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This paper aims to identify two boundary conditions (consumption motive and claim set-size) affecting the effectiveness of an advertisement’s creativity.

Across two experiments, the authors find support for hypotheses using both hedonic vs utilitarian products (Study 1) and hedonic vs utilitarian decision goals within the same product category (Study 2).

Creativity is more effective for an advertisement when the consumption motive is utilitarian (vs hedonic). Further, using a larger claim set-size within an advertisement increases (decreases) the effectiveness of advertisement creativity for those with hedonic (utilitarian) consumption motives.

This research contributes to the creativity literature by showing when creativity matters depending on the consumption motive and claim set-size. In addition, this research expands the utilitarian vs hedonic consumption literature by highlighting another way in which these two motives differ. Finally, this study expands the claim set-size literature by demonstrating that the effects of claim set-size depend on both consumption motive and features of the ad (i.e. its level of creativity).

These findings help marketers manage their advertising budget more effectively and efficiently knowing when advertisement creativity matters and thus when to invest in creativity.

The present research is the first to explicitly study boundary conditions for when ad creativity matters and shows that creativity matters more (i.e. enhances persuasiveness of the ad and attitudes toward the ad) when the consumption motive is utilitarian, especially when ads have small claim set-size. Additionally, creativity matters for hedonic consumption contexts if the advertisement has a large claim size.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of perceived product similarity and comparative ad claims on brand responses.

This study uses a two (similarity between the target product and the comparison product: relatively similar vs dissimilar) by three (product attributes of the target product: common to the comparison product, distinct from the comparison product, and a combination of common and distinct attributes) between-subjects factorial design with 300 Thai undergraduate students.

It finds that when perceived similarity between the products is high, a combination of superiority (distinct) and parity (common) ad claims lead to the best brand responses. When perceived similarity is low, superiority claims bring about the best brand responses.

It extends comparative advertising and category-substitution research by addressing the research gaps in perceived similarity and claim type.

Companies should emphasize a product’s superior attributes in general but a combination of common and superior attributes when the product is relatively similar to other products in comparative advertising.

This study provides new evidence that perceived product similarity moderates the effect of comparative ad claims on brand responses.

Environmental claims in advertising (green ads) provide competitive advantage to firms. This study aims to understand what kinds of environmental claims advertisers make in a developing nation like India. Further, implications for policymakers and advertisers are discussed.

A content analysis of 279 green print advertisements was conducted using a comprehensive list of claim categories identified from the advertising literature. These categories included advertiser profile; ad promotions – type, sector, appeal; claim – nature, type, focus, validity, emphasis; executional elements – illustration setting, presenter, format/structure and environmental issue, identified from past studies and practitioner interviews.

The findings suggest that majority of the advertisers using green ads are manufacturers. Consumer durables, real estate and power sector together constitute one-third of the total green ads. Further, most of the green ads are aimed at influencing consumer behaviour. Though most of the ads contain strong emphasis on environmental attributes, they are ambiguous. A large proportion of claims are credence in nature and lack product identification through environmental certifications. This study also identifies areas of concern including interpretation of the term green, use of multiple certifications, greenwashing and advertisers showing environmental responsiveness through event-based green advertising. Policy recommendations are made based on green advertising regulations governing them across developed and other developing countries.

The content analysis of the green advertisements in this study was limited to newspaper advertisements within the print media. Future studies may use advertisements from different media types, such as the internet ads and television commercials, to examine the effect of media type on the nature of green advertisements. It would also be interesting to examine the role of regulations as a moderator, influencing the claims made in green advertisements.

The findings of this study provide a comprehensive overview of the nature of green advertisements in India. Marketers may use these insights to design effective green advertising strategies.

Most of the extant literature has examined environmental claims in the context of developed nations, where regulations are well established. Very few studies have examined this issue in the context of developing countries. In addition, most of the previous studies have focused on specific issues like greenwashing, appeals and execution elements. The present study contributes to green advertising by examining environmental claims in case of a developing nation like India using a comprehensive list of claim categories. This study also identifies areas of concern and suggests recommendations for policymakers and advertisers.

The present study aims to further examine the persuasive effect of pictures in a print ad according to the recipient’s ability to process the information and to observe to what extent the presence of a picture could negatively influence recipients’ attitude toward the ad’s verbal claim.

Two studies were designed to manipulate the presence vs absence of an attractive/unattractive picture, the kind of verbal claims (affectively based vs rationally based) and the recipient’s ability to process the ad (cognitive load vs no cognitive load).

Main findings showed that the presence of an attractive picture elicited an unfavorable attitude toward the functional verbal claim when recipients were not cognitively charged. Furthermore, it proved to be a mediator of the influence of pictures on attitude toward the ad. The positive influence of an attractive picture on product evaluation and purchase intention was greater under a cognitive load but showed contrasting results for price perceptions. For the unattractive picture, cognitive load was found to be a moderator only when recipients had to infer the product price.

The present research emphasized the negative influence of attractive pictures on functional verbal claims and the moderating role of cognitive load on pictorial stimuli either acting as peripheral or central cues in the persuasive process.

Practitioners may want to consider that an attractive picture in advertising is not always the best route for persuasion, especially when the verbal ad content emphasizes the product’s properties.

The present study provides new insights regarding the role of pictures in advertising persuasive effectiveness. Until now, no research had addressed the extent to which the presence of a picture could affect processing of an ad’s verbal claims. Additionally, the present study expands research on persuasive communication and affirms the necessity of more intensively investigating the role of pictures in advertising under the rubric of information processing level.

This study, conducted in Norway, aims to investigate whether increasing consumers' familiarity by repeating cause related marketing (CRM) claims helps in reducing their skepticism towards CRM campaigns. It also seeks to test whether the relationship between familiarity and skepticism may be moderated by skepticism towards advertising in general.

A single factor experimental design with four levels of claim repetition was utilized to test the hypothesized effects between claim repetition, familiarity, skepticism towards advertising and skepticism towards CRM claim.

The findings support the hypothesized effects. Repeating claims helps in overcoming skepticism towards CRM claims and also reduces the adverse effects of skepticism towards advertising.

The paper does not measure the kind of thoughts that result from the repetitions nor does it account for the effect of using a variety of sources for providing the information instead of just one.

The study demonstrates that marketers can overcome skepticism towards CRM with repetitions of claims, that awareness and credibility can be created by familiarizing the market with the campaign. This is especially beneficial for a lesser known company that can use repeated CRM claims to gain familiarity and create positive attitudes.

This paper draws a parallel between general advertising and CRM communications to show that important findings from advertising are not only applicable to CRM campaigns but also critical to its success.

A sample of 400 consumers in a mall intercept copy test were shown one of four print advertisements for two consumer products (one complex, one simple). Two of the advertisements included “made in USA” claims, while the other two advertisements were identical but did not include any country of origin claim. The findings show that, on an unaided basis, made in USA claims are rarely noted, and that the symbol is more closely associated with nationalistic or “country‐related” issues (patriotism, economy/jobs) rather than product‐related issues such as quality. Furthermore, when consumers see the phrase “made in USA” they associate it with both parts and labour, rather than parts or labour alone. Finally, when respondents see the phrase, over half believe that it implies having 100 per cent American parts and labour.

The study examined how consumers responded to apparel advertisements with varying environmental claims. Respondents were 274 undergraduate students at a US university. Three attitudinal perceiver variables (environmental knowledge, concern and commitment) were analysed in relation to perceptions of credibility of environmental messages. Although significant differences in perceptions of credibility among certain types of environmental ad claims were found, results suggest that the sample of consumers did not respond more positively to advertisements with environmental messages. Environmental advertisement claims were not effective in generating more positive consumer response to apparel advertisements.

In a number of recent multi-billion dollar cases brought against cigarette manufacturers, plaintiffs have in part alleged that the cigarette manufacturers (1) conspired not to compete on the basis of health claims or the introduction of potentially safer cigarettes since the 1950s, and (2) engaged in fraudulent advertising by making implied health claims in advertisements selling ‘low tar’/‘light’ cigarettes. In this type of litigation, defendants’ actions could be due to alleged illegal behaviour as asserted by plaintiffs, or be the result of market forces that may have nothing to do with allegedly inappropriate acts. We examine the economic evidence relating to these allegations, taking into account some of the major influences on cigarette company behaviour. In particular, our analyses show that much of the cigarette manufactures’ behaviour can be explained by Federal Trade Commission and related government actions, rather than conspiracy or fraudulent acts. We find the economic evidence is inconsistent with an effective conspiracy to suppress information on either smoking and health or the development and marketing of potentially safer cigarettes. Regarding ‘lower tar’ and ‘light’ cigarettes, the economic evidence indicates that the cigarette manufacturers responded to government and public health initiatives, and that disclosing more information on smoking compensation earlier than the cigarette companies did would not have had any significant impact on smoking behaviour.

While the potential benefits of integrating humour into advertisements are widely understood, the reasons why these effects emerge are not. Drawing on literature about the impact of psychological feelings of power, this research aims to examine how power motivation interacts with the presence of disparaging humour in ads to influence ad-related outcomes.

Following the measurement (Study 1) or manipulation (Study 2) of power motivation, participants viewed an ad featuring either disparaging humour or one of the following alternatives: no humour (Study 1) or non-disparaging humour (Study 2). Sense of superiority, brand attitude, ad claim recall and the perceived humorousness of the ad were then assessed.

Featuring disparaging humour in an ad increased participants’ sense of superiority, but only among those with high power motivation. Among such participants, this heightened sense of superiority increased the perceived humorousness of the disparaging humour (Studies 1 and 2), induced more favourable attitudes towards the brand featured in the ad (Studies 1 and 2) and enhanced ad claim recall (Study 2). These effects did not, however, extend to ads featuring non-disparaging humour (Study 2), indicating that it was the presence of disparaging humour, and not humour per se, that was responsible for these effects.

These findings break open the “black box” of humour by identifying why consumers perceive disparaging humorous content to be funny, when this effect will occur and what impact this will have on advertising-related outcomes.

Considers reasons why consumer response has, at best, been mixed with regard to “Green” marketing. Proposes reasons why consumer response has not been overwhelmingly positive and then, based on a review of key research findings, presents guidelines for the development of three components of environmental product advertising: the specificity of the environmental claim, the level of emphasis given the environmental claim and the context for presenting the claim.