Consumer Attitudes Toward Advertisement and Brand, Based on the Number of Endorsers and Product Involvement: An Experimental Study

Utilizing endorsers in the advertising industry to promote products is currently on the rise, and employing celebrities as the endorsers is still the marketers’ favorite method. This study aims to analyze the influence of the number of endorsers and the product’s involvement on the consumers’ attitude towards the advertisement and the brand. The research’s approach used a 2x2 factorial experimental design. A total of 120 undergraduate students, who were further divided into 4 groups, were selected as the respondents of this study. The results show the differences in consumer attitudes towards advertisements and the brand, based on the number of endorsers and the product’s involvement. The study also reveals that if there is low involvement with the product, multiple celebrity endorsements will generate a better consumers’ attitude towards it than a single celebrity endorsement. Multiple celebrity endorsements will also generate a better attitude among the consumers towards the brand than a single celebrity endorsement will produce

Deconstructing and Operationalizing Interactivity: An Online Advertising Perspective

In an online advertising context this empirical study examines the influence of the interface characteristic Interactivity on important user perceptions and their intention to use a website. Results indicate that social presence and telepresence are significant predictors of attitude toward online advertisements, satisfaction with online advertisements, and subsequent intentions to use a host website. Also indicated by this study is the significant influence of interactivity, as well as consumer involvement and the interaction between these two variables. The outcomes of this study offer preliminary insight into the conceptualization and affect of interface characteristics, such as interactivity, in online advertising

News in an era of content confusion: effects of news use motivations and context on native advertising and digital news perceptions

This study examined the effects of differing native advertising framing contexts (hard versus soft news) and individuals’ news use motivations on ability to perceive commercialized content, evaluations of native advertising, and ensuing digital news perceptions. Based upon the framework of the persuasion knowledge model, an online experiment was conducted among a sample of U.S. adults (N = 684). When revealed as advertising, people were more likely to perceive the hard news rather than the soft news framing as commercial in nature. Furthermore, hard news approaches to native advertising were perceived unfavorably by audiences and tarnished the subsequent reporting of actual journalists.Accepted manuscrip

Digital Food Marketing to Children and Adolescents: Problematic Practices and Policy Interventions

Examines trends in digital marketing to youth that uses "immersive" techniques, social media, behavioral profiling, location targeting and mobile marketing, and neuroscience methods. Recommends principles for regulating inappropriate advertising to youth

Emoji Marketing: Strengthening the Consumer Brand Relationship and Its Downstream Effects

Brands communicate and engage directly with their consumers using online communications that often contain emojis. While recent research has examined some of the implications of emojis within marketing contexts, a question still remains regarding the role of emojis in the consumer-brand relationship, and how this digital language can create stronger connections with consumers. In this research, I find that emojis increase perceptions of the brand as a human, thereby enhancing consumer-brand connections with favorable downstream consumption consequences such as word of mouth, click through rates, brand attitudes, willingness to pay, and purchase behaviors. Findings from this research contribute to marketing theory by extending our knowledge of the influence of new technologies, such as emojis in the digital marketplace. Additionally, these findings advance our understanding of emojis (both facial and non-facial emojis) as a digital language that allows brands to communicate with consumers in a more relatable manner. Consequently, marketing managers can be equipped with this information to strategically plan digital brand communications to include emojis and nurture a closer relationship between consumer and brand

Development, access and engagement of a digital study app for women with menstrual pain

Background: Smartphone apps could support patients with self-care while reducing human-to-human contact. A smartphone app previously developed by our study team demonstrated that self-acupressure could achieve reduction in menstrual pain in comparison to usual care. Modernization and adaption of the app and a new trial were needed to keep the knowledge up to date and relevant for current implementation. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop an app-based pragmatic randomized controlled trial (pRCT) for women with menstrual pain that is feasible, to describe the conceptual and technical development process, and to evaluate the user access and user engagement data of this study app. Methods: Based on the previous study and app an adapted study and reengineered app were developed in a multidisciplinary context. The app uses the ResearchKit framework and behaviour change techniques (BCTs) with strict consideration of data protection. User access was estimated by the number of recruited participants over time. User engagement was assessed by the user conversion rate (numbers and proportions of downloads as well as consented and recruited participants) and the baseline survey completion rate. Results: The pRCT and the study app were successfully launched. The app was accessible and participants were well-engaged without external advertising. Within 9 months, the app was downloaded 1458 times and 328 participants were recruited from the German App Store. A total of 98.27% (5157/5248) of the app-based baseline questions were answered. Conclusions: Conducting an app study requires multidisciplinary effort. The resulting study app allowed easy access and active engagement after recruitment via the App Store. Future research is needed to further investigate the determinants of user engagement.Hintergrund: Smartphone-Apps könnten Patienten bei der Selbsthilfe unterstützen und gleichzeitig den Mensch-zu-Mensch-Kontakte reduzieren. Eine frühere Smartphone-App, die von unserem Studienteam zur Unterstützung der Selbstakupressur entwickelt wurde, konnte bereits eine nachhaltige Reduktion von Menstruationsschmerzen im Vergleich zu Normalversorgung erreichen. Die Modernisierung und Anpassung der App und eine neue Studie wurden notwendig, um das Wissen für die aktuelle Implementierung aktuell und relevant zu halten. Zielsetzung: Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, eine praktikable App-basierte randomisierte kontrollierte pragmatische Studie (pRCT) für Frauen mit Menstruationsschmerzen zu entwickeln, den konzeptionellen und technischen Entwicklungsprozess zu beschreiben sowie den Nutzer*innenzugang und die Daten zum Nutzer*innen-Engagement der Studien-App zu evaluieren. Methoden: Basierend auf der vorherigen Studie und App eine adaptierte Studie und überarbeitete App wurden in einem multidisziplinären entwickelt. Die App nutzt das ResearchKit-Framework und Verhaltensänderungstechniken (Behaviour-Change-Techniques, BCTs) unter strikter Berücksichtigung des Datenschutzes. Der Nutzer*innenzugang wurde anhand der Anzahl der rekrutierten Teilnehmer im Laufe der Zeit geschätzt. Das Nutzer*innen-Engagement wurde anhand der Konversionsrate (Anzahl und Anteil der heruntergeladenen, eingewilligten und rekrutierten Teilnehmer) und der Ausfüllrate der Baseline-Umfrage bewertet. Ergebnisse: Der pragmatische RCT und die Studien-App wurden erfolgreich gestartet. Die App war zugänglich und wurde von den Teilnehmer*innen ohne externe Werbung gut angenommen. Innerhalb von 9 Monaten wurde die App 1458 Mal heruntergeladen und 328 Studienteilnehmerinnen wurden aus dem deutschen App Store rekrutiert. Insgesamt wurden 98,27% (5157/5248) der App-basierten Baseline-Fragen beantwortet. Schlussfolgerungen：Die Durchführung einer App-Studie erfordert einen multidisziplinären Aufwand. Die resultierende Studien-App konnte einen einfachen Zugang und ein aktives Engagement für selbstständige Nutzer*innen ermöglichen. Weitere Forschung ist erforderlich, um die Determinanten des Nutzer*innen-Engagements weiter zu untersuchen

Emotional appeals in UK banks’ print advertisement

“A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy”The unprecedented turbulence and uncertainty experienced in global economic and financial markets because of the ―credit crunch‖ has had a damaging impact on consumer confidence. Trust and credibility have been eroded as many customers feel let down by the banks suggesting the need for banks to rebuild constructive dialogue and long-term, meaningful relationships with their customers again. Though financial service, in this case, is considered a utilitarian service, based on the fact that money is needed to support people‘s daily activities, the present state of financial service has suggested the need for banks to appeal to consumers‘ emotions with the aim of improving their reputation. Also, the competition within the industry also could suggest the need to adopt an emotionally appealing advertisement strategy as emotions are known to play an influential role in building robust brand preference. This study builds on the communication theory, meaning transfer theory and consumer involvement theory, to understand the messages the banks are sending out and to elicit consumers‘ emotional reaction. One thousand, two hundred and seventy-four UK bank advertisements in nine national newspapers were content-analysed to identify the emotional appeals presented by the banks. The perception of these appeals and their associated meanings were sought through semi-structured interviews with 33 participants in London and Luton. The results of the analysis indicated that UK Banks are utilising emotional appeal in their advertisements to reach out to the consumers to convince them to upgrade their account, to open an additional account or switch their account. The most predominantly used appeals were relief and relaxation followed by excitement and happiness or satisfaction with the bank, and finally, security and adventure. However, variations were found in different financial products that employed emotional appeals. It was found that high-involvement products such as mortgages and loans used fewer emotional appeals. Both bank groups - high street banks, including the big four (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS) and non-high street banks, such as the new entrants, supermarket brands, and online banks were using emotional appeals. However, it is acknowledged that the communication strategies between these banks could be different as the non-high street banks are more likely to repeat and publish the same messages across many newspapers, instead of publishing different emotionally appealing advertisements. Though consumers acknowledged these emotional appeals in the advertisements, they were more concerned about their relationship with the banks as they don‘t rely on advertisements to make a financial decision. Rather, recommendations from families, friends and associates and also branch location are more important when deciding on which bank to choose. The lack of congruency between financial services and emotional appeals in advertisements is also observed as customers are more likely to be persuaded by rational appeals however this study has not completely ruled out emotional appeals in bank advertisements as the use of both types of appeals is recommended. The study provides important theoretical and managerial contributions to understanding how the consumers understand meaning-embedded advertisements produced by the banks. Managers will be able to consider the implications of advertisements in enhancing their brand equity and building relationships with customers in anticipation that, by word of the mouth and established relationship, their bank‘s reputation will be enhanced. Limitations of the study and opportunities for future research are identified

Enhancing online consumers\u27 anticipatory behavior: An application of transportation theory

Identifying effective persuasion strategies to encourage consumers’ anticipatory behaviors on the Internet is important for marketers. With the development of technology, consumers tend to access the Internet before they make any purchase decisions. However, the extant literature has not fully investigated the role of persuasion in the online environment. This study aims to explore a relatively new persuasion theory—transportation theory—in the online context to investigate the impact of sensory, brand relationship, and social review type cues on consumers’ transportation experiences in the online environment. This dissertation consists of two studies that examine how sensory attributes, and personal and situation factors influence transportation experience, based on the narrative transportation theory as a fundamental theoretical background. Sensory cues are utilized as a way to enhance narrative persuasion in both Study 1 and Study 2. Study 1 employs brand relationship norm theory to investigate the importance of relationship norms between a company and a customer that influence transportation theory. Study 2 draws on social influence theory to examine how previous customers’ review formats influence transportation experience. Both Study 1 and Study 2 employ a scenario-based experiment to investigate the effects of website attributes (sensory cues) on consumers’ transportation experiences. This study further examines the outcomes of consumers’ transportation experiences—online brand experience, emotions, trust, and behavioral intentions

The Impact of Celebrity Endorser Type and Source Credibility on the Advertising Attitudes and Purchase Intentions of Indian Rural Consumers

India is among the fastest growing economies in the world and has the second largest population out of which 70% are considered rural. The rural consumer has witnessed a lifestyle shift wherein they have become brand conscious, consumption of media content has increased and a rising income has opened up possibilities never experienced before. Understanding the love for cinema, celebrity endorsement has become a popular marketing strategy being employed by advertisers in India. The purpose of this study was to find out which celebrity endorser type (national, regional or non-celebrity) was the most effective on rural consumer’s attitude toward the ad, brand, and purchase intention for high and low involvement products. The influence of source credibility attributes on attitudes and purchase intention were also studied. A 3X2 between-subjects design was implemented and a rural sample consisting of members of the nonprofit organization, Kudumbashree, was selected. The findings showed that, overall, non-celebrity endorsers were the most effective for high and low involvement products. In terms of credibility, trustworthiness had the most significant influence on attitudes and purchase intentions. Marketing implications are discussed