Comparative Advertising in India: A Content Analysis of English Print Advertisements

Direct or indirect comparative ads: The moderating role of information processing modes

Abstract: Comparative advertising is widely used as a persuasion tool. Contemporary advertisers employ both direct (e.g. “Total Corn Flakes have more nutritional ingredients than Kellogg Corn Flakes”) and indirect comparative advertisements (e.g. “Total Corn Flakes have more nutritional ingredients than other corn flakes”) in their campaigns. Consumers process ads predominantly either through analytical (using reason and semantics) or imagery (using nonverbal, sensory representation of perceptual information) modes of processing. Drawing on extant research in advertising and information processing, we posit that direct comparisons are better suited for analytical processing while indirect ones are more amenable for imagery processing. Using a 2*2 factorial design (comparison format—direct/indirect; mode of information processing—analytical/imagery), we show that direct (indirect) comparative advertisements are more effective in reducing perceived manipulative intent, enhancing attitude toward the advertisement, and increasing the perceived differences between the brands for consumers using analytical (imagery) information processing modes. We add to the comparative advertising literature by identifying a moderator (mode of information processing) that influences the effectiveness of direct and indirect comparisons. Further, we study indirect comparisons when most extant research considers direct comparisons. Managerially, our work suggests that advertisers using comparative advertising should use direct comparisons under analytical processing conditions and use indirect comparisons under imagery processing conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nature of green advertisements in India: Are they greenwashed?

Abstract: This study performs a systematic content analysis of Indian English green print advertisements for the years 2010 and 2011 to verify if greenwashing is prevalent. Green advertisements were analysed based on four dimensions – (1) claim specificity, (2) greenwashing category, (3) incidence of associative claims and (4) presence of certifications. The results indicate that 51.7% of the claims were greenwashed and most of them were vague or ambiguous (37.7%). Most claims lacked specificity (67.0%) and image claims (60.0%) were widely used. Very few advertisements (3.3%) employed certifications to substantiate their claims. Interestingly, we also found that more than half of the image-related claims (55.8%) were categorized as misleading and highly specific claims were considered acceptable. We suggest that either the self-regulatory body – the Advertising Standards Council of India – or the legal regulatory framework accommodate well-defined provisions for regulating green claims in advertisements to curb gre...

The ad format-strategy effect on comparative advertising effectiveness

Abstract: Purpose Extant research on comparative advertising has focused only on “market leader” comparisons (a brand targeting the market leader), whereas in the marketplace, “multi-brand” comparisons are more prevalent (Kalro et al., 2010). Moreover, most research focuses on direct comparisons only. Hence, this research aims to investigate the interplay between comparison ad strategy (“market leader”/“multi-brand” comparisons) and comparison ad format (direct/indirect comparisons) on the effectiveness of comparative advertising. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses four 2 × 2 fully crossed factorial designs (comparison ad format: direct vs indirect and comparison ad strategy: market leader vs multi brand) with established and new brands in two categories: powdered detergents and smart phones. All studies were conducted in metropolitan cities of India. Findings By and large, the experiments indicated that direct (indirect) comparisons lowered (heightened) perceived manipulative intent and enhanced (reduced) attitude-toward-the-ad for multi-brand (market leader) comparisons. Practical implications Findings suggest that when advertisers use comparative advertising, they may use direct ads when using multi-brand comparisons and use indirect ones when using market leader comparisons. It could also be argued that when advertisers use multi-brand comparisons because of fragmentation in the marketplace, they may directly compare against these multiple brands. When advertisers need to compare against a market leader, they may do so indirectly. Originality/value This research is among the first to investigate multi-brand comparisons that are widely used in the industry and that too in the context of both direct and indirect comparison formats.

Nostalgic advertising in India: a content analysis of Indian TV advertisements

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the presence of nostalgic advertising in Indian television and its execution with reference to extent of information disclosure, level of involvement, type of products and stages in product life cycle (PLC). Design/methodology/approach This research uses a content analysis of 700 TV advertisements aired between January-December 2013 from top five Indian TV channels based on their rank according to Gross Viewership in Thousands. Findings Humour/happiness was the most commonly used emotional appeal and nostalgic ads constituted 12 per cent of the emotional ads in Indian television. “References to past family experiences” was the most commonly used nostalgic element. As hypothesised, nostalgic ads use low information disclosure strategy (vis-a-vis high/medium information disclosure strategy) and are more commonly used for low involvement products (vis-a-vis high involvement products), experience products (vis-a-vis search products), and non-durables (vis-a-vis durables). Also, nostalgic appeals are more commonly used at maturity stage of PLC (vis-a-vis introduction stage). Originality/value This is the first research to analyse the content and execution of nostalgic advertising in India. This study is also one of the first to provide a comprehensive framework on nostalgic advertising. The interrelationships among variables such as product category, process of emotional appeal, degree of information disclosure and stage in PLC has not been investigated earlier, in the context of nostalgic advertising. Moreover, this study is the first attempt to present a snapshot of TV ads in India.

Comparative advertising: Effects of concreteness and claim substantiation through reactance and activation on purchase intentions

Abstract: In this paper, we examine positive (activation) and negative (reactance) effects of concrete versus non-concrete comparative advertising and the impact of claim substantiation in such comparative advertising on purchase intentions. We also analyze the moderating role of consumers' predisposition to show reactance. The results indicate that without claim substantiation, quality comparisons (less concrete) produce higher activation but also more reactance than comparisons based on intrinsic attributes (more concrete). With claim substantiation, quality comparisons still trigger higher activation, but they only trigger more reactance in consumers who have a high predisposition to show reactance. For consumers with a low predisposition to show reactance, quality comparisons trigger even less reactance than intrinsic attribute comparisons. This research enhances the theoretical understanding of processes underlying consumer reactions to comparative advertising and provides marketers with knowledge about the appropriate use of claim substantiation as well as of the comparative basis for addressing different consumer types.

The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter outlines the two basic routes to persuasion. One route is based on the thoughtful consideration of arguments central to the issue, whereas the other is based on the affective associations or simple inferences tied to peripheral cues in the persuasion context. This chapter discusses a wide variety of variables that proved instrumental in affecting the elaboration likelihood, and thus the route to persuasion. One of the basic postulates of the Elaboration Likelihood Model—that variables may affect persuasion by increasing or decreasing scrutiny of message arguments—has been highly useful in accounting for the effects of a seemingly diverse list of variables. The reviewers of the attitude change literature have been disappointed with the many conflicting effects observed, even for ostensibly simple variables. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) attempts to place these many conflicting results and theories under one conceptual umbrella by specifying the major processes underlying persuasion and indicating the way many of the traditionally studied variables and theories relate to these basic processes. The ELM may prove useful in providing a guiding set of postulates from which to interpret previous work and in suggesting new hypotheses to be explored in future research.

Hedonic Consumption ; Emerging Concepts, Methods and Propositions

Abstract: This paper defines hedonic consumption as those facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of product usage experience. After delineating these concept...

Content Analysis in Consumer Research

Abstract: The use of documentary evidence such as historical records, novels, existing advertisements, and photographs has been little used in consumer research. This paper presents an exposition of content analysis methodology and, tangentially, reviews the existing studies in consumer behavior using this rich approach.

Strategic Brand Concept-Image Management:

Abstract: Conveying a brand image to a target market is a fundamental marketing activity. The authors present a normative framework, termed brand concept management (BCM), for selecting, implementing, and co...

Measuring the hedonic and utilitarian sources of consumer attitudes

Abstract: It has been suggested theoretically that consumer attitudes have distinct hedonic and utilitarian components, and that product categories differ in the extent to which their overall attitudes are derived from these two components. This paper reports three studies that validate measurement scales for these constructs and, using them, show that these two attitude dimensions do seem to exist; are based on different types of product attributes; and are differentially salient across different consumer products and behaviors, in theoretically-consistent ways.