Impact of dance in advertisements on emotional attachment towards the advertised brand: Self-congruence theory

The present study examines how consumers’ perceived congruence between their self-concept and the image of the dance incorporated in online advertisements influences emotional attachment toward the advertised brand. The partial least squares structural equation model was applied to the data analysis. The results show that congruence between self-concept and the dance incorporated in online advertisements has a positive impact on emotional attachment toward the advertised brand. More specifically, the present study demonstrate that ideal self/dance-congruence increase emotional attachment towards advertised brand as hypothesized. However, contrary to expectations, actual self/dance-congruence has negligible contribution to emotional attachment towards advertised brand. The managerial implications of the study are outlined

Threshold concepts in teaching and learning undergraduate marketing research

The paper reports on the possibilities and limitations of identifying threshold concepts in the subject of marketing research. Threshold concepts are distinct key concepts of a subject, which, if well understood, can lead to a transformed way of viewing the subject and reality in general. The empirical study focused on evaluating a list of selected key concepts of undergraduate marketing research to determine whether or not any of these concepts could be included in a more structured research project on threshold concepts. The research results show that 15 of the 35 selected concepts possess characteristics that make these concepts potential threshold concepts. Further studies are required to determine whether or not these 15 concepts possess the characteristics of threshold concepts

Gender effects on consumers' attitudes toward comedic violence in advertisements

This study examined gender’s effects on attitudes and tendencies to share online ads containing comedic violence. The results show that males enjoyed comedic violence more than females, when the perpetrator of the comedic violence was male, regardless of the victim’s sex; and, when the perpetrator and victim were both female. When the perpetrator and victim were of different sexes, the impact of attitudes towards comedic violence on sharing the ad varied by gender. However, when the victim and perpetrator were of the same sex, there was no significant gender difference in the effects of attitudes toward sharing the ad

Influence of perceived city brand image on emotional attachment to the city

Purpose - This study examines the influence of perceived city brand image on emotional attachment to the city. The study also compares the effects of perceived brand image of the city on the emotional attachment to the city across two groups: residents and visitors. Design/methodology - A total of 207 usable questionnaires were collected from 107 residents of the city of Bratislava, Slovakia, and 100 visitors to the city. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method was used for data analysis. Findings - This study establishes that perceived city brand image significantly influences emotional attachment to the city. The study concludes that affective city image has greater impact on emotional attachment to the city among the residents than visitors. In contrast, the influence of cognitive city image on emotional attachment to the city does not vary across the two categories of residents and visitors to the city. Practical implications - City tourism marketers should focus on improving city brand images to enhance tourists’ emotional attachment to the city to promote repeat visits among visitors. Originality/value - This study contributes to improving understanding of the impact of perceived city brand image on emotional attachment to the city across the two groups, residents and visitors, using social exchange theory. Furthermore, the findings come from a relatively under-researched Central and Eastern European (CEE) region

Effectiveness of tobacco control television advertisements with different types of emotional content on tobacco use in England, 2004–2010

Aim: To examine the effects of tobacco control television advertisements with positive and negative emotional content on adult smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption. Design: Analysis of monthly cross-sectional surveys using generalised additive models. Setting: England. Participants: 60 000 adults aged 18 years or over living in England and interviewed in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey from 2004 to 2010. Measurements: Current smoking status, daily cigarette consumption, tobacco control gross rating points (GRPs—a measure of per capita advertising exposure), cigarette costliness, concurrent tobacco control policies, sociodemographic variables. Results: After adjusting for cigarette costliness, other tobacco control policies and individual characteristics, we found that a 400-point increase in positive emotive GRPs was associated with 7% lower odds of smoking (odds ratio (OR) 0.93, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.98) 1 month later and a similar increase in negative emotive GRPs was significantly associated with 4% lower odds of smoking (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92 to 0.999) 2 months later. An increase in negative emotive GRPs from 0 to 400 was also associated with a significant 3.3% (95% CI 1.1 to 5.6) decrease in average cigarette consumption. There was no evidence that the association between positive emotive GRPs and the outcomes differed depending on the intensity of negative emotive GRPs (and vice versa). Conclusions: This is the first study to explore the effects of campaigns with different types of emotive content on adult smoking prevalence and consumption. It suggests that both types of campaign (positive and negative) are effective in reducing smoking prevalence, whereas consumption among smokers was only affected by campaigns evoking negative emotions

Controversies in values research: methodological implications

This paper reviews the controversies surrounding values research. The methodological implications of these controversies are also highlighted. Awareness of these controversies might enable researchers to make more informed choices of values research approaches. In addition, the awareness could be the basis for further research work

Impact of materialism on consumers' ethical evaluation and acceptance of product placement in movies

Purpose Business organisations have been using product placement in movies as a marketing communications tool for a long time. Yet, concerns have been raised about consumers' perceptions of the ethicality and acceptability of product placement. This study investigates the importance of consumer materialism and consumer ethical evaluation of product placement as factors influencing consumer acceptance of product placement in movies. Methodology 250 UK moviegoing adults were surveyed and the resulting data analysed using structural equations modelling. Findings The findings reveal that moviegoers who score higher on materialism find product placement more acceptable than those who score lower. Limitations Further studies are recommended to determine whether or not the incorporation of other variables could improve the model fit and variance explained for endogenous variables. Implications The study concludes that consumers' perceptions about the ethicality of product placement mediate the relationship between materialism and product placement acceptability. Contribution This study suggests that business organisations need to be aware of the important role of materialism in influencing the perception that product placement is broadly ethical and acceptable as a means of market communication

Determining linkages between consumer choices in a social context and the consumer's values: a means–end approach

This paper presents a conceptual model of means–end theory. The proposed model, built on Gutman's (1982) contributions to means–end theory, consists of four conceptual categories that are linked together. The conceptual categories are context-nested consumer choices, attributes of the consumer choices, consequences and values. The discussion uses results of four cases to illustrate the conceptual categories of the proposed explanatory means–end model. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications Ltd

Fear appeals in anti-smoking advertising: how important is self-efficacy?

Fear appeals are frequently used in anti-smoking advertising. The evidence on the effectiveness of fear appeals is mixed and in some studies strong fear appeals have been found to reinforce the undesirable behaviour. Individual self-efficacy may play a role in moderating the effects of fear appeals. In advertising contexts where the intention was to encourage socially desirable behaviours it has been shown that greater self-efficacy is associated with a more positive response to fear appeals. Similarly, in such contexts the perceived ethicality of a fear-appeal advertisement appears to be positively related to self-efficacy. The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between self-efficacy, perceived ethicality and the impact of advertising on behavioural intentions in a context where the aim is to discourage undesirable behaviour, namely, anti-smoking advertising. Questionnaire data were gathered from 434 respondents in London, England. Respondents with higher reported self-efficacy were found to have more favourable views of the ethicality of fear-appeal advertising, more positive attitudes towards the advertising, and stronger intentions to quit smoking. It is recommended that when using fear appeals in advertising to discourage undesirable behaviour, advertisers should incorporate messages designed to enhance self-efficacy