Impact of an interactive anti-speeding threat appeal: how much threat is too much?

This study investigates the impact of an interactive television public service announcement (PSA) containing an anti-speeding threat appeal on feelings of telepresence and behavioral intention. In a 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design with 213 participants, the level of threat evoked by a traditional PSA, by the interactive part of the PSA (dedicated advertising location) and by the preceding program context are manipulated to be either low or high. The results support the assumptions of the Extended Parallel Processing Model with regard to the effect of the level of perceived threat and perceived efficacy in an interactive media environment, and the important role of telepresence as a processing variable. The results of the three-way interaction effect of threat evoked by the program, the PSA, and the DAL on telepresence show that when the threat levels of the program and the PSA are both either low or high, exposure to the threatening information in the DAL does not generate a significantly higher feeling of telepresence. However, when a low-threat program is followed by a high-threat PSA, the threat level of the DAL has a positive effect on telepresence. The same trend is found with a high-threat program and a low-threat PSA, although the effect of the threat evoked by the DAL on telepresence is not significant at conventional levels. Finally, there is a positive effect of telepresence on the behavioral intention to reduce speeding which is partly mediated by the viewer‟s perceived efficacy to follow the recommended behavior

Children and a changing media environment: investigating persuasion knowledge for integrated advertising formats

This study investigates the persuasion knowledge of children of integrated advertising formats, more precisely of product placement, advertiser funded programming (AFP) and advergames. Based on qualitative research with 42 children (between 4-12 years old) the results show that children have difficulties recognizing and understanding the persuasive intention of the integrated commercial content. Especially for product placement this seemed to be hard, for all age groups. The ad recognition and understanding of AFP was highest. For advergames the results show that children could recognize the ad embedded in the game, but had problems in understanding the underlying commercial intention of it

The role of affect and cognition in processing messages about early diagnosis for Alzheimer's Disease by older people

Through early diagnosis of symptoms, the Alzheimer's disease process can be decelerated. The main concern is to encourage the population at risk to take responsible actions at the earliest stage of the onset of the disease. Persuasive communication is essential to achieve this. In an experimental study, the evaluation of awareness messages for early diagnosis containing weak and strong arguments and negative and positive images was performed on a sample of older Belgians. The mediating role of affective responses and message thoughts was explored. Strong arguments led to a more positive evaluation of the message than weak arguments directly and indirectly via the positive effect they had on message affect and thoughts, which, in turn, positively affected message evaluation. A negative message image led to a more positive message evaluation than a positive one. This effect was not mediated by either message affect or message thoughts

Consumer responses to brands placed in YouTube movies: the effect of prominence and endorser expertise

Despite the vast growth of web 2.0., academic research has not kept pace with the development of advertising techniques for user-generated content. The present study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to investigate the effects of brand placement techniques in user-generated content. Using a 2x2 full-factorial between-subjects design with self-produced videos posted on a major social media platform (YouTube), we investigate the effects of prominence (how conspicuously the brand is used or mentioned), celebrity endorser expertise (celebrity expert versus amateur) and their interaction on brand recognition and purchase intention of brands that appear in the video. While the prominence of one brand was manipulated, we also tested the effects on both the manipulated brand and the other brands that subtly appeared in the video. We further study the moderating role of video liking on these relationships using associative network theory and the Persuasion Knowledge Model. The results indicate a strong positive effect of brand placement prominence on brand recognition of both the manipulated brand and a subtly placed complementary brand (a brand that is explicitly used together with the manipulated brand). A prominent endorsement by a celebrity expert enhances the purchase intention of the focal brand compared to a subtle endorsement. This effect is stronger for viewers who strongly liked the video than for viewers who liked the video less. Although our study is limited to only one platform and content type, our results are of importance to practitioners who are interested in integrating their brands in online content. The study aims to advance both the theoretical and practical knowledge of brand placement effects by studying the effects of different placement characteristics and brands in a user-generated content setting

Living lab methodology as an assessment tool for mass customization

Mass customization has been regularly used as a growth strategy during the last decades. The strength of this approach stems from offering products adjusted to customers' individual needs, resulting in added value. The latter resides in the word 'custom,' implying unique and utilitarian products allowing for self-expression of the consumer. Researchers and practitioners however predominantly focused on the company's internal processes to optimize mass customization, often resulting in market failure. As a response, a framework with five factors determining the success of mass customization was developed. Additionally, Living Lab methodologies have been used to improve innovation contexts that were too closed. This paper will fill a gap in the literature by demonstrating that the integration of the five-factor framework in the Living Lab methodology is well suited to determine the possible success or failure of a mass-customized product in the market by means of a single case study

Children's responses to traditional versus hybrid advertising formats

Research on the impact of advertising on children has failed to keep pace with the rapidly changing media environment. Using an experimental approach, children’s responses towards traditional (television advertisement) versus new, hybrid advertising techniques (trailer, advergame, and their combination), and the moderating role of persuasion knowledge, are investigated. Results show that children who played an advergame have more difficulty recalling the advertised brand than children who saw a traditional television advertisement. When confronted with integrated marketing communications (a trailer followed by an advergame), children without knowledge of persuasive intent developed a more positive brand attitude than children with persuasion knowledge. The implications of these results are discussed