewart Shapiro

When an Ad's Influence Is Beyond Our Conscious Control: Perceptual and Conceptual Fluency Effects Caused by Incidental Ad Exposure

Four studies were conducted to determine the level of processing that occurs during incidental ad exposure and the extent to which effects of such processing are driven by unconscious influences. Studies 1 and 2 indicate that the addition of semantically related product information in an ad facilitates activation of the product concept in memory. As a result, the advertised product is more likely to be included in a stimulus-based consideration set even when the perceptual features of the product under consideration do not match the features of the product depiction in the ad. These results are consistent with conceptual fluency arising from a semantic analysis that occurs during incidental ad exposure. Studies 3 and 4 indicate that when an ad is devoid of other product-related information (i.e., when it simply depicts a product by itself), processing is limited to a simple feature analysis. The effect of this analysis on consideration set judgment is found when the shape of the advertised product is unfamiliar, and the perceptual features of the product under consideration match those of the product depiction in the ad. These results are consistent with the concept of perceptual fluency. Further, all four studies provide strong evidence that the response bias caused by incidental ad exposure is due to unconscious influences—advertised products were more likely to be included in a consideration set even when subjects were explicitly trying to avoid choosing products that were depicted in the ads.

Memory-Based Measures for Assessing Advertising Effects: A Comparison of Explicit and Implicit Memory Effects

Abstract Prior marketing studies investigating memory for advertisements have relied almost exclusively on examining effects contingent on explicit memory retrieval. This process involves a deliberate effort on the part of the consumer to think back to an advertisement in an attempt to recall the ad information. Studies in this area have shown that a lengthy delay between ad exposure and test, as well as divided attention during the ad exposure episode, hinder or even eliminate successful explicit memory retrieval. The premise of this paper is that an alternative retrieval process, implicit memory, may function differently. This form of memory retrieval is automatic in nature and does not rely on consumers deliberately searching their memory for a previously viewed advertisement. Comparisons with explicit memory retrieval suggest that implicit memory is preserved even in conditions of delay and divided attention, whereas explicit memory is affected detrimentally by those conditions. The two different forms of retrieval processes are validated with the use of a process dissociation procedure. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Understanding Program-Induced Mood Effects: Decoupling Arousal from Valence

Abstract The role of mood on ad processing was examined by orthogonally manipulating valence (positive versus negative) and arousal (moderate versus high). Measures of signal detection were used to provide evidence of the level (deep versus shallow) and nature (schematic versus data-driven) of processing. Results indicate that the arousal and valence dimensions of mood differentially affect ad processing, with arousal affecting the level of processing and valence influencing the nature of processing. The processing level was more shallow when the arousal level was high rather than moderate. Positive valence was associated with the greater use of schematic processing, whereas negative valence was associated with the greater use of data-driven processing. These results were obtained even when covarying out the effect of arousal and valence at ad retrieval. Therefore, the effects are attributable to the impact of the two dimensions of mood at encoding (i.e., during ad processing) versus ad retrieval (i.e., when responding to the questionnaires).

Factors Affecting Encoding, Retrieval, and Alignment of Sensory Attributes in a Memory‐Based Brand Choice Task

Sensory attributes, such as sound quality ascertained by listening to a stereo, are often ambiguous and therefore difficult to encode and retrieve. Despite this, consumers often place more weight on these attributes compared to verbally described market information when making brand choice decisions. Results from two studies demonstrate that providing criteria to evaluate the sound quality of competing brands of stereos facilitates the encoding, retrieval, and alignment of the sensory attribute in a brand choice task. Study 1 shows that without criteria to evaluate sound quality during trial, memory for this attribute is poor. Further, perceptions of sound quality assimilate to conflicting market information, which adversely affects decision performance. The reverse is true when evaluative criteria and a scheme to rate the criteria are provided: memory for sound quality improves, perceptions of sound quality contrast with conflicting market information, more weight is placed on sound quality when decision making, and better choices are made. Study 2 shows that providing evaluative criteria during product trial enhances performance through improvement in the encoding process. Copyright 2002 by the University of Chicago.

Coping with fear through suppression and avoidance of threatening information.

Fear appeal communications are widely used by social marketers in their efforts to persuade individuals to refrain from engaging in risky behaviors. The present research shows that exposure to a fear appeal can lead to the suppression of concepts semantically related to the threat and bias attentional resources away from threat-relevant information. Participants in the experimental condition viewed a fear appeal advertisement depicting the negative consequences of drinking and driving. The results of a reaction time task showed inhibited responses to words semantically related to drinking (e.g., beer, party) relative to a baseline group that controlled for priming effects (Experiment 1a) and level of fear (Experiment 1b). Furthermore, those in the experimental condition were shown to adopt an attention avoidance processing style, decreasing attention to alcohol-related advertisements appearing in a mock magazine (Experiments 2a and 2b). Because processing of alcohol-related advertising has been linked previously to an increase in drinking and driving, inhibited processing of such advertisements suggests a positive outcome of suppression effects. This contrasts with prior claims suggesting that suppression is counter to prevention-based efforts.

Emotionality and Semantic Onsets: Exploring Orienting Attention Responses in Advertising

Prior research on attention shifts to advertisements has focused primarily on demonstrating how perceptual features can shift attention to advertisements. In this article, the authors demonstrate that certain semantic characteristics of nonfocal advertising elements may similarly attract attention when consumers are focused on a primary task elsewhere in the visual field. In three experiments, the authors investigate how orienting attention responses to highly emotional advertising elements influence ad and brand awareness in cluttered environments. Specifically, they demonstrate that preattentive processing of the semantic information in nonfocal ad headlines can elicit orienting attention responses that result in predictable increases in ad and brand awareness.

What the Blind Eye Sees: Incidental Change Detection as a Source of Perceptual Fluency

As competition for consumer attention continues to increase, marketers must depend in part on effects from advertising exposure that result from less deliberate processing. One such effect is processing fluency. Building on the change detection literature, this research brings a dynamic perspective to fluency research. Three experiments demonstrate that brand logos and product depictions capture greater fluency when they change location in an advertisement from one exposure to the ad to the next. As a consequence, logo preference and brand choice are enhanced. Evidence shows that spontaneous detection of the location change instigates this process and that change detection is incidental in nature; participants in all three experiments were unable to accurately report which brand logos or product depictions changed location across ad exposures. These findings suggest that subtle changes to ad design across repeated exposures can facilitate variables of import to marketers, even when processing is minimal.

Intentional Forgetting as a Facilitator for Recalling New Product Attributes.

When market changes alter what product attributes are deemed important, consumers may intentionally try to forget old product information in an attempt to remember new product information. In Experiment 1, the authors demonstrated that intentional forgetting of this nature temporarily inhibits retrieval of old product information and leads to a benefit to memory for new product information. The results show that, after a short delay, benefits continue in the absence of costs, which is supportive of a multiple-process account of intentional forgetting. Experiment 2 extends these effects using an advertising message to stimulate forgetting. Across both experiments, results also show that brand preference is based on learning of new attribute information.