Starting off with an apology : paving the way to consumer persuasion?

Apologies usually follow a notable mistake. However, recently companies have started to apologize in their persuasive communications for committing nothing but a trivial mistake. This article examines whether and why the use of trivial apologies can serve as an effective persuasion technique in direct e-mail campaigns. A field experiment reveals the beneficial impact of a trivial apology on consumers’ behavioral responses. Furthermore, results from three studies show that (1) trivial apologies have a persuasive impact on attitudes and behavioral intentions, (2) a lack of persuasion knowledge activation explains this impact, and (3) disclosing trivial apologies as a persuasion tactic can attenuate this impact. Implications for both marketers and public policy makers are discussed

I tweet, they follow, you eat: Number of followers as nudge on social media to eat more healthily

Highlights - Consumption of healthy food in social settings is inhibited by its low social value - Nudges that rely on social factors (social nudges) may improve this social value. - High numbers of followers on social media accounts are effective social nudges. - High numbers of followers increase social value, hence consumption of healthy food - Influence of Presumed Influence explains the effectiveness of this social nudg

Product placement, its supporters and detractors: A quest for balance

Purpose: This chapter takes a wider approach to the increasingly popular advertising tool of Product Placement (PP), discussing the tool, its usage and the consequences of its usage both from a marketing and a consumer welfare perspective. It also tries to balance these contradictory perspectives to achieve a common and positive ground for all stakeholders. Methodology/approach: A literature review of PP research findings from both a marketing and public policy perspective is used to arrive at a more balanced viewpoint on PP. Practical implications: Marketers are advised not to fight against regulations for PP, but rather develop their creativity to avoid consumers rejecting the disclosed placement. Public policy makers are recommended to improve the current regulations in terms of disclosure and media types (that would be consistent wherever the program is produced or broadcasted) in order to help consumers to become savvier. Social implications: We address consumers’ ability to raise a protective shield in a PP situation. More specifically, we explain how certain disclosures may work better than others to inform about the commercial intent of PP and as such, will empower consumers to manage their own behavioral decisions. Then, we describe how PP can be used to educate consumers about prosocial issues in an entertaining, non-patronizing way. Originality/value of paper: This chapter proposes to go beyond the usual divide between advertisers and policy makers and to balance those views, considering the positive role that PP may play in education while its potential negative impacts could be alleviated through effective training of consumers.The advertising industry has undergone a rapid transformation in recent years. New communication technologies such as live streaming, gaming, social media, online brand communities and blogs have given advertisers new platforms to communicate and promote their messages. Two remarkable phenomena are apparent, often in combination: interactivity in online communication; and integration of editorial and commercial content. Academic research is increasingly focusing upon these new techniques and formats, how they work, and how consumers are affected by or respond to them. This book makes an important contribution to the field of advertising by bringing together state-of-the-art insights with an examination of how the techniques work. The book is split into three sections: The Changing Advertising Universe; Advertising in a Digital Connected World; and Hidden but Paid for: Branded Content. The book provides conceptual overviews, discusses recent academic literature, reports new research, and develops viewpoints on the key issues. Together, it provides a valuable overview of insights into modern advertising practice for advertising academics and practitioners alike

Arming consumers against product placement: A comparison of factual and evaluative educational interventions

International audienceSeveral countries allow product placement on the condition that it is clearly identified to consumers. However, the currently used disclosures are not always effective. Therefore, we investigate the potential of two types of educational interventions (factual versus evaluative) to help consumers identify product placements, as well as the impact they have on the placed brands. Our results show that an evaluative (versus factual) intervention evokes more reactance (Study 1) and has a lower impact on persuasion knowledge but leads to similar correction effects on the purchase intention of the placed brand (Study 2). Study 3 extends these findings by investigating consumer characteristics as a potential moderator and shows that factual (evaluative) interventions lead to more correction effects on purchase intention for lower (higher) self-monitors

PP for product placement or puzzled public?

This research examines the effectiveness of the European ‘PP’ symbol, recently introduced as a warning of product placement in locally produced television programmes. The authors test whether this symbol counters the pervasive effect of product placement on purchase intention. Study 1 shows that the symbol does not prompt resistance to the influence of product placement. This is because the majority of consumers neither notice nor comprehend the symbol. In Study 2, two training methods are tested to increase the symbol’s effectiveness: (1) verbal label training and (2) a combination of verbal label training and information training. The addition of information training is necessary to increase the symbol’s noticeability, whereas verbal label training helps increase the symbol’s comprehensibility and effectiveness in activating persuasion knowledge and decreasing purchase intention. Finally, the results provide evidence that brand recall is crucial for resistance to product placement, suggesting the importance of brand recall as a moderator of resistance processes