Russell N Laczniak

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Head of Faculty at Iowa State University

The purpose of this research is to better understand how and why consumers pay attention to a firm's environmentally irresponsible sourcing practices. Using signaling theory, this research develops and tests a model that examines how a firm's intentionality and motive behind irresponsible environmental sourcing practices can signal a product's envi...

Restrained eating is the tendency to restrict food intake to control weight. Restrained eaters' behavior is thought to be under cognitive control. The dual process model classifies human cognition into two systems: 1) the reflective system, which is slow, deliberative, and conscious (i.e., the "cool system"), and 2) the automatic system, which is f...

Prior research has demonstrated that a horizontal reputation commons is shared across the breadth of an industry. However, less is known about the existence of a vertical reputation commons among supply chain members. The purpose of this consumer-centric study is to examine the spillover effect of an upstream incident in the supply chain on consume...

Research regarding the pros and cons of returns policy changes is limited. We use psychological contract theory and organizational justice theory to explore the effect of a returns policy change on customer intentions to spread negative word of mouth, switch to a different retailer’s website, and switch to the retailer’s physical store. We follow a...

Although stereotypical female portrayals are still common in advertisements, in recent years it appears there has been a move toward portraying women in powerful positions in ads. This research investigates the recent trend in advertising that portrays women in positions of power and offers a typology of female power dimensions in ads. Building on...

Restrained eaters are chronic dieters who pay attention to their food choices, intend to eat healthier foods, but commonly suffer from obesity. With obesity rates continuing to rise, public policy makers are attempting to help consumers battle this disease. Accordingly, the Affordable Care Act menu labeling provision was passed in the United States...

In this article, we first compare adolescents’ responses to two formats (easily recognizable versus not easily recognizable) Internet ads. We find that Internet literacy and ad skepticism are necessary for adolescents to effectively apply persuasion knowledge to identify both ad formats. Second, we demonstrate that parental mediation and parents’ l...

Although previous research has investigated the impact of sexual objectification portrayals of women on receivers (Peterson and Kerin 1977), there is a dearth of research that examines the impact of females portrayed in a sexually powerful manner. The current research intends to fill this gap by studying these effects and identifying their underlyi...

Recent studies suggest that adolescents are spending significant amounts of time on social media. Brands are taking advantage of this fact and actively using social media to reach adolescent consumers, primarily via social media influencers. Adolescents consider the sponsored brand posts by social media influencers to be trustworthy and honest, thu...

Purpose This study aims to uncover in-depth examples of how emergent media affects parents’ views and socialization efforts. The study examines these views and efforts in the context of violent commercials. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data for this paper using two studies. In Study 1, they collected data from the internet. Co...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the role of co-playing as a moderator of the relation between parents’ and children’s play of violent video games. Design/methodology/approach The study uses dyadic parent/child survey data to estimate the conditional effects in the model, both direct and indirect. Findings The positive effect of...

Children’s media socialisation, parental concerns, and mediation styles have been studied mainly in the US and Europe. The present research aims to extend media socialisation theory by investigating children’s media behaviour and parental concerns and mediation styles in Iran, and then to compare the findings with the research based on parents in W...

Stereotypical female portrayals are still common in advertisements while the role of women in society has progressed. In recent years, it appears there has been a move toward portraying women in power positions in ads. This research focuses on this new trend of female portrayals in ads. Power is defined as the capability to change others’/self beha...

The authors examine the influence of olfactory sensitivity on the effectiveness of olfactory imagery in advertising. Findings reveal that the use of olfactory imagery can negatively impact ratings for ads, the product advertised, and likelihood to buy, especially for individuals sensitive to smell. The authors demonstrate that the act of sniffing c...

Recent research suggests that children are spending a significant amount of time on the Internet which increases their exposure to subtle, engaging, and interactive ads. As a result, policy makers have developed regulations intended to empower parents to manage their children's exposure to Internet advertising. However, prior research has not exami...

This paper focuses on ‘tolerance of negativity’ (TON) as a means of understanding and predicting consumers’ responses to negative marketing communications. The results of three empirical studies suggest that consumers who are low (as opposed to high) in TON (when measured and/or primed) find negatively framed comparative ads to be less fair, less u...

The authors discusses a working definition of advertising and new consumption behavior of consumers. The authors also mentions the relationship between communication and advertising. Topics discussed includes mass media in advertising, marketing communication and their effects in advertising and advertising.

This study seeks to determine whether Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings are an effective tool for parents seeking to enhance their mediation efforts and ultimately reduce their children’s play of violent video games (and their children’s corresponding engagement in negative behaviors, such as getting in fights at school). Results d...

The current study contributes to the ever-expanding literature pertaining to comparative advertising by focusing specifically on comparative “attack” ads. Using the persuasion resistance process as a theoretical foundation, our findings indicate that users committed to the comparative referent are much more likely to resist persuasive attempts than...

How does advertising affect children? This topic has been debated since the 1970s. Some contend that advertising provides children with needed information so that they can effectively function as consumers. Others contend that advertising misleads children about products and brands, thus leading them to make suboptimal purchase decisions. Yet other...

The study investigates caregiver influence on children's playing of violent videogames. Based on theory, the investigation develops and tests a model that links parental socialization tendencies to children's violent videogame play. Results from a national sample of 237 caregiver–child dyads suggest that while the primary caregivers' tendencies tow...

In this article, I provide some thoughts that guided my decision making while I was editor of the Journal of Advertising (2003-2006). Specifically, I reflect on the definition of theory and how it has been and should be used in the advertising discipline. In particular, I attempt to distinguish between weaker (contextual) and stronger (universal) t...

Recognizing the increased popularity of “attack” advertising in the media today, this study empirically examines consumers' responses to negatively and positively framed comparative advertisements, while controlling for brand usage (i.e., users versus nonusers of the compared-to brand). Using researcher-developed ads as experimental stimuli, measur...

This research examines how consumers’ subjective product knowledge affects the way they interpret salesperson compensation within the financial services industry. Data from a nationwide panel of consumers show that higher product knowledge consumers become highly suspicious and lower purchase intentions when salesperson commission rates fall outsid...

Advertising message involvement (AMI) has been identified as an important individual/situational factor influencing advertising processing. In order to isolate and examine various theoretical relationships, researchers often experimentally manipulate AMI. In this study, several manipulations of the construct were tested for their ability to place i...

The potential ill effects of television advertising and programming directed at children and who should assume responsibility for them are issues being debated by parents, broadcasters, government officials, and child advocates. Some contend that protecting children is government's responsibility; others argue that parents are ultimately responsibl...

Given the influential role involvement plays in advertising processing, it is important that researchers planning to manipulate the construct take great care in developing their manipulations and manipulation checks. This study discusses a procedure, adapted from Churchill's (1979) paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs, th...

Recent conceptual and empirical work by MacKenzie and Lutz has provided an organizing framework for understanding the brand attitude formation process under varying involvement conditions. The present study extends this research effort by more closely examining the moderating effects of ad message involvement (AMI) in the context of the dual mode p...

The effects of brand beliefs and attitude-toward-the-ad (Aad) on immediate and delayed measures of attitude-toward-the-brand (Ab)were investigated for individuals who were more- and less-involved with the message of a print advertisement. Results suggest Aad's and brand beliefs' influence on immediate and delayed measures of Ab depend on individual...

Experimental results indicate that persuasive effects of commercials with alternative claim strategies depend on receivers' product involvement, commitment and familiarity. When objective and subjective claims are used, positive brand beliefs and evaluations (Σbiei) are directly related to receiver involvement and commitment, but not familiarity. E...

Past research has demonstrated that a significant amount of television ads targeted at children have violent content (Shanahan, Hermans, and Hyman 2003). However, little is known about the potentially harmful effects of television commercial violence. To shed light on this important issue, the present research discusses results of multiple focus gr...

The authors propose a restructuring of the "food as health" paradigm to "food as well-being." This requires shifting from an emphasis on restraint and restrictions to a more positive, holistic understanding of the role of food in overall well-being. The authors propose the concept of food well-being (FWB), defined as a positive psychological, physi...

Past research has demonstrated that a significant amount of television ads targeted at children have violent content (Shanahan, Hermans, and Hyman 2003). However, little is known about the potentially harmful effects of television commercial violence. To shed light on this important issue, the present research discusses results of multiple focus gr...

The authors of this article suggest that copy testing for print ads use message-consistent measures of persuasion. The specific type of measure depends on the level of product knowledge held by target receivers. Specifically, the authors discuss the results of a study that suggests that low-knowledge receivers' persuasion levels are most accurately...

This study examines the impact of retailer equity (specifically image and familiarity dimensions) on the cognitive processes employed by consumers receiving varying levels of strength of negative word of mouth (WOM) about retail entities. The main thesis is that retailer equity and the type of negative WOM received will interact to affect receivers...

Consistent with past research and theory explaining gender differences in information processing, the empirical study reported here showed that men process two forms of marketing information (advertising and product trial) differently than women. Specifically, women are more sensitive to the comprehensiveness of the trial information, recognizing m...

As governments, particularly those in the European Union, continue to place tighter restrictions on advertising aimed at children, it seems appropriate to reexamine children's knowledge of and understanding of television advertising in terms of both its content and its intent. Much of the data that decision-makers rely on is based on children (now...

Research dealing with the effects of advertising on children is limited. This is likely because children have proven to be difficult subjects for typical types of advertising research. This article reports on a study investigating the link between advertising exposure and children's use of influence tactics on parents. It provides suggestions on ho...

The purpose of this research is to examine the issue of measurement context effects in empirical tests of attitudinal models. The specific issue examined concerns the degree to which the measurement process affects the objects of measurement (i.e., various attitudinal and related concepts). The primary method of investigation is a controlled experi...

The theory of reasoned action and components of a theory of innovation adoption were integrated into a model of consumer adoption of the Internet for apparel shopping. The hypothesized model included psychological factors (beliefs and attitude), social factors (social support and social acceptance), and prior experience to explain intention to purc...

Recent research suggests that attitudes and related concepts may be modified or spontaneously generated as researchers attempt to measure them. The present research attempts to determine the extent to which such “measurement context effects” are likely to occur when attitude toward the ad is measured as a unidimensional and a bi-dimensional concept...

Research on negative word-of-mouth communication (WOMC) in general, and the process by which negative WOMC affects consumers’ brand evaluations in particular, has been limited. This study uses attribution theory to explain consumers’ responses to negative WOMC. Experimental results suggest that (a) causal attributions mediate the negative WOMC-bran...

Several studies have shown that pretrial ad exposure can positively influence a subsequent product trial experience. In this study, we investigate several specific, positive ad effects on product trial using an experiment that exposes subjects to a trial only, an ad only, or an ad and trial. In general, the pretrial ad appeared to encourage consume...

Building on the organizational commitment literature and recent management practices like relationship marketing and total quality management, a new focus of work commitment is proposed: external organizational commitment (EOC). It is envisioned as a global construct and defined as an employee's identification and involvement with another organizat...

This article describes a study on mothers’ views of television and children’s perceptions of their mothers’ socialization efforts regarding television. Results from the investigation involving 174 mother and child (in Grades 3–6) dyads suggest that mothers’ perceptions of their responsibilities regarding children’s television viewing vary by parent...

The purpose of this research was to examine the issue of measurement context effects in advertising processing research. Based upon a review of the advertising processing literature and recent research focusingon measurement contexteffects, hypotheses were specified and empirically tested via a measurement context experiment. The results indicate t...

Log-linear procedures have been recommended for analyzing data that are in the form of counts or frequencies (Iacobucci and McGill 1990). In its current form, the recommended procedure does not deal with multiple response data (i.e., more than one thought per response category). The paper proposes analytical modifications that researchers need to c...

In 1991, the FCC issued a policy stating that toy-based programming (TBP) is acceptable but barred commercials for featured toys during the show. The present study’s purpose was to assess the extent to which mothers’ parental socialization tendencies, policy familiarity, and TBP opinions influence attitudes toward the FCC’s policy. Regression resul...

The purpose of the study was to examine mothers' attitudes toward the FTC's Rule regarding advertising that features 900 numbers. The Rule restricts advertisers from targeting children under the age of 12 with such ads unless they provide an educational service, and features a disclosure statement requiring callers under the age of 18 to have paren...

Advertising message involvement (AMI) has long been a topic of interest in the advertising literature. Its effects on consumers' responses to advertising have been shown to be numerous and significant. This study investigates a theoretical and methodological issue regarding predispositional factors and the impact they have on experimenter-generated...

This paper examines the impact of retail store equity on the cognitive processes employed by consumers receiving negative word-of-mouth communication (WOMC). The general thesis is that retail store equity will alter the effect of negative WOMC on store evaluations. Propositions are developed that integrate attribution theory and retail equity perce...

This study explores the information processing tendencies of individuals exposed to advertisements containing fine-print disclosure footnotes. Results indicate that individuals have a lower recall of disclosure footnotes than to the message points contained in the body of the advertisement, though involvement with the advertisement tends to improve...

We describe an empirical assessment of the degree to which environmental ads may be classified as integrated. A framework discussed by Nowak and Phelps (1994) is applied to a set of “green” ads to determine whether such ads are truly integrated. Because organizations should use more than one approach in order to develop a green posture, integrated...

While the Dual Mediation Hypothesis Model has proven to be a useful explanatory tool in understanding consumers' ad processing tendencies, its usefulness may be enhanced by considering a number of important extensions. The present study extends the original model by expressly considering many of the model components in multidimensional terms as wel...

Although advertising directed at children has been a highly researched topic, no published studies to date have specifically investigated advertisements that encourage children to call 900-telephone numbers. As a result, the authors study parents’ attitudes toward such advertisements (and other promotional activities) directed at children. Their fi...

In recent years, some marketers have attempted to promote toys to children via television programs. Previous research has attempted to gauge parents’ reactions to these “toy-based programs” (Muehling, Carlson and Laczniak 1992). This study attempts to augment past efforts by using socialization theory and multiattribute attitude theory to develop a...

In recent years, marketers have increasingly used toy-based programming as a means of promoting their products to children. While the practice remains controversial and likely to be the focus of continued governmental and advocacy group scrutiny, little is known about parents' reactions to such programming. The present study extends past research o...

This study examined the relation between family communication patterns (FCP) and mothers' marketplace motivations, attitudes, and behaviors (MAB). Adolescents' prediction accuracy of mothers' consumption motivations was also investigated. Results indicate mothers' materialistic and shopping tendencies, advertising attitudes, information use, and co...

This study investigates the effect of advertising message involvement (AMI) on brand-related beliefs, attitude toward the ad (Aad), and their corresponding certainty dimensions. Support is found for the notion that belief strength is unaffected by involvement level, though brand-related beliefs are held with greater certainty for high- as compared...

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the involvement literature as it pertains to advertising research. In addition to reviewing the various means by which involvement has been conceptualized, operationalized, and incorporated in past marketing/advertising studies, a synthesis of the findings and directions for future research are offered.

This study investigates the mediating role played by beliefs, cognitive responses, and attitude-toward-the-ad in the brand attitude formation process. A model is proposed and tested which examines the interrelationship of these factors under both “high” and “low” message involvement conditions. Findings generally support the hypothesized model. In...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been asked by Congress to study the effects of programs which feature characters that are based on toymakers’ latest creations. While the viewpoints of certain advocacy and industry groups toward such programs have been well documented, the parental viewpoint has received little attention. This paper...

This chapter draws on interorganizational relations, distribution channels, and organizational theory research to present a systematic examination of the ongoing agency-client relationship. Dimensions of interorganizational decision-making such as participation, formalization and standardization, give rise to behaviors such as cooperation and confl...

The moderating effect of message involvement was examined for two determinants of brand attitudes (attitude toward the ad [Aad] and brand beliefs) measured immediately after and 1 week following ad exposure. Findings indicated that, under high-involvement conditions, both brand beliefs and Aad were relatively enduring over time. In low-involvement...

Court and FTC references imply that reasonable consumers have defenses against deceptive advertising, because of higher message involvement and greater product class expertise. However, experimental results (with commonly used deceptive claim strategies) suggest involvement and expertise do not operate in the assumed manner. This raises questions a...

While Petty and Cacioppo's Elaboration Likelihood Model suggests that brand-related beliefs are the main influencer of postexposure brand attitudes for highly involved receivers, research has additionally supported a significant attitude-toward-the-ad/brand relation. Results of this study support this relation for highly involved receivers with bot...

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of message involvement and product expertise on the net valence of message-related cognitive responses and attitudes of receivers of advertisements varying in degree of objective and subjective content.^ Hypotheses were tested in a 3 (deceptive claim strategy: an ad with primarily objective cla...