Thomas E. Barry

Spreading the word: Investigating antecedents of consumers’ positive word-of-mouth intentions and behaviors in a retailing context

Empirical studies investigating the antecedents of positive word of mouth (WOM) typically focus on the direct effects of consumers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction with previous purchasing experiences. The authors develop and test a more comprehensive model of the antecedents of positive. WOM (both intentions and behaviors), including consumer identification and commitment. Specifically, they hypothesize and test commitment as a mediator and moderator of satisfaction on positive WOM and commitment as a mediator of identification on WOM. Using data obtained from customers of a retailer offering both products and services, they find support for all hypothesized relationships with WOM intentions and/or WOM behaviors as the dependent variable. The authors conclude with a discussion of their findings and implications for both marketing theory and practice.

A Review and Critique of the Hierarchy of Effects in Advertising

Industry practitioners and social scientists throughout the world have long sought to determine the effectiveness of advertising in this multi-billion dollar industry. For close to a century, many social scientists have debated just how advertising works. One suggested explanation is the hierarchy of effects—that body of literature that posits that audiences go through a variety of stages, namely cognitive, affective, and conative, in responding to advertising, and other persuasive marketing messages. This paper reviews the hierarchy of effects from its beginning at the turn of this century to present-day developments. The paper also examines the controversies surrounding hierarchy models and provides a critique of the evidence supporting its position as an advertising model.

A survey of sales management practices

Abstract When ascertaining what sales management tools and practices to use, one approach would be for sales managers to compare the tools and practices they are presently using (or contemplating) with those used in other firms. This article provides sales managers with the opportunity for such a comparison by presenting the results of a study that examined what tools and practices sales managers are currently employing.

Publication Productivity in the Three Leading U.S. Advertising Journals: Inaugural Issues through 1988

Abstract The research productivity of a discipline should be reviewed and reported upon periodically. Especially important in such a “disciplinary review” is an assessment of institutional contributions, as well as contributions of individual authors. A number of such research assessments have been made in the last twenty-five years; however, there has been no study that has covered the complete histories of the leading advertising journals. This paper documents all primary articles in the Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Advertising, and Current Issues and Research in Advertising from their inaugural issues through the end of 1988. More than 1,500 articles and 2,500 authors are included in this study, which presents the institutions and authors who contribute most frequently to these top three advertising journals.

In Defence of the Hierarchy of Effects: A Rejoinder to Weilbacher

ABSTRACT Thomas E. Barry feels that rather than discard the hierarchy of effects model, we should develop rigorous, collaborative efforts to validate its continued value to guide us in advertising and marketing communications planning for another 100 years.

A cross-country construct validation of cognitive age

This study tests the universality of the Western-based concept known as cognitive age within Japan. It assesses both the internal and external validity of cognitive age among Japanese seniors and compares the findings to the same measures of cognitive age with a sample of senior respondents from the United States. The study finds that the semantic differential scale has the largest trait variance among all aging concepts studied (average cognitive age, average ideal age, and average least-desired age), while the Likert scale possesses the largest trait variance for average cognitive age. The ratio scale was found to have the lowest trait variance of the three scaling formats evaluated. External construct validation studies revealed a remarkable similarity between Japanese females and males, and contrasts between Japanese and American seniors revealed reasonably good generalizability between countries. Average cognitive age appears to be universal within two culturally disjoint countries (the United States and Japan), yet the efficacy of individual measurement scales varies between them.

Comparative Advertising: Perspectives and Issues

Abstract A strategy of advertising being used more and more frequently today, particularly in print and TV, is comparative advertising—the explicit verbal and/or visual presentation of competitors names in the message. Although never banned, comparative advertising has historically been frowned upon particularly by the three major television networks. However, in early 1972 the Federal Trade Commission came out in favor of comparative advertising, and there has been a dramatic increase in its use in the past three years. There are many questions generated by a comparative advertising strategy. For example, “Is comparative advertising simply a comparison strategy or is it disparagement?” “Is it believable?” “Will it propogate more FTC regulation?” This article presents a perspective for comparative advertising and raises issues concerning its appropriateness for marketing managers.

The role of thematic congruence between a mood-inducing event and an advertised product in determining the effects of mood on brand attitudes

We report the results of two experiments that examine the role of thematic congruence between a mood-inducing event and an advertised product in determining the effects of mood on brand attitudes. Under incongruent conditions (manipulating mood using a sports stimulus followed by exposure to a casual shoe or casual shorts ad), positive mood affected attitudes by reducing the processing of ad message information. Under congruent conditions (manipulating mood using a sports stimulus followed by exposure to an athletic shoe or athletic shorts ad), positive mood affected attitudes by facilitating the processing of ad message information. The results suggest that whether positive mood reduces or facilitates message processing depends on the relation between how mood is manipulated and the topical areas for which the effects of mood are examined.

Twenty Years of Comparative Advertising in the United States

US advertisers have been using explicit comparative advertising now for two decades. There is less use of the comparative format in countries outside of the US, including EC countries. As we move into the twenty-first century and as super powers such as the EC implement new directives such as that on comparative advertising, we may see an increased use of such advertising world-wide. There is lack of agreement regarding the definition of comparative advertising and much debate surrounding the effectiveness of this format. This article proposes a comparative advertising taxonomy and reviews the evidence of comparative advertising effectiveness in the US over the last two decades. Recommendations for future research and practice in and of comparative advertising are proposed.

A Framework for Ascertaining Deception in Children's Advertising

Abstract Criteria are explained for judging deceptive or unfair advertising, especially when directed toward children. A model is presented for ascertaining deception in childrens advertising, including the following steps: pre-examination of questioned advertisements, sample selection to obtain relevant and representative children, determine understanding level of children, measure appropriate responses, determine if deception exists, determine deceptions impact, and make a final decision regarding continuation of the campaign or a cease and desist order with or without corrective advertising.