Xiaoli Nan

Consumer Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives: Examining the Role of Brand-Cause Fit in Cause-Related Marketing

Through a controlled experiment, this study demonstrates that an ad with an embedded cause-related marketing (CRM) message, compared with a similar one without a CRM message, elicits more favorable consumer attitude toward the company. This is so regardless of the level of fit between the sponsoring brand and the social cause. Furthermore, when the embedded CRM message involves high versus low brand/cause fit, consumer attitudes toward the ad and the brand are more favorable. Such positive effect of brand/cause fit, however, only emerges for consumers who are high in brand consciousness; for those who are low in brand consciousness, brand/cause fit has no impact on ad or brand evaluations. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Advertising and the Consumer Information Environment Online

The Internet has apparently become an important source of information for consumers and partly because of this trend, the Internet now presents a huge opportunity for advertisers who seek effective communication with their target markets. The purpose of this article is to provide an understanding of the qualities and potentials of the Internet as an advertising medium. First, an overview of the various forms of Internet advertising is provided, as well as a review of existing literature regarding the effectiveness of each form. The article next compares the Internet with traditional mass media from the perspective of the consumer information environment and shows how unique characteristics of the Internet may alter consumer experience and decision making. The article concludes with a discussion of the needs and challenges facing the field.

Advertising Theory: Reconceptualizing the Building Blocks

A large amount of research in advertising utilizes theories from other disciplines and simply uses an advertising message as a stimulus or focal content topic. The actual elements that make advertising unique are often ignored in this work. It is proposed here that advertising theory and research needs to become more focused on what makes advertising a distinct phenomenon and these elements need to be incorporated in our thoughts and research. Four examples of possible elements are suggested here. These are skepticism, repetition, message coordination and clutter. Research in each of these areas is reviewed and illustrations of how they may impact theory development and theory testing in advertising are presented.

The Influence of Liking for a Public Service Announcement on Issue Attitude

This research investigates the influence of an individuals general liking for a public service announcement (PSA) on his or her attitude toward the advocated issue. Drawing up the attitude toward the ad theory, this research argues that ones liking for a PSA or, in other words, ones attitude toward a PSA (APSA), exerts a significant positive impact on issue attitude and that the strength of this positive effect varies as a function of a variety of individual and situational factors. Through two studies involving a total of 230 participants, the effect of attitude toward a PSA on issue attitude is shown to be strong and positive. As expected, the effect tends to be stronger when a message recipients perceived issue relevance is low versus high, when his or her issue knowledge is low versus high, and when the tone of the message is positive versus negative. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.This research investigates the influence of an individuals general liking for a public service announcement (PSA) on his or her attitude toward the advocated issue. Drawing up the attitude toward the ad theory, this research argues that ones liking for a PSA or, in other words, ones attitude toward a PSA (APSA), exerts a significant positive impact on issue attitude and that the strength of this positive effect varies as a function of a variety of individual and situational factors. Through two studies involving a total of 230 participants, the effect of attitude toward a PSA on issue attitude is shown to be strong and positive. As expected, the effect tends to be stronger when a message recipients perceived issue relevance is low versus high, when his or her issue knowledge is low versus high, and when the tone of the message is positive versus negative. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The Relative Persuasive Effect of Gain- versus Loss-Framed Messages: Exploring the Moderating Role of the Desirability of End-States

A persuasive message can focus on either the advantages of compliance (i.e., gain-framed) or the disadvantages of non-compliance (i.e., loss-framed). Previous findings regarding the relative persuasive effect of gain- versus loss-framed messages have been largely inconsistent. This research suggests that there exist two distinct operationalizations of message framing, with one involving desirable end-states and the other involving undesirable end-states. Through two experiments, this research demonstrates that the desirability of end-states has a systematic impact on the relative persuasiveness of gain- versus loss-framed messages and that the nature of such impact is further dependent upon the audiences issue involvement.

The Pursuit of Self-Regulatory Goals: How Counterfactual Thinking Influences Advertising Persuasiveness

Counterfactual thinking (CT) is the process of mentally undoing the outcome of an event by imagining alternate antecedent states. This research distinguishes between two types of CT: positive CT, which involves undoing the absence of previous positive outcomes, and negative CT, which involves undoing the presence of previous negative outcomes. Three experiments demonstrate that engaging in positive CT makes an individuals promotional goals (those related to attaining positive outcomes, such as accomplishments) more accessible relative to preventional goals (those related to avoiding negative outcomes, such as mistakes), whereas engaging in negative CT leads to a reversed effect. Furthermore, the type of CT (positive versus negative) induced prior to ad exposure influences the relative persuasiveness of promotion- versus prevention-focused ad appeals.

The Effects of Mood and Advertising Context on Ad Memory and Evaluations: The Case of a Competitive and a Non-Competitive Ad Context

Abstract This study examines the joint effects of mood and ad context on ad memory and evaluations. It is argued that mood (negative vs. positive) and ad context (competitive vs. non-competitive) both influence the type of processing (item-specific vs. relational processing) adopted by message recipients. As a result, mood and ad context are expected to interact to influence recall of advertising claims and as well as evaluations of advertising. Results of a controlled experiment provided support for the hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. (Keywords: mood, information processing, memory, item-specific processing, relational processing, affect-as-information)

Perceptual Predictors of Global Attitude toward Advertising: An Investigation of Both Generalized and Personalized Beliefs

Abstract This research examines peoples generalized and personalized beliefs about advertising and the relationships between these beliefs and global attitude toward advertising. Results of a survey consisting of a student sample and a non-student sample show that peoples generalized beliefs about advertising (e.g., advertising insults the intelligence of the average consumer) differ significantly from their personalized beliefs (e.g., advertising insults the intelligence of me). Furthermore, personalized beliefs appear to be better predictors of global attitude toward advertising than generalized beliefs. Theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed.