The influence of source attractiveness on self-perception and advertising effectiveness for 6- to 7-year-old children

The objective of this article is to examine the effects of using attractive peer models in advertising for 6- to 7-year-old children. This age is important in children’s development, as children of that age are not yet fully aware of the persuasive intent of advertising, are more focused on perceptual than on cognitive information in ads and are more focused on irrelevant rather than relevant ad information. More insights are therefore needed about whether attractive advertising models influence self-perception and advertising effectiveness of children this young, in order to help policy makers, parents and advertisers understand these effects. Two experimental studies are presented in which children are exposed to ads with peer models. Results show that when children of 6- to 7-year-old rate advertising models as being more attractive, advertising effectiveness raises, but children’s perceived self-worth and children’s perceived physical attractiveness are unaffected. We conclude that 6- to 7- year-old children use model attractiveness as a perceptual cue to rate ads but are not yet using comparisons with these models to evaluate themselves

Social Media Influence: Metrics Matter

It is imperative for companies to engage in social media marketing as consumers are often dependent on online information and electronic word-of-mouth. Past literature claims that consumers evaluate the influence of communications differently on social media than they would in a traditional environment because of the nature of the internet. This study aims to analyze user’s perceptions of social media marketing influence and determines if user’s perception of influence changes based on the number of social media metrics (likes, comments, and shares) that accompany a Facebook post. The study also investigates if perceptions of influence vary depending on a user’s level of involvement in the situation. A 2x2 factorial design is utilized to manipulate both level of involvement and amount of likes, comments, and shares that accompany a Facebook post. The results contend that a high number of likes, comments, and shares on Facebook leads to increased perceptions of source credibility and information usefulness. In particular, the results prove that a high number of likes, comments, and shares on Facebook leads to increased purchase intention in a low-involvement situation. These results are essential to marketers as they prove the importance of curating engaging content on company’s Facebook pages in order to generate high amounts of likes, comments, and shares. Increasing the amount of likes, comments, and shares on Facebook will make the post more influential to users

Correcting political and consumer misperceptions

While fact-checking has grown dramatically in the last decade, little is known about the relative effectiveness of different formats in correcting false beliefs or overcoming partisan resistance to new information. This article addresses that gap by using theories from communication and psychology to compare two prevailing approaches: An online experiment examined how the use of visual “truth scales” interacts with partisanship to shape the effectiveness of corrections. We find that truth scales make fact-checks more effective in some conditions. Contrary to theoretical predictions and the fears of some journalists, their use does not increase partisan backlash against the correction or the organization that produced it

The influence of banner advertisements on attention and memory: human faces with averted gaze can enhance advertising effectiveness

Research suggests that banner advertisements used in online marketing are often overlooked, especially when positioned horizontally on webpages. Such inattention invariably gives rise to an inability to remember advertising brands and messages, undermining the effectiveness of this marketing method. Recent interest has focused on whether human faces within banner advertisements can increase attention to the information they contain, since the gaze cues conveyed by faces can influence where observers look. We report an experiment that investigated the efficacy of faces located in banner advertisements to enhance the attentional processing and memorability of banner contents. We tracked participants’ eye movements when they examined webpages containing either bottom-right vertical banners or bottom-centre horizontal banners. We also manipulated facial information such that banners either contained no face, a face with mutual gaze or a face with averted gaze. We additionally assessed people’s memories for brands and advertising messages. Results indicated that relative to other conditions, the condition involving faces with averted gaze increased attention to the banner overall, as well as to the advertising text and product. Memorability of the brand and advertising message was also enhanced. Conversely, in the condition involving faces with mutual gaze, the focus of attention was localised more on the face region rather than on the text or product, weakening any memory benefits for the brand and advertising message. This detrimental impact of mutual gaze on attention to advertised products was especially marked for vertical banners. These results demonstrate that the inclusion of human faces with averted gaze in banner advertisements provides a promising means for marketers to increase the attention paid to such adverts, thereby enhancing memory for advertising information

The effect of digital signage on shoppers' behavior: the role of the evoked experience

This paper investigates the role of digital signage as experience provider in retail spaces. The findings of a survey-based field experiment demonstrate that digital signage content high on sensory cues evokes affective experience and strengthens customers’ experiential processing route. In contrast, digital signage messages high on “features and benefits” information evoke intellectual experience and strengthen customers’ deliberative processing route. The affective experience is more strongly associated with the attitude towards the ad and the approach behavior towards the advertiser than the intellectual experience. The effect of an ad high on sensory cues on shoppers’ approach to the advertiser is stronger for first-time shoppers, and therefore important in generating loyalty. The findings indicate that the design of brand-related informational cues broadcast over digital in-store monitors affects shoppers’ information processing. The cues evoke sensory and affective experiences and trigger deliberative processes that lead to attitude construction and finally elicit approach behavior towards the advertisers

Video design adaptation to youtube advertising formats

Este trabajo en curso analiza cómo diferentes diseños publicitarios en términos de arousal (intensidad emocional) pueden contribuir a mejorar la efectividad de la video publicidad online. La literatura previa sugiere que un final con alto arousal puede incrementar la efectividad publicitaria. Para comprobar esta proposición, nuestra investigación combina diferentes metodologías: neurociencia aplicada al comportamiento del consumidor; un estudio de campo basado en una campaña publicitaria en YouTube y un estudio final. Los primeros resultados sugieren que el diseño publicitario ha de adaptarse a los nuevos formatos de video publicidad interactiva en función de los objetivos de los anunciantes.This work in progress analyzes how different arousal advertising design may enhance online video advertising effectiveness. Previous research suggests that arousing ending designs could increase ad effectiveness. To test this proposition, our research combines different methodologies: a consumer neuroscience pretest is used to identify high and low arousal sequences; a field study based on a YouTube ad campaign is used as an exploratory study which helps to determine the experimental scenarios to be used in the final study with a large sample size. Preliminary results suggest that ad design need to be adapted to new formats of interactive advertising depending on the advertisers’ goals

Negative affective environments improve complex solving performance

Based on recent affect-cognition theories (Bless et al., 1996; Fiedler, 2001; Sinclair, 1988), the present study predicted and showed a differentiated influence of nice and nasty environments on complex problem solving (CPS). Environments were constructed by manipulating the target value ‘capital’ of a complex scenario: Participants in the nice environment (N=42) easily raised the capital and received positive feedback, whereas those in the nasty environment (N=42) hardly enhanced the capital and got negative feedback. The results showed that nasty environments increased negative and decreased positive affect. The reverse was true for nice environments. Furthermore, nasty environments influenced CPS by leading to a higher information retrieval and a better CPS performance. Surprisingly, the influence of environment on CPS was not mediated through affect (cf. Soldat & Sinclair, 2001), as recent affect-cognition theories suggest. The missing influence of affect and the strong impact of environment are discussed

An Eye for an Eye: Impact of Sequelization and Comparison in Advertisements on Consumer’s Perception of Brands

In this paper we demonstrate that the positive effects of comparative advertising are significantly diluted when a compared-to brand retaliates. Retaliation introduces sequencing in advertisements. We therefore evaluate sequelized advertisements (both comparative and noncomparative) alongside comparative advertisements and ordinary advertisements. We show that, given no threat of comparative advertising from competitors, sequelizing a popular advertisement may be as potent as comparative advertising, in terms of improving consumers’ recall as well as preference for the sponsored brand. Furthermore, an advertisement message may be directed at core benefits (and/or attributes) that a brand promises, or at a stylized theme or storyline that use peripheral cues to indirectly convey the brand’s deliverables. We incorporate this dimension of communication focus and conclude that while comparative advertisements are more effective with objective messages, noncomparative sequelized advertisements work better with thematic or story based messages.

How Troublesome are Stereotypes in International Business?

Substantial concern has been raised in international business writing that national stereotypes bias perception of employees, customers, and others. That concern is certainly supported by findings in person perception research. But some constraints of that research, such as the provision of incomplete information and uninteresting stimuli may well have caused an overestimation of the impact of stereotypes in business situations. This research shows that the impact of stereotypes is likely less than previously thought. When current diagnostic information is available, that information is used, leading to unbiased assessments. Only when information is limited are stereotype-biased judgments generated. A second experiment further shows that people feel more confident in assessments based on current information than in those where information is limited. These relatively optimistic findings suggest methods that managers can use to overcome national stereotype bias in international business situations