THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING MATCHING PURCHASE
MOTIVATION: AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST
JOOST LOEF, GERRIT ANTONIDES AND W. FRED VAN RAAIJ
ERIM REPORT SERIES RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT
ERIM Report Series reference number
ERS-2001-65-MKT
Publication
November 2001
Number of pages
41
Email address corresponding author
antonides@few.eur.nl
Address
Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)
Rotterdam School of Management / Faculteit Bedrijfskunde
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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www.erim.eur.nl
ERASMUS RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
REPORT SERIES
RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA AND CLASSIFICATIONS
Abstract
Several authors have proposed frameworks to help advertisers predict and plan advertising
effectiveness. Rossiter and Percy's advertising grid (1997) recommends that the ad appeal
should match the purchase motivation or attitude base. They suggest that for utilitarian brands
informational advertising is more effective than transformational advertising. Likewise, for
hedonic brands transformational advertising is more effective than informational advertising.
These recommendations were tested in an experiment with different products and different ads.
Advertising effectiveness was measured by brand and ad evaluations.
In contrast with Rossiter and Percy, we find that advertising that mismatches rather than
matches the motivation for the brand is more effective. Our finding can be explained in two
ways. Firstly, schema theory suggests that a moderate degree of incongruity between
advertising and brand perceptions and unexpected but relevant information in the mismatching
ad results in favorable evaluations, as compared with a matching ad. Secondly, research on
attitudes and persuasion suggests that, if typical product category ads are associated with
negative affect, the particular ad functions as a counterattitudinal message, which is more
persuasive in the case of a mismatch rather than a match with the category ads. We find
evidence for both explanations.
Library of Congress
Classification
(LCC)
5001-6182
Business
5410-5417.5
HF 5801+
Marketing
Advertising
Journal of Economic
Literature
(JEL)
M
M 31
C 44
M 37
Business Administration and Business Economics
Marketing
Statistical Decision Theory
Advertising
European Business Schools
Library Group
(EBSLG)
85 A
280 G
255 A
290 L
Gemeenschappelijke Onderwerpsontsluiting (GOO)
Classification GOO
85.00
85.40
85.03
85.40
Keywords GOO
Free keywords
Business General
Managing the marketing function
Decision theory (general)
Advertising
Bedrijfskunde, Organisatiekunde: algemeen
Marketing
Methoden en technieken, operations research
Marketing
Bedrijfskunde / Bedrijfseconomie
Marketing / Besliskunde
Advertenties, Merken
advertising, purchase motivation, advertising grid, matching hypothesis, brand perception
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING MATCHING PURCHASE
MOTIVATION: AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST
Joost Loef and Gerrit Antonides
Erasmus University Rotterdam
and
W. Fred van Raaij
Tilburg University
ABSTRACT
Several authors have proposed frameworks to help advertisers predict and plan
advertising effectiveness. Rossiter and Percy's advertising grid (1997) recommends
that the ad appeal should match the purchase motivation or attitude base. They
suggest that for utilitarian brands informational advertising is more effective than
transformational advertising. Likewise, for hedonic brands transformational
advertising is more effective than informational advertising. These recommendations
were tested in an experiment with different products and different ads. Advertising
effectiveness was measured by brand and ad evaluations.
In contrast with Rossiter and Percy, we find that advertising that mismatches
rather than matches the motivation for the brand is more effective. Our finding can be
explained in two ways. Firstly, schema theory suggests that a moderate degree of
incongruity between advertising and brand perceptions and unexpected but relevant
information in the mismatching ad results in favorable evaluations, as compared with
a matching ad. Secondly, research on attitudes and persuasion suggests that, if typical
product category ads are associated with negative affect, the particular ad functions as
a counterattitudinal message, which is more persuasive in the case of a mismatch
rather than a match with the category ads. We find evidence for both explanations.
1
INTRODUCTION
Advertising grids have been developed to assist professionals and researchers in
assessing the effectiveness of product-ad combinations. The Rossiter-Percy (RP)
advertising grid states that the effectiveness of advertising depends on the type of
purchase motivation (informational versus transformational) and the level of
involvement (Rossiter, Percy & Donovan 1991; Rossiter & Percy 1997). The RP grid
suggests that informational advertising is more effective than transformational
advertising for utilitarian brands, because informational advertising reflects the
purchase motivation associated with utilitarian brands (informational motivation).
Likewise, transformational advertising is more effective than informational
advertising for hedonic goods (transformational motivation). Another well-known
advertising grid is the FCB grid, developed at the advertising agency Foote Cone &
Belding (Vaughn 1980, 1986). The FCB grid distinguishes between products on a
think/feel dimension reflecting the type of information processing associated with the
product. Contrary to the RP grid, the FCB grid does not clearly distinguish between
brands and products. However, brand choice motives can differ from product choice
motives depending on the brand’s positioning in the product category (Rossiter &
Percy 1997). Only if a brand is positioned on a benefit that is related to the main
purchase motive associated with the product category, brand choice and product
choice motives will be largely the same.
The advertising grids state that there is no single way in which ads work, but
that it depends on the advertising situation. The normative recommendation from both
grids is that the ad appeal should match the attitude base. However, Dubé,
Chattopadhyay & Letarte (1996) note that the evidence in support of this
recommendation is anecdotal at best and neither systematically nor empirically
2
investigated. Furthermore, they state that research in psychology on attitudes and
persuasion provides inconclusive findings with respect to the matching hypothesis. In
the light of their remarks, the purpose of this study is to test the matching hypothesis
of the RP advertising grid by means of an experiment. The RP grid is better suited for
testing than the FCB grid because it offers specific advertising tactics for different
advertising situations, while the FCB grid only gives general recommendations.
In the next section, we describe the RP grid in more detail, and deal with
alternative predictions from schema theory and the theory of attitudes and persuasion.
We then describe our experiment and its results. Contrary to RP predictions, we found
that mismatching advertising is more effective than advertising matching the purchase
motivation. We discuss our findings in the final section.
THEORY
In this section, the concepts and terminology used in the RP grid are explained and
related to similar distinctions made in the marketing and advertising literature. Next,
predictions of the RP grid are compared with findings from two streams of research
that yield further insights into the relationships between advertising and purchase
motivation. This review of psychological research on attitudes and persuasion, and
schema theory leads to the identification of conditions in which the matching
hypothesis is likely to hold. Finally, schema theory is discussed to arrive at
hypotheses about information processing associated with ads matching or
mismatching the purchase motivation.
Concepts and terminology of the RP grid.
3
The RP grid specifies that the effectiveness of advertising depends on the type of
purchase motivation (informational versus transformational) and the level of
involvement. Rossiter et al. (1991) define informational motives as "negatively
originated purchase motivations that can be satisfied by providing information about
the product or brand" (p. 16). Transformational motives are defined as "purchase
motives that promise to enhance the brand user by effectuating a transformation in the
brand user’s sensory, mental or social state" (p. 16).
Low-involvement decisions are characterized by trial experience, whereas
high-involvement decisions require search and conviction prior to purchase. In the RP
grid, the attitude toward the brand is considered to be the main indicator of
advertising effectiveness, given awareness of the brand. When transformational
motives prevail, the attitude toward the ad may mediate the attitude toward the brand,
especially for low-involvement brands. However, in the case of informational
motives, the processing of the advertising message is more likely to determine the
brand attitude, rather than the attitude toward the ad.
In their advertising tactics, Rossiter et al. (1991) recommend that ads for lowinvolvement informational products should use simple problem-solution formats and
include only one or two (extremely stated) benefits. For high-involvement
informational products, benefit claims should be convincing enough to change the
initial attitude toward the brand into a positive direction. Ads for low-involvement
transformational products should display emotional authenticity, which is related to
the brand by association. For high-involvement transformational products, both
emotional authenticity and personal identification with the product in the ad is
advised. These advertising tactics are generally referred to in the advertising literature
4
as informational and transformational advertising, respectively (Puto & Wells 1984,
Aaker & Stayman 1992).
Holbrook & Hirschmann (1982) introduced a similar distinction between
utilitarian and hedonic goods in marketing. Utilitarian goods are primarily bought for
informational reasons, including instrumental and utilitarian reasons, whereas hedonic
goods are mainly purchased for transformational reasons, including consummatory
affective (hedonic) gratification (Batra & Ahtola 1990).
Irrespective of whether attitude toward the ad or informational processing
influences the brand attitude, it is plausible that both attitude toward the ad and brand
attitude are determinded by the match or mismatch of product type and ad type. The
matching hypotheses can now be restated as follows:
H1: For utilitarian products, informational ads will lead to more favorable brand and
ad evaluations than transformational ads.
H2: For hedonic products, transformational ads will lead to more favorable brand and
ad evaluations than informational ads.
Conditions in which the matching hypothesis is likely to hold.
Rossiter and Percy (1991, 1997) have formulated their advertising tactics as general
recommendations. However, two streams of research suggest that the matching
hypothesis advanced in the advertising grid is likely to hold only under specific
conditions. Research on attitudes and persuasion has provided conflicting findings
with respect to the matching hypothesis (Dubé et al., 1996). In addition, several
studies based on schema theory contradict the matching hypothesis. Findings from
5
both streams of research lead to the identification of conditions in which the matching
hypothesis is likely to hold, and conditions in which the matching hypothesis may not
hold.
Attitude and persuasion research. Like advertising grids, psychological
research on attitudes and persuasion is concerned with the effectiveness of different
types of arguments in changing different types of attitudes. This differs from the RP
grid in two respects. Firstly, in psychological studies on attitudes and persuasion, a
distinction is made between cognitive and affective attitudes. This distinction does not
necessarily correspond with the distinction between utilitarian and hedonic attitudes
made in the advertising grid. Millar & Millar (1990) classify attitudes as either
affective or cognitive, based on consumers’ statements about a drink, for instance.
Statements such as “cola makes me feel refreshed” (positive) or “water is boring”
(negative) lead to classification as an affective attitude, whereas statements such as
“water is naturally low in calories” (positive) or “cola contains too many
preservatives” (negative) lead to classification as a cognitive attitude. This example
shows that an attitude toward a hedonic product such as a soft drink can be based on
both cognitive and affective statements. However, when brand choice motives are
examined, the two attitude distinctions are very similar. Drolet & Aaker (2001), for
example, use consumers' associations with brands (either cognitive or affective in
nature) to operationalize cognitive-based and affective-based attitudes. In their study,
the Head & Shoulders shampoo brand represents a cognitive-based attitude and the
Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo brand represents an affective-based attitude.
Presumably, Head & Shoulders is bought primarily for utilitarian reasons (dandruff
control) and Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo is bought primarily for hedonic
reasons (soft and mild sensation of hair wash).
6
Secondly, attitude psychology mainly focuses on counterattitudinal
information, whereas the RP grid and advertising studies in general are primarily
concerned with pro-attitudinal information. In Edwards (1990), for example, subjects
tasted a beverage resulting in favorable attitudes based on affect. Then they received
either an affective type of persuasion (the drink’s mildly aversive scent) or a cognitive
type of persuasion (negative information about the drink), in both cases
counterattitudinal in nature. In contrast, ads usually contain positive brand
information. Consequently, only in the case of negative brand attitudes, advertising
contains counterattitudinal information. Bearing in mind these differences with the RP
grid, the most important findings from psychological studies on the effect of message
type on persuasion will be discussed next.
Edwards (1990) finds that affective-based attitudes change more under
affective than under cognitive means of persuasion, and vice versa for cognitive-based
attitudes. Her data support the matching hypothesis: a message that is congruent with
the attitude base is more effective than a message that is incongruent with the attitude
base. However, Millar & Millar (1990) find that affective-based attitudes are more
susceptible to rational than to affective arguments, whereas cognitive-based attitudes
are more susceptible to emotional than to cognitive arguments. This implies that a
message that is incongruent is more effective than a message that is congruent with
the attitude base. Millar (1992) explains these conflicting findings by arguing that
counterattitudinal information directly targeted at the base of the attitude leads to
counterarguing for individuals with strong attitudes, while counterattitudinal
information is likely to overwhelm individuals with weak attitudes. Drolet & Aaker
(2001) find empirical evidence that individuals with weak attitudes, such as those
used by Edwards (1990) are persuaded more by congruent appeals, while individuals
7
with strong attitudes, such as those used in Millar & Millar (1990), are persuaded
more by incongruent appeals.
The studies discussed so far focused on counterattitudinal messages. Millar &
Millar (1990) also investigated proattitudinal messages but they did not find evidence
in their study for an argument type ´ attitude type interaction. They say that this is
understandable because it is difficult to characterize agreement with a proattitudinal
advertisement as an attitude change when there is already a strong attitude present.
However, this reasoning does not seem valid for weak attitudes. Consumers with
weak attitudes may feel more confident about their attitudes when they are exposed to
proattitudinal messages that match their attitude base than when they are exposed to
proattitudinal messages that do not match their attitude base. In this case, matching
may lead to more favorable attitudes. This review of research on attitudes and
persuasion suggests that when consumers have weak brand attitudes, the matching
hypothesis proposed in the RP grid is likely to hold. However, if consumers have
strong negative brand attitudes the mismatching hypothesis may apply (see Table 1).
Schema theory. Schema theory provides an alternative perspective on how
advertising is related to purchase motivation. The premise of schema theory is that an
initially cued schema guides information processing and influences the way
evaluations are formed. Although the focus is on the processing of schemaincongruent information, schema theory also deals with differences in the evaluation
of congruent and incongruent information. Applied to the RP grid, this means that
advertising information is related to the brand schema, which includes information
about the purchase motivation associated with the brand. Advertising can either match
or mismatch the brand schema, i.e., the ad features information that is either
congruent or incongruent with the brand purchase motivation. Fiske & Pavelchak
8
(1986) distinguish between category-based and piecemeal processing, depending on
whether the information matches or mismatches schema knowledge, without
predicting brand evaluations resulting from information processing.
Mandler (1982) hypothesizes how evaluation of incongruent information will
differ from the evaluation of congruent information. He states that a moderate degree
of incongruity will be evaluated more positively than either complete congruity or
extreme incongruity. Unlike Fiske & Pavelchak (1986), Mandler (1982) assumes that
consumers will always try to process incongruent information in a schema-based
manner by assimilation or accommodation, depending on the degree of incongruity. If
incongruity is moderate it can be resolved by assimilation, which will be evaluated
positively. In the case of extreme incongruity, Mandler (1982) predicts that
consumers will attempt accommodation of the unexpected information through
schema-based processing, which is usually accompanied by negative affect. Fiske &
Pavelchak (1986) predict that consumers will switch from schema-based to piecemeal
processing, which differs from the notion of accommodation in that restructuring of
the initially cued schema is not assumed (Stayman, Alden & Smith, 1992).
Meyers-Levy & Tybout (1989) and Stayman, Alden & Smith (1992) find
evidence for Mandler’s (1982) inverted U-shaped relationship between incongruity
and evaluation in the context of (new) product evaluation. Their findings suggest that
moderate incongruity between brand schema and advertising will be evaluated more
favorably if the ad mismatches rather than matches the purchase motivation. This
contradicts the matching hypothesis from the advertising grid. Only in the case of
strong incongruity, schema theory and the RP grid make similar predictions.
However, Lee & Mason (1999) suggest that moderately incongruent
information may also be evaluated less favorably than congruent information
9
depending on whether the information is relevant to the brand. They employ a twodimensional conceptualization of incongruity (Heckler & Childers 1992), which
specifies that ads can be incongruent because they contain both unexpected and
irrelevant information. Lee & Mason (1999) focus on congruity within the ad, while
the RP grid emphasizes congruity between brand schema and advertising. In Lee &
Mason (1999), incongruity is manipulated by pictorial information, which is
unexpected and/or irrelevant to ad expectations cued by the focal benefit of the
advertised brand. Lee & Mason (1999) find that incongruent ads with unexpectedrelevant information are evaluated more favorably than congruent ads containing
expected-relevant information. However, when incongruent ads contain expectedirrelevant information or unexpected-irrelevant information they are evaluated less
favorably than congruent ads. The relatively favorable evaluation of incongruent
information in the context of (new) product evaluation is consistent with these
findings, because incongruity in these studies is likely to represent unexpectedrelevant information to the consumer.
This review of schema theory suggests that the degree and nature of
incongruity also determine the applicability of the matching hypothesis. The matching
hypothesis from the RP grid is likely to hold when incongruity between brand schema
and advertising is strong or when incongruity is moderate and the ad presents either
expected-irrelevant or unexpected-irrelevant information about the brand. When the
incongruity between brand and advertising is moderate and the ad presents
unexpected but relevant information to the brand, the matching hypothesis may not
hold (see Table 1).
-------------------------------------------Table 1 about here
10
-------------------------------------------Ad processing
Information processing is an important aspect of advertising, which is discussed in
schema theory but not in the RP grid. Schema theory suggests that ads, which are
incongruent with the brand schema (ads mismatching the purchase motivation) are
processed more extensively than ads that are congruent with the brand schema (ads
matching the purchase motivation). This is supported by findings from several
studies, irrespective of whether they were intended to test Fiske & Pavelchak’s (1986)
or Mandler’s (1982) conceptualization of processing. The number of thoughts elicited
in mismatch conditions is generally higher than in match conditions (Goodstein 1993,
Stayman et al. 1992). The focus of this more extensive processing is on the source of
incongruity (Goodstein 1993, Meyers-Levy & Tybout 1989, Stayman et al. 1992,
Sujan 1985). However, some studies have also found evidence that extreme
incongruity is accompanied by limited processing (Ozanne, Brucks & Grewal 1992,
Stayman et al. 1992) in line with Mandler’s (1982) view. The focus in these studies is
on the cognitive aspects of processing. This leads to the following hypotheses:
H3: For the utilitarian products, the transformational ad will lead to more thoughts in
total and more incongruity-related thoughts than the informational ad.
H4: For the hedonic product, the informational ad will lead to more thoughts in total
and more incongruity-related thoughts than the transformational ad.
In addition, an important part of Mandler's (1982) theory is concerned with the
affective aspects of processing, which received only limited testing. Mandler (1982)
11
suggests that processing of incongruent information is accompanied by feelings of
heightened arousal. Peracchio & Tybout (1996) find that consumers raised more
questions and expressed more confusion as incongruity increased in the context of
new product evaluation. This leads to the following hypotheses:
H5: For utilitarian products, the transformational ad will lead to more arousal than the
informational ad.
H6: For the hedonic product, the informational ad will lead to more arousal than the
transformational ad.
The hypotheses will be tested with respect to the motivational bases of attitudes for
low-involvement products. This pragmatic choice of products allows for relatively
simple experimental advertising stimuli. Also, for low-involvement products, prior
brand attitudes are far less important than in the case of high-involvement products.
This facilitates the use of fictitional brands in an experiment, which in turn enables us
to observe the expected effects in the absence of potentially disturbing associations
with real brands.
METHOD
Design
A 2 (purchase motivation) ´ 2 (advertising type) between-subjects design was
employed. Both utilitarian and hedonic product descriptions of hypothetical deodorant
and chewing gum brands were used to elicit the main purchase motivation associated
12
with the product category. Ad scenarios were constructed according to the tactics
outlined in the RP grid, resulting in both an informational and a transformational ad
description for each brand (see Appendix 1). Ad scenarios were employed because
transcripts allow for more precise control of the ad stimuli than other preproduction
versions of a television ad, and such a format is commonly used for testing alternative
messages in the advertising industry (Wansink & Ray 1996). Ad scenarios provide a
conservative test of the feelings generated in response to advertising, especially when
ads are designed to generate high levels of feeling, such as transformational ads
(Goodstein, Edell & Moore 1990).
Furthermore, the experimental stimuli were designed in agreement with the
conditions in which the matching hypothesis is likely to hold. Since hypothetical
brands were used, only weak brand attitudes would result. The utilitarian attributes
included in both brand and ad descriptions were cognitive and the hedonic attributes
included in both brand and ad descriptions were affective in nature, consistent with
research on attitude and persuasion.
To ascertain that the incongruity between ad and brand perceptions was the
only source of discrepancy, the ads were designed to prevent within-ad incongruity.
To achieve this, advertising attributes were selected in accordance with the
advertising tactics of the RP grid for informational and transformational ads,
respectively. Consequently, the matching ads featured attributes in the brand
description congruent with the purchase motivation. Mismatching ads featured
attributes congruent with the alternative purchase motivation (not mentioned in the
brand description). In terms of the two-dimensional conceptualization of incongruity
(Heckler & Childers 1992), the matching ads represented expected-relevant
information about the brand whereas the mismatching ads represented unexpected-
13
irrelevant information about the brand. Because the attributes of the mismatching ads
were not uncommon for the products concerned, incongruity was likely to be
moderate.
Pretests
Two pretests were carried out to verify whether the products selected for the
experiment, deodorant and chewing gum, are successful in cueing the intended
purchase motivations and eliciting the accompanying brand perceptions. In the first
pretest, 24 subjects classified each of eight products in two categories representing
either utilitarian or hedonic purchase motivations. The classification of the two
experimental products was as intended. Deodorant was categorized as a product
bought primarily for utilitarian reasons by 75% of the subjects and chewing gum was
categorized as a hedonic product by 75% of the subjects.
Furthermore, the ad schema for deodorant and chewing was investigated in the
first pretest. The presence of an ad schema was checked by five items from
Goodstein’s (1993) questionnaire concerning expectations about product category
ads. An ad schema was deemed present when consumers had a clear idea of how ads
in a particular product category were like. The results showed that there existed a
stronger ad schema for deodorant than for chewing gum. The content of the ad
schema was investigated by asking subjects to describe a typical ad from the product
category. The findings showed that typical deodorant ads were either informational or
transformational and typical chewing gum ads were transformational in nature.
In the second pretest, nine participants each tested four real deodorant brands,
the container wrapped with tape, and two real chewing gum brands, presented without
the packaging, in balanced order. For each brand, participants indicated which
14
descripition fitted best: the experimental brand description or a description based on
the alternative purchase motivation. The experimental description was preferred to the
alternative description for two of the four deodorant brands and for both chewing gum
brands. Next, the participants evaluated the stimulus brands and indicated whether the
brands possessed sensory characteristics consistent with the experimental brand
description. From the two deodorant brands that satisfied the first criterion, the
stimulus brand was evaluated more favorably than the other one (second in the
preference ranking of the four brands) and received higher ratings on the relevant
sensory characteristics. The selected deodorant brand was perceived to have a fresh
yet neutral scent and left a pleasurable feeling on the skin. Of the two chewing gum
brands, the stimulus brand was preferred and received higher ratings on the relevant
sensory characteristics than the other brand. The selected chewing gum brand was
perceived to have a strong, fresh taste and caused an enjoyable chewing experience.
Subjects
Subjects were 81 Dutch undergraduate students of psychology who received credit for
their participation. Subjects were run in groups of eight persons at the most. Data
were collected in October and November 2000 and January 2001.
Procedure
Subjects were told that they were about to participate in a product test and that the
experimenter was interested in their evaluation of a new brand. First, participants
received the brand description and the ad scenario. The first questionnaire included
manipulation checks for brand perceptions, general questions about the product
category, free elicitation of thoughts in response to the ad, ratings of feelings
15
associated with the ad scenario, and a global measure of attitude toward the ad. After
returning the first questionnaire, subjects received the test product, which they could
try. Then, they were given a second questionnaire containing questions on perceived
product quality, manipulation checks for ad and incongruity perceptions, brand
attitude measures and attitude toward the ad measures. After handing in the product
and the second questionnaire, subjects were debriefed.
Measures
The independent variables in this study were type of purchase motivation and ad type.
Incongruity resulted from the interaction between product and ad perceptions, which
were measured both. The dependent variables in this study were processing and
evaluation measures (see Appendix 2).
RESULTS
Manipulation checks
In general, the experimental manipulations were as expected. The new deodorant
Protect was generally perceived as a utilitarian brand, while the new chewing gum
Coolchew was perceived as a hedonic brand. The transformational ads were perceived
to feature transformational content, and the informational ads were perceived to
contain informational content. For Protect, the informational ad was perceived as
more congruent than the transformational ad, while the reverse was true for
Coolchew.
The brands did not only differ in attitudinal base, but also in level of
involvement. Furthermore, the mismatching ads represented unexpected but not
16
irrelevant information to the brands. The manipulation checks for brand, ad and
incongruity perceptions are discussed in detail below (see Table 2).
-------------------------------------------Table 2 about here
-------------------------------------------Brand perceptions. Protect was rated significantly higher on utilitarian than on
hedonic attributes (p < .001). Subjects thought it was relatively likely that Protect
offers the utilitarian benefits "prolonged working" (5.15) and "good protection against
perspiration" (5.34). They found it relatively unlikely that Protect would possess the
hedonic attributes "having a seductive scent" (3.61) and "being helpful in making an
attractive impression on others" (3.44).
Coolchew was generally perceived as a hedonic brand because it was rated
higher on hedonic than on utilitarian attributes (p < .001). Subjects thought it was
relatively likely that Coolchew caused one "to have a fresh and cool breath" (6.47)
and that the brand had an "active and trendy image" (5.88). They found it relatively
unlikely that Coolchew offered the utilitarian benefits "prevention of tooth decay"
(3.75) and "contribution to dental hygiene" (3.80). Furthermore, both Coolchew and
Protect were perceived as equally typical examples of the categories chewing gum
and deodorant, respectively. Product typicality was measured quite reliably by the
three scales (α = 0.79), mentioned in Appendix 2 (brand perceptions). This indicates
that the manipulation of brand perceptions was as intended. However, despite the fact
that both chewing gum and deodorant are identified as low involvement products in
the literature, respondents were significantly more involved with deodorant than with
chewing gum (Protect = 4.72, Coolchew = 3.77, p < .001).
17
Ad perceptions. The ad type manipulation was examined on the base of the
average informational and transformational ad content perceptions, which had
reliability coefficients α of .61 and .70, respectively. Transformational ads carried
more transformational content (5.37 vs. 4.21, p < .001) and less informational content
(3.59 vs. 4.91, p < .001) than informational ads. The differences in transformational
and informational ad content were also significant within each ad type (5.37 vs 3.59, p
< .001 for transformational ads; 4.21 vs. 4.91, p < .05 for informational ads). Overall,
transformational and informational ads did not differ significantly in their relevance
of the ad for the brand or expectedness of the ad’s message. This indicates that the
manipulation of ad perceptions was as intended.
Incongruity perceptions. The ANOVA for ad typicality showed a significant
product main effect. Overall, the Protect ads were perceived as more typical than the
Coolchew ads (5.91 vs. 4.95, p < .001). Since the first pretest indicated that the ad
schema for deodorant is stronger than for chewing gum, it can be concluded that the
lower typicality judgments for Coolchew ads were caused by relatively weak ad
expectations. The expected ad type ´ product interaction effect was significant (p <
.001) showing that the informational ad was more typical than the transformational ad
for Protect (p<.001), while the reverse was true for Coolchew (p < .05).
The ANOVA for expectancy of the ad’s message showed both a product main
effect (p < .01) and an ad type ´ product interaction (p < .01). Mirroring the findings
for ad typicality, the main effect showed that Coolchew ads were less expected than
Protect ads (5.58 vs. 6.44, p < .01). The interaction effect showed that the
informational ad was less expected than the transformational ad for Coolchew (p <
.10), while the reverse was true for Protect (p < .05).
18
The ANOVA for relevance of the ad for the brand showed a marginally
significant ad type ´ product interaction (p < .10). The interaction effect indicated that
the transformational ad was more relevant for hedonic Coolchew than the
informational ad, while the reverse was true for the utilitarian Protect. Based on these
findings it can be concluded that the product ´ ad type interaction was caused by
incongruity.
Hypotheses
All hypotheses were tested using MANOVA's with product and ad type as
independent variables. Product main effects should reflect differences resulting from
the purchase motivation (utilitarian or hedonic) associated with the hypothetical
brands, and ad type main effects should result from differences between informational
and transformational ad types. Since the manipulation checks showed that product ´
ad type interaction effects were due to incongruity, any interaction effects should
reflect differences between ads matching the purchase motivation and ads not
matching the purchase motivation. Next, the results concerning ad evaluation, brand
evaluation and the processing measures will be presented.
-------------------------------------------Table 3 about here
-------------------------------------------Ad evaluation. Hypotheses 1 and 2 stated that for the utilitarian product the
informational ad would be evaluated more favorably than the transformational ad,
while the reverse was expected for the hedonic product. The MANOVA results for
attitude toward the ad showed an ad type main effect (p < .001) and an ad type ´
product interaction effect (p < .01). The transformational ad was judged more
19
favorably than the informational ad for both the hedonic Coolchew and the utilitarian
Protect brands. Contrary to the hypotheses, inspection of the means suggested a
mismatching effect. The mismatching ads had an above-adtype-average evaluation,
while the matching ads had a below-adtype-average evaluation (see Table 3). Given
the main effect of ad type, mismatching ads were evaluated more favorably than
matching ads.
The mismatching result should be due to incongruity, as shown by the
manipulation checks. This was investigated further by running separate regressions on
ad evaluations for the Coolchew and Protect brands, with ad typicality, perceived
informational and transformational content as independent variables (see table 4, Aad).
The negative coefficients for ad typicality showed that congruent ads were evaluated
less favorably than incongruent ads, indicating the mismatching effect. In addition,
transformational ad content led to higher evaluations for both products, whereas
informational ad content led to lower evaluations for Protect.
In conclusion, hypotheses 1 and 2 on ad evaluations were not confirmed.
Transformational ads were more effective than informational ads for both brands.
There was a significant ad type ´ product interaction although not in the expected
direction. Possible explanations for the mismatching hypothesis are given in the
discussion section.
-------------------------------------------Table 4 about here
-------------------------------------------Brand evaluation. The MANOVA results for brand evaluation showed that the
hedonic brand was evaluated more favorably than the utilitarian brand (4.97 vs. 4.07,
p < .01). This is consistent with the fact that the consumption of hedonic products is
20
generally associated with enjoyment, positive feelings and fun (Holbrook &
Hirschman 1982). Neither the ad type main effect nor the ad type ´ product
interaction were significant, although a pattern similar to that found for the ad-related
variables was expected. This suggested that brand evaluations were not influenced by
ad evaluations. This was investigated further by separate regression analyses (not
included in table 4) for each brand. In both cases, brand attitude was influenced
significantly by perceived product quality but not by attitude toward the ad. Although
the coefficient of attitude toward the ad was marginally significant for Protect (p <
.10), a MANOVA showed that this was not due to an ad type ´ product interaction
effect. This means that subjects based their brand evaluations exclusively on the
product trial and ignored the ad. An explanation of why the experimental
manipulations failed to affect brand evaluations will be given in the discussion
section.
Cognitive processing. Content analysis of thoughts showed that both thoughts
about incongruity and thoughts about congruity (e.g., "this is just another standard
deodorant ad") were elicited in response to the ads. Hence both types of thoughts were
included in the analysis. Hypotheses 3 and 4 stated that for the utilitarian brand the
transformational ad would lead to more thoughts in total and more incongruity-related
thoughts than the informational ad, while the reverse was expected for the hedonic
brand. In line with these hypotheses, more congruity-related thoughts can be expected
for ads matching the brand purchase motivation than for ads not matching the brand
purchase motivation. The MANOVA results for incongruity-related thoughts showed
a significant ad type ´ product interaction effect (p < .001). The pattern of means for
incongruity-related thoughts (see table 3) supported the hypotheses. The
transformational ad led to more incongruity thoughts for the utilitarian Protect than
21
for the hedonic Coolchew, while the reverse was true for incongruity thoughts
associated with the informational ad. Furthermore, the MANOVA showed an ad type
´ product interaction for congruity-related thoughts (p < .05). The transformational ad
led to more congruity-related thoughts than the informational ad for the hedonic
brand, while the reverse was true for the utilitarian brand (see Table 3). However, no
effects were found for total number of thoughts. This might be explained from the fact
that the degree of incongruity was too small to cause significant differences in the
number of thoughts elicited. In conclusion, hypotheses 3 and 4 were partly confirmed.
Arousal. Hypotheses 5 and 6 stated that for Protect the transformational ad
would lead to a higher level of arousal than the informational ad, while the reverse
was expected for Coolchew. The MANOVA for arousal showed an ad type main
effect (p < .001) and a marginally significant ad type ´ product interaction effect (p <
.10). The main effect indicated that for both Protect and Coolchew transformational
ads led to more arousal than informational ads (see Table 3). The interaction effect
supported the reasoning that incongruity led to more arousal. The mismatching ads
had above-adtype-average levels of arousal, while the matching ads had belowadtype-average levels of arousal (see Table 3). Separate regression analyses for
Protect and Coolchew were used to investigate the interaction effect due to
incongruity (see Table 4, Arousal). The regression results for Protect showed that both
lower levels of ad typicality (incongruity) and informational ad content led to higher
levels of arousal. The regression for Coolchew was not significant, although the
coefficient of ad typicality had the expected sign. In conclusion, hypothesis 5 for
arousal was confirmed for Protect but not for Coolchew, although the results were in
the predicted direction.
22
DISCUSSION
Three issues emerge from the analysis. First of all, the findings support a mismatching
rather than a matching hypothesis for ad evaluation. Secondly, there is a strong ad
type main effect on ad processing and ad evaluation in addition to the expected ad
type ´ product interaction. Thirdly, the experimental manipulations affected ad
evaluations but not brand evaluations. These three issues will be discussed in this
section.
Two explanations for the relatively favorable evaluation of incongruent ads
are available from the literature. Schema theory states that a moderate amount of
incongruity is evaluated more favorably than either congruity or extreme incongruity
(Mandler 1982). With the experimental design used in this study it is not possible to
determine the level of incongruity with certainty. We can only conclude that matching
ads were more congruent than mismatching ads. However, since the information in
the mismatching ads was only incongruent with brand perceptions and could be
resolved by using product category knowledge, the degree of incongruity was likely
to be moderate. This reasoning is supported by the small number of thoughts related
to incongruity. Moreover, the incongruity can be qualified in terms of the relevancy
and expectancy dimensions (Heckler & Childers 1992). The ad included unexpected
and relevant information to the brands. The finding that incongruent ads including
unexpected but relevant information to the brand were evaluated more favorably than
congruent ads including expected and relevant information, corresponds with Lee &
Mason’s findings (1999).
The second explanation is based on research on attitudes and persuasion,
where also evidence for a mismatching hypothesis has been obtained. However, this
evidence was found in the context of counterattitudinal messages to strong attitudes. It
23
is not likely that our participants formed a strong attitude toward the new brands from
reading the short brand descriptions. However, it is possible that the ad schema
associated with the product category (Goodstein 1993) was cued when subjects read
the ad scenarios. The results from the first pretest indicate that there was a strong ad
schema for deodorant, which was supported by high ad typicality scores in the
experiment. In this interpretation the (mismatching) transformational ad represented a
counterattitudinal message to a strong (negative) attitude based on ad schema affect,
which resulted in more favorable evaluations in line with the mismatching hypothesis
from research on attitudes and persuasion. However, this explanation does not hold
for the hedonic Coolchew brand. Neither the results from the first pretest nor the ad
typicality scores in the experiment suggested a strong advertising schema for chewing
gum. Moreover, there was no evidence of negative category affect associated with
transformational chewing gum ads. In conclusion, the finding that mismatching ads
were evaluated more favorably than matching ads can be explained by the fact that the
incongruent ads were only moderately incongruent and the information in the ad was
not perceived to be irrelevant to the brands. For Protect there was also evidence for
the mismatching hypothesis from research on attitudes and persuasion. Both
explanations suggest relatively high evaluations of mismatching ads, so it is not
possible to distinguish between them. However, the observation that the favorable
evaluation of the mismatching ad was stronger for Protect than for Coolchew suggests
that both explanations are valid.
Another possible explanation of the mismatching effect is that the ad and
brand descriptions in our study only incompletely matched or mismatched the
purchase motivations. Unintendedly, the ad and brand descriptions might have
appealed to other informational and transformational purchase motives (Rossiter et al.
24
1991, Rossiter & Percy 1997). The utilitarian Protect brand was meant to correspond
with RP's problem avoidance motive, whereas the hedonic Coolchew brand was
meant to correspond with RP's sensory gratification and social approval motives.
However, Coolchew might also have appealed to a problem avoidance motive, e.g.,
preventing bad breath. The informational and transformational ads were intended to
relate to the problem avoidance and sensory gratification/social approval motives,
respectively. However, the informational Protect ad might also have appealed to a
social approval motive, e.g., being like a succesful businesswoman, while the
transformational Protect ad might have appealed to a problem avoidance motive, e.g.,
it even works in a hot disco. Likewise, the transformational Coolchew ad might have
appealed to a problem avoidance motive, e.g., preventing bad breath. Thus, the
informational Protect ad might not have matched the purchase motivation completely,
whereas the transformational Protect ad might not have mismatched completely. A
similar reasoning applies to the Coolchew ads. Although our brand and ad
manipulations were successful, these alternative interpretations cannot be ruled out
completely.
The main effects of ad type on ad processing and ad evaluation indicate that
transformational ads, as compared to informational ads, lead to feelings of arousal and
consequently to more favorable evaluations. The results show that the type of ad
strongly influenced ad processing and evaluation, independent of whether the ad
matches or mismatches the attitude base. Ad content was salient to the subjects in the
experiment, because they read the ad scenario twice. The transformational ads
probably contained stronger heuristic cues than the informational ads (Chaiken &
Eagly 1976). This may have led to heuristic processing of transformational ads, which
in turn affected ad evaluations positively.
25
The experimental manipulations failed to affect brand evaluations, contrary to
expectations. The findings suggested that product trials rather than the ad scenarios
influenced brand evaluations. Hoch & Ha (1986) state that ads are likely to influence
brand evaluation when trial experience is ambiguous. The attributes used in our brand
descriptions were intended to be ambiguous in nature to enable the ad to influence
brand evaluations. We assumed that it would be difficult to determine how well the
brands performed in terms of prolonged protection against perspiration, making an
attractive impression on others (deodorant), and propagating an active image, and
contributing to dental hygiene and healthy teeth (chewing gum). On the other hand,
the stimulus brands were selected to possess sensory characteristics associated with
the experimental brand descriptions to ensure that incongruity could not be caused
through disconfirmation from trial experience. Apparently this has led to an
unambiguous trial experience with respect to the sensory characteristics of the brand.
Furthermore, the subjects were only asked about these sensory characteristics in the
second questionnaire and not about the other attributes mentioned in the ad and brand
descriptions. This may have caused subjects to ignore these ambiguous attributes in
trial and brand evaluations.
Future research
From the discussion of the results a number of issues for further research emerge.
Firstly, advertising grids such as the RP and FCB grids assume that consumers relate
the ad to brand perceptions. In this study, it appeared that even under circumstances in
which brand perceptions were salient (a product test), ads were not only related to the
brand schema but also to the ad schema. It is theoretically relevant to distinguish
between brand schema and ad schema, but it is especially important in cases where a
26
specific advertisement matches the brand schema but mismatches the ad schema, and
vice versa. This occurs when ad expectations based on the brand characteristics
(brand schema) are different from ad expectations based on the ad schema.
Furthermore, the schema that is used to judge the ad may depend on the setting in
which consumers view the ad. If a person is oriented toward buying a brand from a
certain product category, it is likely that the brand schema is salient when an ad for
such a product is shown. However, when somebody sees the ad while watching
television, the ad schema for the product category is probably salient.
Secondly, brands and products were confounded in this study. Although it was
assumed that incongruity between ad and brand perceptions caused the findings in this
study, it was not possible to distinguish between brand and product effects. In future
research it is important to separate brand effects from product effects. This might be
done by using two different brands from the same product category.
Thirdly, it is interesting to investigate whether brands associated with different
purchase motives also lead to different sensitivity to incongruity. In research on
attitudes and persuasion, it has been suggested that affect-based attitudes are more
susceptible to incongruity because these attitudes are unidimensional in nature, in
contrast with cognition-based attitudes that are multidimensional in nature. Hence, it
is harder to establish a complete mismatch with a cognition-based attitude than with
an affect-based attitude. It seems likely that this argument also holds for hedonic and
utilitarian attitudes. However, it has also been argued that the tolerance for
incongruity-related phenomena such as arousal is greater for hedonic than for
utilitarian products, which, for example, leads to higher potential for variety seeking
for hedonic brands (e.g. Holbrook & Hirschman 1982). This seems to be an important
issue for further exploration.
27
APPENDIX 1 Brand descriptions and ad scenarios
Utilitarian brand. Protect is a new deodorant that lasts all day long. Now you
don't have to worry any more about the unpleasant effects of perspiration. This
deodorant is available in both rollerstick and spray variants. The brand will be on sale
in supermarkets and drug stores.
Informational Protect ad. A woman in her early thirties, wearing a suit looks
in the camera and tells that she always has to look good in her job. She says: “I have
to trust that I always make a self-assured impression, no matter how busy I am.
Thanks to Protect deodorant I feel fresh and secure all day and can concentrate fully
on my work.” The voice-over ends with the claim “Protect deodorant protects you all
day.”
Transformational Protect ad. The camera shows images of a crowded disco
with young people dancing on steamy R&B music. Then the camera zooms in on a
seductive woman and follows her while she dances to the center of the floor with
sensual movements. She immediately attracts attention and admiring looks from all
the men she passes. The voice-over ends with the claim “Protect deodorant for an
unforgettable impression.”
Hedonic brand. Coolchew is a new chewing gum that gives you a fresh and
cool breath. This active and trendy chewing gum is very tasty. It is available either
separately or in five-piece packaging. The brand will be on sale in supermarkets from
June 2001.
Informational Coolchew ad. A dentist sitting in his office looks in the camera
and tells that dental care among young people is strongly decreasing since a few
years. He says: “In my practice I'm confronted daily with the unpleasant effects of bad
dental care. Hence my advice to young people: don't let it come that far. Except for
28
brushing your teeth regularly, the choice of your chewing gum also contributes to
dental hygiene. That's why I recommend Coolchew chewing gum.” The voice-over
ends with the claim “Coolchew for healthy gums and prevention of cavities.”
Transformational Coolchew ad. The camera shows images of two friends
waiting for their dates. One of the boys is chewing a piece of chewing gum. Then
their girl-friends come out the front door and both couples kiss. The girl-friend of the
boy with the chewing gum winks to her girl-friend and smiles while she nods her
head. In the meantime, the other boy is getting the car. Then the girl-friend of the boy
with the car unexpectedly walks to the boy with the chewing gum and also kisses him.
Then the three laugh and walk to the car. The voice-over ends with the claim
“Coolchew for a fresh and cool breath.”
29
APPENDIX 2 Measures of brand and ad perception, processing and evaluation
measures
1. Brand perceptions. Seven-point attribute belief ratings indicated the extent to
which the brand was associated with utilitarian and hedonic purchase motives. Four
attributes were rated, two from the brand description and two from the accompanying
mismatching ad. Furthermore, the perception of the brand as a good example of the
product category as identified in the pretest, was measured. This typicality judgment
was measured with bipolar 7-point scales: “good example-poor example”, “typicalatypical”, “representative-unrepresentative” (Loken & Ward 1990). Finally, product
involvement was measured with four bipolar 7-point scales: “important-unimportant”,
“means a lot to me-means nothing to me”, “interested-uninterested”, “significantinsignificant”, taken from Zaichkowsky's (1985) PII-scale.
2. Ad perceptions. Informational ad content was measured with the following Likerttype scales: “the advertisement suggests the solution to a problem”, “the commercial
is factual and informative”, and “the ad focuses on usage benefits associated with the
brand” (adapted from Holbrook & Batra 1987, Olney, Holbrook & Batra 1991).
Transformational ad content scales were “the advertisement presents a slice of life”,
“the commercial tries to create a mood”, and “an enjoyment appeal is used in the ad”.
This type of measurement was preferred to the Puto & Wells (1984) scale that uses
the intended effects associated with informational and transformational advertising to
measure ad type perceptions.
3. Incongruity perceptions. Ad typicality measured how well the adjectives
“different”, “typical”, and “unique” describe the ad relative to other ads from the
product category (Goodstein 1993). Typical ads for the product category do not
necessarily match the general purchase motivation, but results from the first pretest
30
indicated that this was the case for both deodorant and chewing gum. Furthermore,
two items were included in the statements about ad content (see 2.) to qualify
incongruity in terms of the relevancy and expectancy dimension (Heckler & Childers
1992). The statement “the ad content is relevant to this brand” measured the relevancy
of the ad for the brand. The statement “the way in which the ad communicates its
message is unexpected” measured the unexpectedness of the ad message.
Processing measures. The cognitive aspects of processing were measured with free
elicitation of thoughts, in response to the first reading of the ad. The affective aspects
of processing were measured with rating of feelings, in response to the second reading
of the ad.
4. Cognitive processing. Sujan (1985) developed a coding scheme to typify cognitive
processing, with the total number of thoughts and a classification thought types as
relevant indicators. Total thoughts and incongruity-related thoughts were used in this
study to measure cognitive processing.
5. Affective processing. The dimensions of arousal and pleasure are often used to
distinguish feelings (e.g. Olney et al. 1991, Russell 1980). Arousal was measured with
the items “stimulated-relaxed”, “excited-calm”, “frenzied-sluggish”, “jittery-dull”,
and “wide awake-sleepy” (Olney et al. 1991). The items “happy-unhappy”, “pleasedannoyed”, “satisfied-unsatisfied” (Olney, Holbrook & Batra 1991), “in good mood-in
bad mood”, “surprised-bored”, “enthusiastic-reserved” (Mano & Oliver 1993),
“gloomy-cheerful” (Russell 1980) measured pleasure. The items from Mano & Oliver
(1993) and Russell (1980) were adapted to obtain meaningful translations into Dutch.
31
Evaluation measures. Both brand and ad evaluation measures were included in this
study. In addition to overall brand attitude and attitude toward the ad, a twodimensional brand attitude and a three-dimensional attitude toward the ad measure
were included. Also, perceived product quality was measured.
6. Brand attitude. The items “good-bad”, “positive-negative”, and “favorableunfavorable” were used to measure overall brand attitude. The utilitarian component
of brand attitude was measured with the items “useful-useless”, “valuable-worthless”,
and “wise-foolish”. The hedonic component of brand attitude was measured with the
items “pleasant-unpleasant”, “nice-awful”, and “agreeable-disagreeable”. Both overall
and two-dimensional brand attitude measures were taken from Batra & Ahtola (1990).
7. Attitude toward the ad. The items “good-bad”, “like-dislike”, “irritating-not
irritating”, “interesting-uninteresting” (Mitchell & Olson 1981) were used to measure
overall attitude toward the ad. The three-dimensional attitude-toward-the-ad measure
was taken from Olney, Holbrook & Batra (1991). The utilitarian component reflecting
how informative and useful ads are, was measured with the items “informativeuninformative”,“helpful-not helpful”, and “useful-not useful”. The hedonic
component, capturing how entertaining and pleasurable ads are, was measured with
the items “pleasant-unpleasant”, “entertaining-not entertaining”, and “enjoyable-not
enjoyable”. The interestingness component is a judgment of curiosity caused by the
ad, measured with the items “makes me curious-does not make me curious”, “not
boring-boring”, and “keeps my attention-does not keep my attention”.
8. Perceived product quality. Perceived product quality was measured with ratings of
the brands’ sensory characteristics. Protect’s perceived quality was measured with six
items related to the deodorant’s scent and four items related to the sensation of the
32
deodorant on the skin. Coolchew’s perceived quality was measured with six items
related to the chewing gum’s taste and four items related to the chewing experience.
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TABLE 1 Conditions for the matching hypothesis
Conditions in which the matching hypothesis is likely to hold
1. Weak brand attitudes
2. Strong incongruity between brand and advertising
3. Moderate incongruity between brand and advertising and advertising presents
expected-irrelevant information
4. Moderate incongruity between brand and advertising and advertising presents
unexpected-irrelevant information
Conditions in which the matching hypothesis is not likely to hold
1. Strong negative brand attitudes (assuming advertising contains positive brand
information)
2. Moderate incongruity between brand and advertising and advertising presents
unexpected-relevant information
38
TABLE 2 Results of the manipulation checks
Protect
BRAND
Coolchew
PERCEPTIONS
Utilitarian attributes
Protection against perspiration 5.34
5.15a
Prolonged effect
Hedonic attributes
Attractive impression
on others
3.44
Seductive scent
3.61a
3.75
Contribution to dental hygiene 3.80 b
Fresh and cool breath
6.47 c
Active and trendy image
5.88 b, c
5.07
Product typicality
AD
Prevention of tooth decay
5.00
Informational ads
Transformational ads
4.91 d, f
3.59 e, f
4.21 d, g
5.37 e, g
Protect
Coolchew
PERCEPTIONS
Informational ad
content
Transformational ad
content
INCONGRUITY
PERCEPTIONS
Informational ad
Transformational ad
Ad typicality
6.61 h
Ad typicality
4.23 I
Expectancy
6.84 j
Expectancy
5.10 k
Relevancy
4.21
Relevancy
3.85
Ad typicality
5.21 h
Ad typicality
5.68 I
Expectancy
6.05 j
Expectancy
6.05 k
Relevancy
3.41
Relevancy
4.35
Figures with the same superscripts differ significantly from each other.
39
TABLE 3 Results of advertising effectiveness
Attitude towards the ad (Hypotheses 1 & 2)
Protect
Coolchew
Ad Type Average
Informational ad
3.08 (.237)
3.60 (.286)
3.34 (.186)
Transformational ad
4.84 (.220)
3.89 (.243)
4.37 (.164)
Protect
Coolchew
Ad Type Average
Informational ad
4.07 (.298)
4.88 (.347)
4.48 (.229)
Transformational ad
4.06 (.277)
5.05 (..298)
4.56 (.203)
Protect
Coolchew
Ad Type Average
Informational ad
3.58 (.280)
3.30 (.273)
3.44 (.195)
Transformational ad
4.14 (.260)
3.55 (.273)
3.84 (.188)
Protect
Coolchew
Ad Type Average
Informational ad
0.00 (.118)
0.45 (.115)
0.23 (.082)
Transformational ad
0.46 (.110)
0.00 (.115)
0.23 (.080)
Protect
Coolchew
Ad Type Average
Informational ad
0.90 (.163)
0.30 (.159)
0.60 (.114)
Transformational ad
0.59 (.152)
0.75 (.159)
0.67 (.110)
Protect
Coolchew
Ad Type Average
Informational ad
2.68 (.236)
3.26 (.285)
2.97 (.185)
Transformational ad
4.64 (.219)
4.35 (.243)
4.49 (.164)
Brand attitude (Hypothesis 1 & 2)
Total thoughts (Hypotheses 3 & 4)
Incongruity-related thoughts (Hypotheses 3 & 4)
Congruity-related thoughts (no hypotheses)
Arousal (Hypotheses 5 & 6)
Figures represent estimated marginal means (standard errors in parentheses).
40
TABLE 4 Regression analyses of attitude toward the ad, and arousal
PROTECT
ba
Aad
Constant
b
p-value
3.9
(.023)
3.352
(.002)
Transformational
0.539
(.009)
0.228
(.073)
Informational
-0.242
(.083)
-0.09
(.502)
Ad typicality
-0.313
(.016)
-0.206
(.041)
2
R (adj.)
0.393
F-Value
9.627
0.122
(.000)
b
Arousal
p-value
2.756
b
(.057)
p-value
Constant
7.127
(.000)
3.070
(.024)
Transformational
0.183
(.302)
0.304
(.065)
Informational
-0.404
(.002)
-0.03
(.860)
Ad typicality
-0.470
(.000)
-0.106
(.405)
R2(adj.)
0.502
F-Value
14.458
a
p-value
COOLCHEW
0.026
(.000)
1.333
b denotes the non-standardized regression coefficient.
41
(.279)
Publications in the Report Series Research* in Management
ERIM Research Program: “Marketing”
2001
Predicting Customer Potential Value. An application in the insurance industry
Peter C. Verhoef & Bas Donkers
ERS-2001-01-MKT
Modeling Potenitally Time-Varying Effects of Promotions on Sales
Philip Hans Franses, Richard Paap & Philip A. Sijthoff
ERS-2001-05-MKT
Modeling Consideration Sets and Brand Choice Using Artificial Neural Networks
Björn Vroomen, Philip Hans Franses & Erjen van Nierop
ERS-2001-10-MKT
Firm Size and Export Intensity: A Transaction Costs and Resource-Based Perspective
Ernst Verwaal & Bas Donkers
ERS-2001-12-MKT
Customs-Related Transaction Costs, Firm Size and International Trade Intensity
Ernst Verwaal & Bas Donkers
ERS-2001-13-MKT
The Effectiveness of Different Mechanisms for Integrating Marketing and R & D
Mark A.A.M. Leenders & Berend Wierenga
ERS-2001-20-MKT
Intra-Firm Adoption Decisions: Departmental Adoption of the Common European Currency
Yvonne M. van Everdingen & Berend Wierenga
ERS-2001-21-MKT
Econometric Analysis of the Market Share Attraction Model
Dennis Fok, Philip Hans Franses & Richard Paap
ERS-2001-25-MKT
Buying High Tech Products: An Embeddedness Perspective
Stefan Wuyts, Stefan Stremersch & Philip Hans Franses
ERS-2001-27-MKT
Changing Perceptions and Changing Behavior in Customer Relationships
Peter C. Verhoef, Philip Hans Franses & Bas Donkers
ERS-2001-31-MKT
How and Why Decision Models Influence Marketing Resource Allocations
Gary L. Lilien, Arvind Rangaswamy, Katrin Starke & Gerrit H. van Bruggen
ERS-2001-33-MKT
*
A complete overview of the ERIM Report Series Research in Management:
http://www.ers.erim.eur.nl
ERIM Research Programs:
LIS Business Processes, Logistics and Information Systems
ORG Organizing for Performance
MKT Marketing
F&A Finance and Accounting
STR Strategy and Entrepreneurship
An Equilibrium-Correction Model for Dynamic Network Data
David Dekker, Philip Hans Franses & David Krackhardt
ERS-2001-39-MKT
Aggegration Methods in International Comparisons: What Have We Learned?
Bert M. Balk
ERS-2001-41-MKT
The Impact of Channel Function Performance on Buyer-Seller Relationships in Marketing Channels
Gerrit H. van Bruggen, Manish Kacker & Chantal Nieuwlaat
ERS-2001-44-MKT
Incorporating Responsiveness to Marketing Efforts when Modeling Brand Choice
Dennis Fok, Philip Hans Franses & Richard Paap
ERS-2001-47-MKT
Competitiveness of Family Businesses: Distinghuising Family Orientation and Business Orientation
Mark A.A.M. Leenders & Eric Waarts
ERS-2001-50-MKT
The Effectiveness of Advertising Matching Purchase Motivation: An Experimental Test
ERS-2001-65-MKT
Joost Loef, Gerrit Antonides & W. Fred van Raaij
2000
Impact of the Employee Communication and Perceived External Prestige on Organizational Identification
Ale Smidts, Cees B.M. van Riel & Ad Th.H. Pruyn
ERS-2000-01-MKT
Forecasting Market Shares from Models for Sales
Dennis Fok & Philip Hans Franses
ERS-2000-03-MKT
The Effect of Relational Constructs on Relationship Performance: Does Duration Matter?
Peter C. Verhoef, Philip Hans Franses & Janny C. Hoekstra
ERS-2000-08-MKT
Informants in Organizational Marketing Research: How Many, Who, and How to Aggregate Response?
Gerrit H. van Bruggen, Gary L. Lilien & Manish Kacker
ERS-2000-32-MKT
The Powerful Triangle of Marketing Data, Managerial Judgment, and Marketing Management Support Systems
Gerrit H. van Bruggen, Ale Smidts & Berend Wierenga
ERS-2000-33-MKT
Consumer Perception and Evaluation of Waiting Time: A Field Experiment
Gerrit Antonides, Peter C. Verhoef & Marcel van Aalst
ERS-2000-35-MKT
Broker Positions in Task-Specific Knowledge Networks: Effects on Perceived Performance and Role Stressors in
an Account Management System
David Dekker, Frans Stokman & Philip Hans Franses
ERS-2000-37-MKT
Modeling Unobserved Consideration Sets for Household Panel Data
Erjen van Nierop, Richard Paap, Bart Bronnenberg, Philip Hans Franses & Michel Wedel
ERS-2000-42-MKT
ii
A Managerial Perspective on the Logic of Increasing Returns
Erik den Hartigh, Fred Langerak & Harry Commandeur
ERS-2000-48-MKT
The Mediating Effect of NPD-Activities and NPD-Performance on the Relationship between Market Orientation
and Organizational Performance
Fred Langerak, Erik Jan Hultink & Henry S.J. Robben
ERS-2000-50-MKT
Sensemaking from actions: Deriving organization members’ means and ends from their day-to-day behavior
Johan van Rekom, Cees B.M. van Riel & Berend Wierenga
ERS-2000-52-MKT
iii