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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 20 March 2017

Fayçal Boukamcha

This paper aims to clarify the effect of attitudinal ambivalence on resistance to anti-smoking persuasion through information processing styles. It was hypothesized that a high…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to clarify the effect of attitudinal ambivalence on resistance to anti-smoking persuasion through information processing styles. It was hypothesized that a high smoker’s ambivalence, induced by an anti-smoking persuasive message, triggers among smokers both a reflective and a non-reflective information processing. In turn, both the information processing styles were supposed to be predictors of the resistance to anti-smoking persuasion.

Design/methodology/approach

An experiment and a survey were conducted on a random sample of 347 smokers in this regard.

Findings

The findings indicated that smokers feel ambivalent toward anti-smoking messages in print ads and tend to process them both analytically and superficially. Also, it seems that only the analytical processing triggers resistance to anti-smoking persuasion.

Originality/value

The author reports on the importance of attitudinal ambivalence and information processing in the resistance to anti-smoking persuasion process. The paper should be of interest to readers in the areas of health communication and social marketing. This work seems to be important to the extent that few works have highlighted the causal and linear effect of a persuasive anti-smoking message on smokers’ ambivalence, information processing and resistance to persuasion. The findings in this paper seem interesting insofar, as they show the importance of the negative emotional appeal in the ambivalence, analytical information processing and resistance triggering.

Details

Journal of Indian Business Research, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4195

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2017

Hsuan-Yi Chou and Tuan-Yu Wang

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of brand strategies and spokesperson expertise on consumer responses to hypermarket private-label products by combining…

2194

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of brand strategies and spokesperson expertise on consumer responses to hypermarket private-label products by combining concepts from consumer attitude change, resistance to persuasion and construal level theory (CLT).

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments were conducted to test the propositions.

Findings

Consumers perceived the low-price (low-quality) characteristic of private-label products as a high-level (low-level) construal consideration when forming purchase decisions. Product relevance negatively affected consumers’ perceived product distance. Compared with store brands, separate brands enhanced consumer product attitudes and purchase intentions. Brand strategies and product distance affected consumer message-processing mindset (i.e. resistant to persuasion or open to persuasion) when processing advertisements, ultimately moderating the effect of spokesperson expertise.

Practical implications

The findings are useful for hypermarkets seeking to implement brand strategies and select spokespersons for private-label products. Additionally, the findings show that advertisers should design advertising elements to match consumers’ construal approaches to product-related information.

Originality/value

This study contrasts two common hypermarket brand strategies, identifies the construal levels corresponding to the dual roles of private-label products and expands CLT dimensions. Additionally, the results bridge two research approaches (persuasion and resistance to persuasion) and demonstrate the pivotal influence of brand strategies. The findings also advance understanding of the effects of spokesperson expertise and contribute to resistance theory by showing how to effectively reduce attitude certainty after resistance to persuasion.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 51 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2018

Steffi De Jans, Liselot Hudders and Veroline Cauberghe

This study aims to examine adolescents’ (between 12 and 18 years) perceptions of their knowledge and skills related to advertising (i.e. dispositional advertising literacy). More…

1358

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine adolescents’ (between 12 and 18 years) perceptions of their knowledge and skills related to advertising (i.e. dispositional advertising literacy). More specifically, adolescents’ beliefs about their recognition and understanding of advertising (cognitive facet), their emotional reaction to advertising (affective facet) and their moral evaluation of advertising (moral facet) were investigated together with their beliefs about the way they resist advertising.

Design/methodology/approach

A large-scale survey was conducted, taking information from 2,602 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years.

Findings

The findings show that adolescents believe they can recognize advertising reasonably well and have a moderate understanding of it. They tend to be negative toward advertising, perceive it as an unfair practice and claim to resist it strongly. In addition, adolescents’ self-reported moral and affective advertising literacy positively affect advertising resistance. Adolescents’ cognitive advertising literacy increases with the number of different media device types owned, and cognitive and moral advertising literacy increase with age.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to examine adolescents’ beliefs about their dispositional advertising literacy. Most previous studies examined advertising literacy among young children (under 12 years) or adults after exposure to a specific advertising format (i.e. situational advertising literacy), while this study focuses on adolescents’ self-reported levels of cognitive, moral and affective dispositional advertising literacy. In addition, the focus on resistance strategies to examine how adolescents resist advertising is unique.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 October 2023

Nancy H. Brinson, Laura L. Lemon, Coral Bender and Annika Fetzer Graham

The purpose of this study is to examine whether consumers are able to critically evaluate promotional content presented by a podcast host with whom they have a parasocial…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether consumers are able to critically evaluate promotional content presented by a podcast host with whom they have a parasocial relationship, and how this interaction impacts the listeners’ behavioral intentions toward the advertised brand.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a blended theoretical foundation of Persuasion Knowledge Model and Parasocial Interaction theory, this between subjects’ experimental study examined the effects of a traditional advertisement versus a host-read promotional message for the same brand in a highly rated podcast among listeners who reported varying levels of a parasocial relationship (PSR) with the host.

Findings

Results from a moderated mediation analysis suggest that a PSR with the podcast host decreased evaluative persuasion knowledge about the promotional message presented, which indirectly enhanced respondents’ intention to seek more information about the promoted brand.

Originality/value

This study extends the limited research examining the effects of promotional messaging delivered by podcast hosts with whom audiences have a PSR, and how this interaction impacts the listeners’ behavioral intentions. Theoretical contributions and practical implications for podcast marketers are also discussed.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 40 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2011

Philippe Odou and Pauline de Pechpeyrou

The purpose of this paper is to offer a new perspective on resistance and anti‐consumption literature by relating it to consumer cynicism.

3200

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer a new perspective on resistance and anti‐consumption literature by relating it to consumer cynicism.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proceeds to a conceptual deconstruction of consumer cynicism by comparing the contemporary meaning of the term with the original signification of cynicism, contrasting the psychological approach with the philosophical one. This perspective sheds light on disparate forms of consumer cynicism found in previous research.

Findings

Four different figures of consumption related to cynicism were distinguished in this paper. Defensive cynicism and offensive cynicism are psychological tools used to neutralize persuasion attempts or divert marketing techniques. Subversive cynicism and ethical cynicism, which are reminiscences of cynicism in Ancient Greece, challenge the consumerist ideology and even propose an alternative ethics.

Originality/value

Prior research on consumer cynicism has focused on the defensive psychological dimension of the concept, limiting it to a coping device for deceived consumers. Three other facets have been explored in this paper and provide a broader framework that can account for the disparate manifestations observed in the resistance and anti‐consumption literature. This new conceptualization of consumer cynicism could also explain why consumers' disappointment with private consumption does not always lead to public involvement.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 45 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 June 2017

Peter Schaab, Kristian Beckers and Sebastian Pape

This paper aims to outline strategies for defence against social engineering that are missing in the current best practices of information technology (IT) security. Reason for the…

1946

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to outline strategies for defence against social engineering that are missing in the current best practices of information technology (IT) security. Reason for the incomplete training techniques in IT security is the interdisciplinary of the field. Social engineering is focusing on exploiting human behaviour, and this is not sufficiently addressed in IT security. Instead, most defence strategies are devised by IT security experts with a background in information systems rather than human behaviour. The authors aim to outline this gap and point out strategies to fill the gaps.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a literature review from viewpoint IT security and viewpoint of social psychology. In addition, they mapped the results to outline gaps and analysed how these gaps could be filled using established methods from social psychology and discussed the findings.

Findings

The authors analysed gaps in social engineering defences and mapped them to underlying psychological principles of social engineering attacks, for example, social proof. Furthermore, the authors discuss which type of countermeasure proposed in social psychology should be applied to counteract which principle. The authors derived two training strategies from these results that go beyond the state-of-the-art trainings in IT security and allow security professionals to raise companies’ bars against social engineering attacks.

Originality/value

The training strategies outline how interdisciplinary research between computer science and social psychology can lead to a more complete defence against social engineering by providing reference points for researchers and IT security professionals with advice on how to improve training.

Details

Information & Computer Security, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4961

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 May 2017

Stefan F. Bernritter, Iris van Ooijen and Barbara C.N. Müller

This paper aims to demonstrate that self-persuasion can be used as a marketing technique to increase consumers’ generosity and that the efficacy of this approach is dependent on…

18599

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate that self-persuasion can be used as a marketing technique to increase consumers’ generosity and that the efficacy of this approach is dependent on consumers’ involvement with target behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental field-study was conducted to investigate the effects of self-persuasion versus direct persuasion attempts versus no persuasion attempts on consumers’ tipping behavior in a lunchroom. Additionally, in a lab experiment, the moderating role of involvement on self-persuasion versus direct persuasion was tested.

Findings

The results reveal that self-persuasion is more effective than direct persuasion attempts or no persuasive messages in increasing consumers’ generosity. This is moderated by consumers’ involvement with the target behavior. For consumers with high involvement, self-persuasion is more effective than direct persuasion, while no differences were found for consumers with moderate or low involvement.

Practical implications

The scope of self-persuasion is not limited to the inhibition of undesired behavior, but it also extends to the facilitation of desired behavior, which considerably broadens the scope of this technique. Self-persuasion might be used as a marketing technique to influence consumers’ purchase behavior. This might be particularly viable in situations in which consumers feel high involvement with products or behavior.

Originality/value

Recently, research in health psychology demonstrated that self-persuasion is a very effective way of inhibiting undesired, addictive behavior and being more successful than direct persuasion. Yet, insufficient knowledge is available about the efficacy of self-persuasion with regard to promoting other target behaviors. In particular, its potential as a marketing technique to influence consumers’ behavior and its boundary conditions are still understudied.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 51 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 August 2020

Michael Habersam, Martin Piber and Matti Skoog

This study aims to answer the research question of how a calculative regime for public universities is implemented, how and under which conditions its symbolic use emerges and…

1174

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to answer the research question of how a calculative regime for public universities is implemented, how and under which conditions its symbolic use emerges and what kind of unintended consequences occur over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical material presented in the paper derives methodically from a longitudinal qualitative research approach analyzing higher education systems (HES)-reforms in Austria. To better understand the consequences of the organizational changes in line with the new legal framework, 2 series of qualitative interviews in 2011/2012 and 2016/2017 on the field level and the organizational level were conducted.

Findings

Identifying two enabling consequences from the tactical behaviors of resistance and symbolic use, i.e. new processes of communication and horizontal network building, allows for theory-building with a focus on the dynamics how accounting begins, then next becomes an established infrastructure, is then destabilized and re-elaborated before it becomes, again, an infrastructure which is different from before.

Research limitations/implications

Although the findings are based on a national empirical context, they are linked to the international discourse on HES in transition and the role of calculative regimes including performance measurement and management attitudes and instruments. They are relevant for an international research community open-minded toward differentiated case studies in a longitudinal perspective on HES-reforms.

Practical implications

When reflecting on their own specific settings governing bodies and practitioners managing the transition of HES may find insights from longitudinal case studies inspiring. The dynamics initiated by new calculative regimes installed need a sensitive framework to handle dissent, resistance, tactical behaviors and changes in power relations between the field level and the organizational level.

Originality/value

This is a unique longitudinal case study of the Austrian HES and its public universities in transition.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2023

Youngjee Ko, Hanyoung Kim, Youngji Seo, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hye Jin Yoon, Jongmin Lee and Ja Kyung Seo

Successful social marketing campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination for the unvaccinated relies on increasing positive reactions but also reducing negative responses to…

Abstract

Purpose

Successful social marketing campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination for the unvaccinated relies on increasing positive reactions but also reducing negative responses to persuasive messages. This study aims to investigate the relative effects of narrative vs non-narrative public service announcements (PSAs) promoting COVID-19 vaccination on both positive and negative reactions. Using social media as a tool for disseminating marketing campaigns provides a great opportunity to examine the effectiveness of narrative PSAs on vaccination intention, especially among unvaccinated young adults, who were the target audience of the social marketing. This study explores the role of empathy and psychological reactance as underlying mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

An experiment involving unvaccinated young adults was conducted with a one-factor, two-condition (message type: narrative vs non-narrative) design.

Findings

Results indicated that the narrative (vs non-narrative) PSAs led to greater empathy. While no direct effects of message type emerged on psychological reactance or vaccination intention, results of a serial multi-mediator model confirmed that empathy and psychological reactance mediated the effects of message type on vaccination intention.

Originality/value

The study extends the understanding of narrative persuasion by examining an underlying mechanism behind narrative persuasion in a COVID-19 PSA. This study provides empirical evidence of the important role of empathy in processing narrative PSAs. Moreover, the current study expands narrative persuasion’s applicability to COVID-19 vaccination intervention messages for unvaccinated young adults, highlighting the effectiveness of narrative persuasion as a social marketing communication tool.

Details

Journal of Social Marketing, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6763

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 October 2023

Seyed Mehdi Sharifi, Mohammad Reza Jalilvand and Mohammad Reza Shakoorian Fard

The importance of effective public messages has been widely recognized during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, the role of news items and…

Abstract

Purpose

The importance of effective public messages has been widely recognized during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, the role of news items and interpersonal conversations for the acceptance of public health measures has been highlighted. The authors propose a conceptual model based on the existing literature on how to measure the degree of persuasion of news narratives in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopted a whole population approach, where the unit of analysis was the population of the media news about the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors selected a sample to develop and test their conceptual model. The sample size was n = 248. The questionnaire was distributed online using a non-probability convenience sampling plan. The authors used a pre-post pseudo-experimental design. Respondents answered questions about their attitude toward the COVID-19 pandemic. After watching a narrative news report on the same subject, they then answered questions designed to measure changes in their attitude. A structural equation model, the Sobel test and a paired samples t-test were used to test hypotheses.

Findings

The results showed that there is a significant relationship between narrative with transportation and empathy. There was also a positive and significant relationship between transportation and empathy with attitude and interpersonal talk. The relationship between transportation and self-referencing was also supported. Further, transportation and attitude mediated the relationships between narrative and interpersonal talk, self-referencing as well as empathy. A paired samples t-test revealed that attitudes were changed or reinforced before and after watching the narrative news report.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying the outcomes of narrative persuasion during public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Keywords

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