Abstract: The role of media context in advertising has been the subject of interest for marketers and media practitioners over the past fifty years. However, there remains a lack of clarity on the relationship between media context and advertising outcomes. To structure previous literature and facilitate knowledge development, this study meta-analytically examines the relationship between media context and attitudinal outcome measures (i.e., consumers’ attitudes toward the ad/brand/product and purchase intentions). A total of 31 years of research findings, 96 studies and 597 effect sizes involving 139,233 research participants were synthesized. The key findings suggest that different media context facets leverage consumers’ attitudes and PI differently. Felt involvement with media, transportation (consumers’ experience of becoming non-volitional and absorbed in the media contexts), and perceived trust/credibility of media vehicles exhibited a stronger influence on attitudes/PI. Media-ad congruence, the most commonly examined media context among objective contexts, resulted in a very weak influence on attitudes/PI. The context effect also differed by advertising-related characteristics and extraneous methodological factors. Accordingly, there is a need for both academia and practice to revisit the media context construct with a fresh eye.
Topic: Media Context
Journal of Advertising Research Best Academic Paper Award
Eun Sook Kwon, (Grady PhD, Rochester Institute of Technology), Karen Whitehill King (University of Georgia), Greg Nyilasy (Grady PhD, University of Melbourne) and Leonard N. Reid (University of Georgia), (2019). Impact of Media Context on Advertising Memory: A Meta-Analysis of Advertising Effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 59 (1) 99-128.
Abstract: Media professionals and scholars have examined the influence of media context on advertising effectiveness for more than 50 years, but clarity regarding media-context effects remains lacking, amid an abundance of mixed results. This study used meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between media context and advertising memory in quantitative studies up to 2013. Effect sizes were significant by media-context factors, advertising memory measures, and study characteristics, although these were correlated weakly or moderately. The findings strongly reinforce the decision rule that media professionals should consider media context when making media decisions.
An Interdisciplinary Examination of the Material Effects of Deceptive Sport Beverage Advertisements
Abstract: Sport companies frequently make product claims in advertisements to influence consumer purchase decisions. Sport beverages, in particular, often tout health benefits and performance claims. Unfortunately, some sport beverage claims may be false or misleading, persuading consumers to erroneously purchase products due to incorrect information. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) prohibits any deceptive advertising resulting in a material effect on the consumer. Consumer behaviorists, however, rarely consider the FTC’s guidelines in measuring consumer deception. Therefore, drawing upon consumer behavior theory and the FTC’s guidelines, this paper examines the material effects of deceptive sport beverage advertisements. The authors identify and define three types of materiality: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Employing a within-subjects experimental design, two studies were conducted: print and Facebook. The results reveal both types of deceptive advertisements had positive and statistically significant effects on all three types of materiality. These findings substantiate the determination of a violation by the National Advertising Division (NAD) and support further investigation of deceptive sport beverage advertising and marketing practices by the FTC.
Reducing native advertising deception: Revisiting the antecedents and consequences of persuasion knowledge in digital news contexts.
ABSTRACT: Building on the persuasion knowledge model, this study examines how audience characteristics and native advertising recognition influence the covert persuasion process. Among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (N = 738), we examined digital news readers’ recognition of a sponsored news article as advertising. Although fewer than 1 in 10 readers recognized the article as advertising, recognition was most likely among younger, more educated consumers who engaged with news media for informational purposes. Recognition led to greater counterarguing, and higher levels of informational motivation also led to less favorable evaluations of the content among recognizers. News consumers were most receptive to native advertising in a digital news context when publishers were more transparent about its commercial nature. Beyond theoretical insights into the covert persuasion process, this study offers practical utility to the advertisers, publishers, and policymakers who wish to better understand who is more likely to be confused by this type of advertising so that they can take steps to minimize deception.
The Impact of Media Context on Advertising Memory: A Meta-Analysis of Advertising Memory
Abstract: Media professionals and scholars have examined the influence of media context on advertising effectiveness for more than 50 years, but clarity regarding media-context effects remains lacking, amid an abundance of mixed results. This study used meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between media context and advertising memory in quantitative studies up to 2013. Effect sizes were significant by media-context factors, advertising memory measures, and study characteristics, although these were correlated weakly or moderately. The findings strongly reinforce the decision rule that media professionals should consider media context when making media decisions.