Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. 2)

What is the best marketing strategy in video games? The literature is not unanimous in upholding the best strategy. Researchers investigating advertising effectiveness disagree on the value of product placement in video games and the methods firms should use with product placement strategies. The state of the question now must figure out the dichotomy between two perspectives: to identify the differences in the effectiveness of product placement in video games when using “traditional placement approaches” compared to the “branded entertainment approach”. The “traditional approach” to product placement in video games involves the product appearing as a visual object that is passive, used by characters and players or mentioned in the audio, which functions as an advertisement for the product (Shrum, 2004). The “branded entertainment approach” to product placement in video games involves integrating a proprietary character into the theme or plot, with the branded product anthropomorphised (Winkler and Buckner, 2006). “Branded entertainment” differs from the “traditional approach” because the plot of the entertainment is fully focused on the branded product.

As the overload of advertising in traditional media is causing annoyance with the audience (Fennis and Bakker, 2001) leading to advertising avoidance (Woltman-Elpers et al., 2003), marketers are exploring various new ways to convey brand-related messages to consumers. One of the proposed techniques is product or brand (name) placement, which is defined as the incorporation of a brand name into an entertainment vehicle (Ferraro and Avery, 2000). Past research concerning product placement mainly focused on product and brand name placement in movies (Babin and Carder, 1996; d’Astous and Chartier, 2000; Wiles and Danielova, 2009; Yang and Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2007), television programs (Gould and Gupta, 2006; La Ferle and Edwards, 2006; Matthes et al., 2007; Russell, 2002; Russell and Stern, 2006; Van Reijmersdal et al., 2007), music videos (Schemer et al., 2008), games (Lee and Faber, 2007; Mackay et al., 2009; Nelson, 2002; Schneider and Cornwell, 2005) or novels (Brennan, 2008; Friedman, 1985). Recent academic research suggests that brand placement can be implemented by including brand names in song lyrics (Delattre and Colovic, 2009), which often occurs in practice.

Advergames are a new and fast-growing category of interactive advertising tools (Faber et al, 2004). Most of the common advergames can be described as casual browser games constructed around one particular brand, and in most cases they are available for free either on the manufacturer’s own site or on a high-traffic website (Lee and Youn, 2008; Svahn, 2005; Waiguny and Terlutter, 2009). Like TV advertising, advergames are part of marketing communications and usually promote only one brand. From the advertisers’ point of view, the main objectives of marketing communications are to foster brand awareness, to emotionalize brand attitude, and to foster brand relationships. However, advergames are different from TV advertising in several key ways (active vs. passive reception, non/low vs. high interactivity while exposed to the brand, exposure time etc.).The basic research question addressed by this study is:

In terms of advertising effects, how do advergames differ from traditional TV advertising?

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating, incurable disease. The disease pathway is typically characterised by a long preclinical phase in which patients experience mild cognitive impairments (Visser et al, 2002). Medical research states that through early diagnosis of symptoms the disease process can be slowed down (Seltzer, 2007; Bain et al., 2008). The main concern is then to make the population at risk aware of the importance of early diagnosis and stimulate them to take responsible actions at the earliest stage of the onset of the disease. Very little is known about the efficacy of health communication in the domain of a fatal disease, where one can merely intervene in order to lengthen the time period in which the patient can still enjoy a reasonable quality of life. However, results of previous research on the emotional and cognitive responses to various message formats of (health) communication can serve as frameworks to analyze different types of health messages (Williams-Piehota et al., 2006; Morris et al., 2002; Bagozzi et al., 1999; Brown and Stayman, 1992; Petty et al., 1993; Mitchell, 1988; Petty and Cacioppo, 1986; Chaiken, 1980).

Climate change arguably represents the most challenging environmental threat of our time, owing to its magnitude, complexity, and irreversible effects (European Commission, 2008; Moser, 2010). This issue has garnered increased attention since the late eighties (Nerlich et al., 2010). At first, a great deal of media and public debate centered on the existence of climate change; later, the discussion shifted to the origins of climate change and global warming, be it anthropogenic (ie, human-induced) or part of the natural cycle of the Earth’s climate (Moser, 2010). Nowadays, there is general agreement in the scientific community regarding the existence and anthropogenic causes of climate change (Nerlich et al., 2010).

It is widely accepted that a framework is necessary to regulate advertising activities. Advertising has a responsibility within our economic system, to provide information on new and existing products and services. Economic health of both buyers and competitors is affected if the advertising system is injected with false or misleading claims. Thus, Government and self-regulation associations should create a set of rules which define and control the behaviour of the advertising companies. Taking into account the power attributed to advertising for influencing consumer behaviour, some of those mentioned rules are established to protect the audience.

According to research on message framing, messages that are factually equivalent, but framed differently, often lead to differences in persuasion (Yi and Baumgartner, 2009). Most previous research on message framing has compared message frames that differ in overall valence, i.e., positive frames versus negative frames (Rothman and Salovey, 1997; Levin et al., 1998). Message framing in terms of a prevention versus promotion outcome focus lately received an increased academic interest. This way of framing is based on the self-regulatory focus theory of Higgins (1997), stating that people can be classified as either relatively more promotion-focused or relatively more prevention-focused. Furthermore, this theory proposes that message (frame) effectiveness depends on consumers’ underlying motivational orientations (e.g., Aaker and Lee, 2001). That is, when the message frame is congruent to the viewer’s self-regulatory focus, the message is assumed to be more effective (Higgins, 2002). Although ample evidence supporting this regulatory congruency principle has been found (e.g., Latimer, et al., 2007; Yi and Baumgartner, 2008), the boundaries of this principle are still insufficiently studied. So far, studies have mainly focused on differently framed rational messages. To our knowledge, no studies were conducted yet to scrutinize the effectiveness of differently framed emotional messages despite the importance of emotions in consumer decision-making and their use in realistic ads (Pham, 1998). Therefore, the current study wants to complement prior academic research by examining the moderating role of message type (i.e., rational vs. emotional) on the effectiveness of regulatory congruent versus incongruent messages.

Social advertising campaigns address anti-social behavior and pandemics, like HIV/AIDS, with the intention to bring about social change. The effectiveness of advertising is strongly influenced by its ability to target a specific, preferably homogeneous, target market. Advertising in South Africa is often targeted at a heterogeneous audience with a standardized message. The HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa is a major concern, especially amongst adolescents, and the main advertising campaign LoveLife does not seem to be producing the desired results.

Today, it is estimated that 7.6 per cent of the world population is aged over 65 (CIA, 2009), making it the fastest-growing age segment in the world. Considering that older citizens do not only grow in number, but also in life expectancy and economic power, one would expect the elderly to receive a great amount of attention from advertisers. But even though marketing executives are aware of the importance of senior consumers, older models are rarely used in mainstream advertising. When they appear in advertisements, elderly are primarily depicted in a negative, stereotypical way (Gunter, 1998; Sikkel, 2004). Older models are mainly found in ads for ‘senior products’ like health products, often suggesting some form of physical impairment. However, these cliché images are far from the current reality. Today’s seniors are socially active, living an active and dynamic life. They are also a powerful consumer group with the means and the willingness to try out new things (Hanson, 1998). Nevertheless, almost no models older than 50 can be found in advertisements for general, age-universal products. This underrepresentation and stereotyping evokes feelings of dissatisfaction, frustration and even insult (Dutta-Bergman, 2006). Many older consumers become alienated from and disinterested in advertisements because they do not identify with the models used in advertisements. These emotions can negatively influence seniors’ attitudes towards advertising (and brands) and affect their purchase intention. While a series of studies revealed that older consumers would like to see more models of their own age in ads (e.g. Long, 1998), other research suggests that seniors do not wish to be confronted more models of their age group in advertisements (Greco, 1989; Carrigan and Szmigin, 1999). Therefore, the main question addressed in this study is: do senior consumers prefer seeing models of their own age, models who match their subjective age, or even younger models in advertising?

The purpose of this study is to analyze whether the body mass index (BMI), body shape perception (BSP) and self-esteem influence children’s development of TV advertising literacy. Given the present rise in overweight among children and the dominance of advertising for highly sugared, salted or fatty foods, the relationship between the three above-mentioned factors and advertising literacy deserves attention (e.g. Desrochers and Holt, 2007; Harker et al., 2007). Furthermore, the influence of TV exposure on advertising literacy as well as the relationship between advertising literacy and the effects of advertising on children are researched. Concerning the nature of these relationships a consensus has not yet been reached in the literature and further empirical research is required.

Nowadays it is impossible to go through daily life without the use of media; the patterns of our daily lives are determined by and intertwined with media use. But what happens to daily routines and media usage when an event occurs that drastically changes the circumstances of our lives? Peoples´ lives can be transformed by major changes: some might be intentional, such as occupational changes or relocations, e.g. leaving the parental home for the first time; other changes may happen unintentionally, e.g. illnesses or the death of relatives or loved ones. How can such a situation of change be understood or constructed? What happens to the daily routines of the people affected? What do they require in order to cope with the changed situation? Which challenges are they confronted with? How can life changing situations be operationalized by media companies and advertisers? How can they support individuals in life changing situations?

According to a recent report on the values, attitudes, behaviors and demographic characteristics of the Millennial generation (Pew Research, 2010a), the Millennial generation refers “those born after 1980 –the first generation to come of age in the new Millennium (p.4).” Compared to previous American generations, Milliennials (ages 18-33) are more likely to use the Internet wirelessly. They remain more likely to actively engage in a wide range of communication and entertainment-related activities online, such as using social networking sites and instant messaging, listening to music, reading blogs, and playing games online (Pew Research, 2010b). Among the many online activities, using social media (SM hereafter) such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter has appeared to be most popular among Millennials. A recent report by eMarketer (2008) forecasts that global advertising expenditures on SM will reach $ 2.6 billion by 2012. Given their potential impact on branding, marketers and advertisers have employed SM as a tool to develop positive brand relationships with young consumers by promoting advertising messages on these sites.

Nowadays, television media has evolved into an important channel of direct selling that brands and advertisers are exploiting. Many technological changes (e.g., digital television appearance or the integration of Internet in the TV medium and mobile technology) have increasingly led to consumers see television as a channel for purchasing products and services and as a source of information (Beyer et al., 2007). However, researchers have put little interest on teleshopping, one of the consumer behaviour phenomena.

Marketing literature have shown personal influences have a great importance on consumer behavior. Opinions by other consumers have been found to exert a significant impact on consumers’ buying decisions (Arndt, 1967; Chatterjee, 2001; Katz and Lazarfeld, 1955), as well as on post-purchase product perceptions (Bone, 1995). This communication process is called word of mouth (WOM) and it is considered more effective than traditional marketing tools such as personal selling and advertising (Engel et al., 1969; Goldsmith and Horowitz, 2006; Katz and Lazarfeld, 1955).

Our business-to-consumer markets are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Due to quickly advanced wireless communication technology, many firms have already adopted mobile-based promotions. For example, DreamWorks Home Entertainment used a viral campaign for the DVD of the film

The Ring 2

that operated on mobile phones and email accounts. Visitors to the campaign site were invited to “scare their friends” by entering their email address and mobile telephone number. The site then sent them an email, inviting them to click on a link and watch the video. McDonald’s offers three different types of mobile coupons on three different platforms, from the basic text-only SMS version to the graphically rich version—that is, fully trackable and redeemable, all without any POS hardware or software requirements (iMedia Connection, 2005a, b).

Academic interest in the field of crisis communication has significantly increased over the years (Ulmer et al., 2007). Corporations are becoming more and more aware that crises can and will happen to organizations just like themselves (Benson, 1988). No company can escape all crises during its life cycle, and it is during these crisis situations that the battle to protect credibility in the eyes of stakeholders is most fierce (Hobbs, 1995). It takes many years to build a favorable organizational reputation but only one single crisis to ruin it (Dean, 2004). Since a good reputation is a central goal of every organization, there is a need to study the use of crisis response communication strategies in order to defend reputations during crises (Benoit, 1995; Coombs and Holladay, 2002).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be defined as those business activities which take into account the public consequences of company decisions over and above the simple compliance with government regulations (Menguc and Ozanne, 2005; Sharma, 2000). Thus, the management of a company should go beyond the economic concerns, considering both the social and environmental issues as relevant (Clarkson, 1991). Previous research highlights the importance of CSR for firms’ stakeholders, yet researchers find low consumer awareness of socially responsible initiatives (Beckmann, 2007; Du et al., 2007; Pomering and Dolnicar, 2009). How to communicate socially responsible initiatives is an important issue both for researchers and managers who invest resources in CSR campaigns.

Many organizations have placed increasingly importance on marketing-oriented publicity compared to advertising (Ries and Ries 2002; Shimp 2007). The main distinction between advertising and publicity is found in their definitions. Advertising is paid communication that identifies the message sponsor. Publicity secures editorial space in media (i.e., space that is not paid for) for promotion purposes (Kotler and Keller 2006) and does not identify a sponsor. Despite the widespread belief among practitioners that publicity outperforms advertising (e.g., Hausman 2003; Pohl 2008), previous study results are far from consistent: some studies find no differences between the impact of publicity and advertising (e.g., Hallahan 1999a; Hallahan 1999b; Jo 2004; Schmidt and Hitchon 1999), and some studies show that advertising outperforms publicity (e.g., Jacoby and Hoyer 1989; Salmon et al. 1985). The present study shows whether and under what conditions marketing-oriented publicity outperforms advertising in terms of communication effectiveness. For this purpose, we conduct an integrative meta-analysis of research on the effects of marketing-oriented publicity versus advertising that provides generalized results. We explain inconsistent results of previous studies by examining the effects of relevant moderator variables.

In the contemporary information jungle, it keeps getting harder for advertisers to be noticed. Advertisements that fail to attract even the lowest levels of the attention cannot be effective. Therefore, advertisers try to find clever ways to catch the eye of the consumer. Especially in magazines, advertisers need to come up with new ideas as the clutter of brands is high and advertisements have to compete with the editorial content surrounding them.

Previous research has demonstrated the importance of attending to experiential aspects of consumption. These days, ‘consumers don’t buy a product; they buy value in the form of entertainment, experience, and identity’ (Esslinger, in Sweet 1999; see also Holbrook, 2000; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1981; Pine and Gilmore, 1999; Schmitt, 1999). In addition, new products appearing on the market are increasingly similar in terms of function or price, making it hard or simply irrelevant for consumers to differentiate products on such traditional criteria (Postrel, 2003). Hence, in order to meet experiential consumer needs and differentiate their products from competitors, product and brand managers increasingly look for new ways to communicate experiential consequences of brand usage and ownership (e.g., Novak et al., 2000).

In response to a hostile environment characterized by saturation of messages, rising media costs, audience fragmentation and increasing communication options, Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) represents the major communication development of the last years (Duncan and Moriarty, 1998; Hwan and Park, 2007; Kitchen et al., 2004). IMC is generally considered to be a philosophy or process related to strategically managing all brand messages in a way that contributes to the building of strong brands (Reid et al., 2005). Specifically, an integrated communication strategy advocates that brand messages, from whatever source, must be consistent to ensure and protect brand image (Duncan and Moriarty, 1998; Madhavaram et al., 2005).

Innovation is a key success factor of a company’s growth. Through new product introductions, companies try to satisfy customers and to obtain a significant competitive advantage. However, introducing new brands has major downsides. The total cost of introducing a new product is very high. In addition, a large amount of new product introductions still fail. By introducing extensions (new (versions of) products which make use of existing brand names), companies hope to leverage the reputation and awareness of the existing brand (parent brand) to the new product (line extension) (Aaker and Keller, 1990).

Research often emphasizes that creativity is the most critical element for advertising effectiveness in the marketplace (Ang et al., 2007; West et al., 2008; El-Murad and West, 2004; Smith et al., 2007). Given its importance it is not surprising that there has been an exponential growth in creativity research (Sasser and Koslow, 2008a). This research includes influences on audience members’ processing (Goldenberg and Mazursky, 2008; Ang et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2007; Pieters et al., 1999), creative template techniques (Goldenberg et al., Solomon, 1999), remote conveying (Rossiter, 2008) or other approaches (West et al., 2008; Kover, 1995). Social environment impacts on advertising creativity (Li et al., 2008), and client organizational influences on creativity (Sasser and Koslow, 2008a; Koslow et al., 2006) have also been studied.

This study built on the results of a prior meta-analysis of public opinion toward billboards to identify relevant issues and examine the available evidence on the American public’s view of digital billboards. In general, consistent with the Taylor and Franke (2005) meta-analysis, the results show favorable public opinion toward digital billboards as well as the major provisions of the Highway Beautification Acts.

The budgeting for, and allocation of, resources among various media alternatives is an increasing difficult communication task. The explosion of media forms (e.g. print, TV, websites, mobile, social networks) and the fragmentation of advertising vehicles based on a media form (e.g. programs, websites, magazines, etc.) challenge most traditional media planning approaches (Winer 2009). Advertising researchers recognize that media interact and produce “synergies,” requiring even more complex models of media effects (e.g. Naik and Peters 2009; Schultz, Block and Raman, 2009a, Schultz, Block and Raman b, Schultz, Block and Raman in press, Naik, Raman and Winer 2005; Naik and Raman 2003; Naik, Schultz and Srinivasan 2007; Chang and Thorson 2004; Stafford, et al. 2003; Havlena et al. 2007).

This study aims at exploring consumers’ adoption of QR code mobile promotion. In the past, barcode is a fast, easy, accurate and automatic product tracking method in industrial production and retailing. But mobile phones changed

le aison d’être

of barcode. More generally, 1D barcode, 2D image code, and color-based image code has become popular after the introduction of camera and scanning function in mobile device. In general, these codes are easily machine-readable, with the built-in camera in mobile devices. By scanning or taking a picture, users can easily access various services.

Mediated communication is moving away from the traditional concept of oneway mass communication in which a centrally located sender addresses a mass audience. In today’s interactive media landscape, people formerly known as ‘the audience’ (Rosen, 2006, June 27) are increasingly dictating the creation and dissemination of information. The opportunity for people to actively engage in the public-information process provides consumers with a rich and varied set of consumer opinions, often posted in the form of online product reviews. Online product reviews are seen as a persuasive source of information in the consumerdecision making process, shaping not only consumers’ attitudes but also their purchase behaviors (Bickart and Schindler, 2001; Chevelier and Mayzlin, 2006; Park and Kim, 2008; Senecal and Nantel, 2004).

Many commercials are still broadcast on TV, and many TV users often only have it on in the background without paying particular attention to the program. This article focuses on the impact of advertising in such situations. The discussion is centered on the following question: does it make a difference to the impact of advertising whether or not food and drinks are served and consumed while a TV program is on and, if there is food and drink, whether the brands served up or competing brands are advertised? In this, the priming and distractive impact of the consumption and the effects of congruence between the brands advertised and served are primarily of interest.

Many companies invest a considerable amount of their marketing budget in paying celebrities for their engagement in advertising campaigns. Celebrities promote brands of different product categories, ranging from consumer goods like sport shoes (e.g., Nike) over financial services (e.g., American Express) to pharmaceuticals (e.g., Bayer Aspirin). More than ten years ago, every fourth US commercial featured a celebrity (Erdogan 1999; Shimp 1997). It is assumed that this fraction has even increased since then.

This chapter describes the detailed process of fictitious ad development for a multi-country advertising research project. Fictitious ads are frequently employed in advertising research in order to avoid the influence of attitudes toward established or recognized brands. Unfortunately, all too often, researchers do not pay sufficient attention to the development and pre-testing of such fictitious ads. In this contribution, the authors propose a detailed outline of the series of steps necessary in the development of fictitious ads, as well as a means by which to pre-test the various components of the ads (Figure 1). After pre-testing of the various components (such as general theme, visuals, fictitious brand name, slogan, selected product features and desired advertising appeal), as a last step, it is essential that researchers carry out a manipulation check with the finalized ads. This process helps to ensure that the messages conveyed by the various components selected for the ads are indeed the intended ones.

Advertising is ubiquitous in the modern world. Indeed, individuals get bombarded with myriads of ad messages on a daily basis. In order to overcome the cluttered environment, ad practitioners often employ techniques grounded on controversial topics such as violence (e.g., Manceau and Tissier-Desbordes, 2006). At the same time, ad professionals intensify the use of rhetorical devices as an additional means to persuade (e.g., Phillips and McQuarrie, 2002). Nonetheless, the psychological determinants of viewers’ responses to such ad practices are still elusive. For example, despite the relevance of fundamental cognitive and affective constructs such as values and emotions within advertising (e.g., Holbrook and Batra, 1987; Homer and Kahle, 1988), no previous study has investigated their effects on controversial ad contexts employing rhetoric as a means to persuade.