The Impact of Comparative Advertising on Perception and Attitude: Some Positive Findings
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of comparative versus non-comparative advertising were tested in an experiment across three product categories (cigarettes, golf balls, toothpastes) and a series of dependent variables (perception, attitude and cognitive response to the ads) was investigated.
Abstract: The effects of comparative versus noncomparative advertising were tested in an experiment across three product categories (cigarettes, golf balls, toothpastes). A series of dependent variables—perception, attitude, and cognitive response to the ads—was investigated. Comparative advertising by a challenger, a brand not the category leader, resulted in increased brand similarity between the challenger and leader. The results held whether an ad for the leader was present or not. Other effects of comparative versus noncomparative ads were also observed.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a review of empirical results from the psychological literature in a way that provides a useful foundation for research on consumer knowledge is provided by two fundamental distinctions: consumer expertise is distinguished from product-related experience and five distinct aspects, or dimensions, of expertise are identified.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to review basic empirical results from the psychological literature in a way that provides a useful foundation for research on consumer knowledge. A conceptual organization for this diverse literature is provided by two fundamental distinctions. First, consumer expertise is distinguished from product-related experience. Second, five distinct aspects, or dimensions, of expertise are identified: cognitive effort, cognitive structure, analysis, elaboration, and memory. Improvements in the first two dimensions are shown to have general beneficial effects on the latter three. Analysis, elaboration, and memory are shown to have more specific interrelationships. The empirical findings related to each dimension are reviewed and, on the basis of those findings, specific research hypotheses about the effects of expertise on consumer behavior are suggested.
4,147 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that what consumers learn from the experience of using products is not a simple matter of discovering objective truth, and frame the problem of learning from experience as a four-stage process.
Abstract: The authors argue that what consumers learn from the experience of using products is not a simple matter of discovering objective truth. They frame the problem of learning from experience as a four...
1,095 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a measure of brand equity based on the revenue premium a brand generates compared with that of a private label product, which is a simple, objective, and managerially useful product-market measure.
Abstract: The authors propose that the revenue premium a brand generates compared with that of a private label product is a simple, objective, and managerially useful product-market measure of brand equity. The authors provide the conceptual basis for the measure, compute it for brands in several packaged goods categories, and test its validity. The empirical analysis shows that the measure is reliable and reflects real changes in brand health over time. It correlates well with other equity measures, and the measure’s association with a brand’s advertising and promotion activity, price sensitivity, and perceived category risk is consistent with theory.
958 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the influence of advertising on how and what consumers learn from product experience and found that consumers treat advertisements as tentative hypotheses that can be tested through product experience, and that advertising had dramatic effects on perceptions of quality when consumers saw ambiguous evidence.
Abstract: This paper examines the influence of advertising on how and what consumers learn from product experience. A hypothesis-testing framework is adopted where consumers treat advertisements as tentative hypotheses that can be tested through product experience. Two experiments were conducted using product categories that provided either ambiguous or unambiguous evidence about product quality. The first experiment showed that when consumers have access to unambiguous evidence, judgments of product quality are dependent only on the objective physical evidence and unaffected by advertising. However, advertising had dramatic effects on perceptions of quality when consumers saw ambiguous evidence; judgments and product inspection behavior protocols showed that advertising induced consumers to engage in confirmatory hypothesis testing and search. The second experiment showed that advertising influenced quality judgments by affecting the encoding of the physical evidence; retrieval of ad-consistent evidence also appeared to occur, though to a lesser degree.
930 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effectiveness of comparative and non-comparative advertising for products characterized by different levels of cognitive and affective involvement was compared, and it was shown that comparative advertisements induce more positive brand attitudes for products which elicit cognitive-and affective motivations simultaneously.
Abstract: This study compares effectiveness of comparative and noncomparative advertising for products characterized by different levels of cognitive and affective involvement. Comparative advertisements induce more positive brand attitudes for products which elicit cognitive and affective motivations simultaneously. This happens because brand comparisons facilitate an attribute-based processing style which might otherwise succumb to the competing affective involvement. Noncomparative attribute-based ads yield more favorable attitudes toward the ad when affective involvement is high than when it is low. Comparative ads are also shown to positively influence brand switchers and have a negative impact on consumers loyal to competing brands.
557 citations