Frank, A. (PhD student), Read, G. L., Duncan, J. (PhD student), Hatfield, H. R. (PhD student), & Kim, S (former PhD student). “Examining the effects of violence level and provocation on aversive motivation activation and resource allocation in violent humorous ads,” paper to be presented at 2023 International Communication Association. Toronto, Canada.
Abstract: Our study’s purpose is to examine the balance between humor and violence in ads on cognitive and affective processing of the ad and brand. Prior research suggests positive consumer response to comedic violence in ads may hinge on whether the violence is justified or ‘deserved’ in retaliation to a provocation. Others examined the effectiveness of this marketing strategy on different genders and attitudes toward social norm violations, such as men responding more positively than women to extreme comedic violence. Yet less is known about consumers’ cognitive and emotional processing of comedic violence in ads. We will examine the interaction of violence and provocation in humorous ads upon emotional and cognitive response, specifically probing emotional responses associated with motivational activation and resource allocation as mechanisms underlying the violent humorous ads on overall ad outcomes–e.g., ad and brand attitudes and purchase intentions.
Abstract: This study examined the mechanisms through which attitudes toward OTCA in general and OTCA prompted behaviors are formed based on a consumer socialization framework. An online survey was conducted using the Qualtrics online panel. Completed questionnaires were received from 539 individuals who had taken prescription medicine in the last six months. Of those, 304 were from U.S. adults who had taken an OTC medicine and had seen an advertisement for OTC medicines in the past six months were analyzed to test the proposed model. The results showed that consumers’ use of mass media and professional interpersonal channels directly influenced OTCA attitudes and prompted behaviors. On the other hand, consumers’ use of non-professional interpersonal channels indirectly influenced OTCA outcomes through their use of mass media and professional interpersonal channels. Younger respondents were more likely to obtain OTC medicine information from non-professional interpersonal and mass media sources whereas older respondents were more likely to obtain OTC medicine information from physicians and pharmacists. The findings of this study provide implications for pharmaceutical marketers, health professionals, and consumers of OTC medicines.
Van Noort, G., Himelboim, I., Martin, J., & Collinger, T. (2020). Introducing a model of automated brand-generated content in an era of computational advertising.
Abstract: Advancements in computing, technology, and their applications to advertising enable marketers to deliver brand messages tailored to individuals and consumer segments. The growth of computational advertising (CA) has created new opportunities but also poses risks in the use of algorithms to generate and optimize the impact of such messages. This article addresses a particular domain influenced by these advancements, namely, automated brand-generated content. We offer an automated brand-generated content (ABC) model that posits two advances. First, rather than solely optimizing consumer data for enhanced impact of automated content, we submit, and provide extra key variables to further illustrate, that there is a desirable balance of both consumer and brand data as inputs to algorithms to serve short- and long-term impact goals. Second, this article guides research by addressing tensions between understanding the relationship between inputs and desired impacts (both short and long term) and proposing a research agenda for future work.
Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00913367.2020.1795954
Abstract: Cause‐related marketing (CRM) refers to the phenomenon where brands partner with causes, such as nonprofit organizations. Consumers may see some CRM partnerships as less compatible than others, however the level of perceived compatibility differs from one consumer to another. We know a great deal about how perceptions of compatibility affect attitude and behavior toward CRM partnerships, but we know less about how to predict a consumer’s perception of compatibility. Therefore, our purpose was to investigate the boundaries in which balance theory could be used to make predictions about consumers’ responses to CRM partnerships. This is the first study to consider the construct of attitude strength (vs. attitude alone) when considering balance theory. We found that a consumer’s attitude toward a brand, along with their attitude toward a cause, predicts their perceptions of CRM compatibility. We also found that CRM triadic balance could be predicted when attitude strength was included in the models, and that balance theory allowed us to observe preliminary evidence of attitude and attitude strength spillover effects in CRM triads. Practitioners can use these insights to determine which organizations to partner with, as well as determine how advertising these partnerships may affect acceptance of these partnerships.
Abstract: This study examines the effects of ad-context congruence and ad positions on consumers’ response in an in-stream video advertising setting. Findings of the study indicate that, regardless of ad positions, ad-context congruence improved recall and recognition of the brand while ad-context incongruence facilitated recall of ad content. Taking ad position into consideration, contextual congruence generated enhanced memory of the brand in mid-roll advertising. No significant congruence effects were detected in pre-roll advertising or for attitudinal evaluations. Explanations of hypothesis predictions and analysis results were given concerning several cognitive information processing theories, such as schema theory and priming effects. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and directions for future research were discussed.
