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A model’s eyes are a powerful and ubiquitous visual feature in virtually any advertisement depicting a person. But does where the ad model’s eyes look matter? Integrating insights from social psychology and performance and visual art theory, we demonstrate that when the ad model’s gaze is averted (looking away from the viewer), the viewer is more r...
Citations
... Participants then completed the same measures of ad attitude from pilot study 1b and completed an 8-item Likert scale measuring narrative transportation adopted from To and Patrick (2021) and Green and Brock (2000): "While thinking about the narrative, I could easily imagine myself being there," "While I was viewing the narrative, the activity going in the room around me was on my mind (R)," "I was mentally involved with the narrative while watching it," "I could easily picture the events in it taking place," "After viewing the narrative, I found it easy to put it out of my mind (R)," "I found my mind wandering when viewing the narrative (R)," "The events in the narrative are relevant to me," "The narrative affected me emotionally." (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree; α = 0.761). ...
Marketers often use narrative ads as a powerful tool to shape consumer attitudes. These ads deliver key messages through storytelling, but what makes a story effective in the eyes of the consumer remains largely unexplored. Using a Facebook field study and a series of four experimental studies, we examined the interaction between the narrative's temporal type (nostalgia vs. forestalgia) and the characters' self‐construal (interdependent vs. independent) on consumer attitudes. Drawing on regulatory focus theory and regulatory fit theory, we found that consumers prefer forestalgia (vs. nostalgia) narrative ads when paired with an independent (vs. interdependent) character. In addition, this effect was mediated by narrative transportation, which enhanced consumers' attitudes toward the ad. These findings advance our understanding of effective narrative advertising and offer practical insights for marketers by highlighting the importance of aligning the narrative temporal type with the character's self‐construal to create more impactful ads.
... Study 4 manipulated advertisement type with an alternate tagline and additionally examined whether perceived brand equity influenced the impact of advertisement type on the brand's social attractiveness, consumer skepticism, and brand trust. Prior research has commonly operationalized brand equity by varying product prices, as brands associated with higher-priced products are perceived to possess greater equity (Erdem & Swait, 2001 (To & Patrick, 2021). The study had a 2 (advertisement type: self-deprecating vs. self-promoting) by 2 (price: ...
Most advertisements highlight a product's positive attributes to attract consumers. Yet, some brands deliberately criticize themselves by employing self‐deprecation within their communications, such as Carlsberg's “Probably not the best beer in the world” campaign. This research examines whether, when, and why consumers react more favorably to self‐deprecating advertisements. In six experiments, we demonstrate that when the self‐deprecated attribute holds less importance to consumers, self‐deprecating (vs. self‐promoting) advertisements enhance brand trust by elevating the brand's social attractiveness and diminishing consumer skepticism. Importantly, self‐deprecation in advertisements also lowers consumers' tendency to avoid them. We empirically rule out several alternative explanations (i.e., consumer engagement, sentiment, nonconformity, and novelty) for these effects. Our research builds on prior studies in impression management and social psychology, contributing to the literature on advertising, self‐deprecation, and consumer skepticism by promoting the strategic use of self‐deprecating advertisements to bolster brand trust and reduce advertising avoidance. We offer actionable insights for managers and practitioners, highlighting how self‐deprecation can effectively address the challenges of building trust in diverse consumer‐facing marketing contexts.
... Contemporary marketing communication is featured as an interactive or two-way conversation between marketers and consumers (He et al., 2021;Lim et al., 2023;Wang, 2021Wang, , 2024, typically using various advertising appeals for different consumer segment to meet various consumer needs (Ji et al., 2022;Kim et al., 2021;Zimand-Sheiner et al., 2021). The advertising appeals are often characterized with respect to two dimensions: emotional/experiential or functional/rational (To & Patrick, 2021;Trivedi et al., 2020). For instance, prior work considers ad appeals described as "informational" or "transformational" (Gross & von Wangenheim, 2022;Nuweihed & Trendel, 2023;Xiang et al., 2019), "utilitarian" or "value-expressive" (Merdin-Uygur et al., 2023;van de Sanden et al., 2020), "hard-sell" or "soft-sell" (Yoon, 2022;Yoon et al., 2020;Zhu et al., 2022), and functional or experiential (Couwenberg et al., 2017;Zarantonello et al., 2013). ...
... Furthermore, in all four studies, lab experiments were used to infer causal relationship, which has been widely adopted in consumer behavior studies (Fan et al., 2023). And consistent with To and Patrick (2021), various brands and product categories (e.g., Ray-Ban glasses, D&G watches, LV bags) were employed as stimuli, which was aimed at confirming the robustness of our findings and enhancing the external validity. ...
Lookalike” products, including counterfeits and copycats, are increasingly common in today's global marketplace. Four lab experiments were conducted involving 653 participants, and data were analyzed through SPSS 26. Based on social representation (SR) theory and self‐construal theory, this research examines how advertising for original brands impacts purchase intent for counterfeits and copycats differently. The results suggest that ads for the original product using value‐expressive (vs. utilitarian) appeals result in lower intent to purchase copycat versions. However, ads for the original product using utilitarian (vs. value‐expressive) appeals lead to lower purchase intent for counterfeit versions. The results also show that consumer need fulfillment mediates the interactive effect between ad appeal type and product type. The current research provides useful insights for marketers or retailers grappling with ongoing competitive threats posed by lookalike products and underscores the strategic utilization of various advertising tactics to reduce the demand for copycats and counterfeits.
... In the celebrity endorsers research, the source credibility model has received support in the research of the effects of celebrity endorsements, such as in attractiveness 7,43,44,81 , trustworthiness 39,40,56 , expertise 41,42,69 . Besides, research has consistently shown that the characteristics of endorsers significantly influence consumer attitudes and perceptions. ...
Along with the digital transformation of the administrative environment and the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, official endorsers have nurtured a new channel for tourism destination marketing, which is of great significance to local economic recovery. However, less attention has been paid to the different effects of endorsement between ordinary endorsers and official endorsers, mainly due to their contrasting social statuses. To bridge the research gap, the source credibility model and social identity theory are integrated to construct the distinctive attributes of officials, as well as structural equation model is utilized to explore the underlying mechanism of official endorsement. Findings indicate that trustworthiness, the sense of authority, expertise, and attractiveness have direct positive effects on official identification, while also indirectly influencing tourists’ attitudes toward the destination through official identification. These findings provide theoretical and managerial implications for the local government managers involved in tourism destination marketing.
... For example, Umashankar et al. (2023) feature five studies, all conducted using online advertising platforms. A non-exhaustive list of articles featuring data collected from these advertising platforms includes Atalay, El Kihal, and Ellsaesser (2023), Banker and Park (2020), Castelo, Bos, and Lehmann (2019), Chan and Ilicic (2019), Gupta and Hagtvedt (2021), Hardisty and Weber (2020), Hodges, Estes, and Warren (2023), Humphreys, Isaac, and Wang (2021), Kupor and Laurin (2020), Mookerjee, Cornil, and Hoegg (2021), Ostinelli and Luna (2022), Paharia (2020), Paharia and Swaminathan (2019), Rifkin, Du, and Cutright (2023), To and Patrick (2021), Wang, Lisjak, and Mandel (2023), Winterich, Nenkov, and Gonzales (2019), Yin, Jia, and Zheng (2021), and Zhou, Du, and Cutright (2022). ...
Digital advertising platforms have emerged as a widely utilized data source in consumer research; yet, the interpretation of such data remains a source of confusion for many researchers. This article aims to address this issue by offering a comprehensive and accessible review of four prominent data collection methods proposed in the marketing literature: “informal studies,” “multiple-ad studies without holdout,” “single-ad studies with holdout,” and “multiple-ad studies with holdout.” By outlining the strengths and limitations of each method, we aim to enhance understanding regarding the inferences that can and cannot be drawn from the collected data. Furthermore, we present seven recommendations to effectively leverage these tools for programmatic consumer research. These recommendations provide guidance on how to use these tools to obtain causal and non-causal evidence for the effects of marketing interventions, and the associated psychological processes, in a digital environment regulated by targeting algorithms. We also give recommendations for how to describe the testing tools and the data they generate and urge platforms to be more transparent on how these tools work.
... Other attributes of the information (e.g., disclosure:Kim, 2022; movement: Grigsby et al., 2023) are also found to influence narrative transportation. Further, many of the storyteller characteristics can be further classified as attributes specific to the brand (e.g., brand attributes: McFerran et al., 2010; brand placement:Yıldız & Sever, 2022) or attributes of the character (e.g., character gaze:To & Patrick, 2021; narrative perspective: Kim, 2022) that is presented in the persuasive information. These studies identify tactics that marketers can employ to "pull" consumers into the story, enhancing the likelihood that they will be transported.Consumer characteristics fall into three broad categories: individual differences, states, and judgments. ...
Consumers are inundated with opportunities to become engaged with marketing‐generated stories, from watching an influencer detail her adventures abroad or a commercial about a military service member who makes it home just in time for the holidays. When consumers become so engaged with a story that they begin to connect with the story characters and imagine what will happen next, they experience a process known as narrative transportation, which has significant positive outcomes for marketers. Given the value that narrative transportation provides to marketers, we conduct a systematic literature review to both synthesize and provide direction on the literature of narrative transportation. From our analysis of 95 peer‐reviewed articles, we identify relevant theoretical foundations and concepts (antecedents, outcomes, and moderators) employed in these articles. Using these results as our foundation, we detail how narrative transportation has evolved in terms of both the presentation of the story and the antecedents that affect narrative transportation. Further, we present a conceptual model that will represent the next iteration of the narrative transportation framework and suggest avenues for future research. In doing so, we enable researchers to continue the exploration of the narrative transportation construct.
... The perceived attractiveness of portrayed individuals can also influence consumer responses, recommending the use of unattractive models (Fisher and Ma 2014) or an attractive model within an unattractive group (Grinstein, Hagtvedt, and Kronrod 2019) to increase empathy. Furthermore, a model's gaze averted from the viewer (versus direct) enhances VNT (To and Patrick 2021) and attention (Adil, Lacoste-Badie, and Droulers 2018;Hutton and Nolte 2011), most strongly when averted gazes are directed toward the advertised product (Adil, Lacoste-Badie, and Droulers 2018; Hutton and Nolte 2011). Finally, intense emotions displayed by models can increase emotional transfer (Hasford, Hardesty, and Kidwell 2015) and attention (Badenes-Rocha, Bigne, and Ruiz-Maf� e 2022; Beard, Henninger, and Venkatraman 2022). ...
... Second, they can improve recall (e.g., Adil, Lacoste-Badie, and Droulers 2018;Dahl, Frankenberger, and Manchanda 2003;Fidelis et al. 2017) and recognition (e.g., Adil, Lacoste-Badie, and Droulers 2018;Guido et al. 2019;Hartmann, Apaolaza, and Alija 2013) of the ad, portrayed product, or brand. Third, viewers perceive transporting visuals as more effective (To and Patrick 2021), interesting (Radach et al. 2003;Simola, Kuisma, and Kaakinen 2020), pleasant, original, and intellectually challenging (Simola, Kuisma, and Kaakinen 2020) than nontransporting ones. In addition, these images lead to a better perception of the consumer experience Phillips and McQuarrie 2010) and of the connection with an advertised brand (Hur, Lim, and Lyu 2020;Lim and Childs 2020). ...
... For example, anticipatory (versus retrospective) visual ads (Zhao, Dahl, and Hoeffler 2014) accompanied by instructions to imagine (Petrova and Cialdini 2005;Walters, Sparks, and Herington 2007) stimulate mental imagery, especially for simple images. Emotional ads enhance narrative, particularly when the model's gaze is averted (To and Patrick 2021), while recognition (versus request) ads work best in combination with happy (versus sad) portrayed emotions (Pham and Septianto 2019). Long ad exposure times can decrease attention to the ad (Guido et al. 2019). ...
Marketers today are increasingly using storytelling to engage their audiences. However, the design of narrative visuals is often inspired by a text-centric understanding of narratives. Despite the fast increase in visual content and the distinct processing it induces, extant research on visual narrativity remains fragmented, lacking a comprehensive framework to explain how a single still image can convey a narrative. Our literature review addresses this gap through the lens of narrative transportation theory. Based on a systematic review of 64 articles from marketing and adjacent disciplines, the authors propose that an image must narrate, act, and resonate (NAR) to stimulate narrative processing and transport viewers into its narrative. They also identify specific visual features that can facilitate this process and explore how characteristics of the storyteller, story receiver, and story settings can influence the strength of visual narrative transportation (VNT). Finally, the authors highlight affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses of transported viewers. This research extends narrative transportation theory to the visual domain, offering practical design principles that can be easily applied by marketing professionals. It also outlines an actionable research agenda for marketing scholars to further explore visual narrativity.
... A gaze cue is a visual cue that can be a visual display of a human or a virtual avatar [25] to provide social information and influence human behavior [8]. As discussed in the previous subsection, eye tracking helps in understanding the effectiveness of advertisements, and one way of guiding users' attention to ads is by using gaze cues [12,32]. For instance, Sajjacholapunt and Ball [28] measured the effectiveness of banner ads in three conditions: no face, mutual (the gaze direction is towards the users), and averted (a gaze cue is applied) gaze. ...
... Therefore, this can lead to increased immersiveness when presented in a 3D space, e.g., in virtual reality, increased user learning, and overall enjoyment [27]. Gaze cues are often used in advertisement settings, where the goal is to allocate visual attention to the desired parts of the advertisements, which often is the product or brand [28,32]. Based on our findings, game designers could, for example, use their avatars in their advertisements and provide gaze cues, increasing exposure to their brand and product. ...
... Second, the findings advance the current understanding of imagery marketing (Escalas 2004;Jiang et al. 2014;Krishnamurthy and Sujan 1999;Petrova and Cialdini 2005;To and Patrick 2021). In particular, Krishnamurthy and Sujan (1999) found that providing more contextual information (e.g., objects that typically surround a tropical vacation spot) in an ad helps consumers form consumption visions and increases ad effectiveness. ...
... Our work distinguishes human presence from other contextual information and shows when and why human presence in a contextually detailed ad could decrease ad effectiveness. Moreover, recently, To and Patrick (2021) reveal that the presence of a human with an averted (vs. direct) gaze in the ad facilitates narrative transportation and increases ad effectiveness. ...
Consumers and marketers often post photos of experiential consumption online. While prior research has studied how human presence in social media images impacts viewers’ responses, the findings are mixed. The present research advances the current understanding by incorporating viewers’ need for self-identity into their response model. Six studies, including an analysis of field data (14,725 Instagram photos by a top travel influencer) and five controlled experiments, find that the presence (vs. absence) of another human in the photo of an identity-relevant experience (e.g., a vacation, a wedding) can lower viewers' liking and preference for the venue (i.e., the vacation destination, the wedding venue) in the photo. This effect is mediated by viewers' feelings of others' ownership of the venue and moderated by the relevance of the experience to the viewer’s self-identity as well as the distinctiveness of the human in the photo. This research is the first to investigate the impact of human presence in shared photos through the lens of psychological ownership and the identity-signaling function of ownership. The findings offer practical insights into when marketers should avoid human presence in advertisements and how to mitigate the negative impact of human presence in online photos.
... Perceived influencer authenticity, in turn, leads to greater product recommendation effectiveness. Furthermore, findings from prior research suggest visual element interacts with a verbal message to shape consumer responses to a marketing message (To and Patrick, 2020;. Regarding verbal messages, influencers can typically use informational or narrative ways when recommending products (Farivar et al., 2021;Stubb, 2018). ...
... Furthermore, these two types of posts correspond to theoretically distinct persuasion strategies. While an informational post focuses on appealing to the product feature and functions in a discursive manner (Stubb, 2018;To and Patrick, 2020), a storytelling post mainly conveys the message through the influencer's story or personal experiences with the product (Escalas, 2004). ...
... Informational and storytelling posts persuade through different pathways. Storytelling posts have been shown to enhance persuasion outcomes through narrative transportation, a process in which the audience engages in self-related mental imagery related to the product (Escalas, 2004;Lim and Childs, 2020), while objectivity and credibility are key determinants of the effectiveness of an informational message (To and Patrick, 2020). We extend upon prior work on message type and argue that post type will influence the salience of authenticity judgment and criteria based on which consumers judge influencer authenticity, therefore altering the effect of image enhancement. ...
Purpose
Facilitated by image retouch tools, social media influencers can digitally enhance their self-image in product recommendation posts. This paper proposes that image enhancement may serve as a cue for the audience to assess the authenticity of the influencer (“true to oneself”), which further affects the influencer's product recommendation effectiveness (i.e. attitudes toward the post and recommended product).
Design/methodology/approach
Experiment 1 examines the effect of image enhancement on consumers' perceived influencer authenticity and product recommendation effectiveness. Experiment 2 considers the moderating role of post type, examining the effects in informational versus storytelling posts.
Findings
Consumers perceived an influencer to be more authentic when the image is not enhanced; in turn, consumers reported more favorable attitudes toward the post and the recommended product upon reading the post. The effects are moderated by post type: the effect of image enhancement (through perceived influencer authenticity) exists in posts using an informational message format but is attenuated for those using a storytelling message format.
Originality/value
This research enriches the literature on authenticity cues by documenting a novel visual cue and contributes to influencer marketing by identifying a nuanced interactive effect between image enhancement and post type on recommendation effectiveness.