Article

Sidedness, commercial intent and expertise in blog advertising

Authors:
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

Currently, the internet is the main product information source for many consumer goods, mainly because of the irruption of consumer reviews based on blogging. Messages placed on them are usually perceived as a reliable and independent source of information, compared to traditional advertising. Also, blogs are websites that have a high personal nature perception. Using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design, this study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of blogging commercial messages, measuring the influence of the message sidedness, communicator expertise and advertising intent and tests their influence over advertising effectiveness (measured as credibility and behavioral intention). Results show the relevance of using two-sided messages, expert sources and unbiased (non-sponsored) messages in terms of increase blog credibility and behavioral intention toward the reviewed product. Interactions of the variables are also examined.

No full-text available

Request Full-text Paper PDF

To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.

... This rapid growth in vlogging has led to the emergence and growth of video blog advertisements. Consumers view blogs as independent and reliable sources of information, which sets them apart from traditional advertising platforms [3,4]. Therefore, in this context, brand marketing communication strategies are often implemented using blogs. ...
... Rana [13] discusses the effect of homophily and expertise on purchase intention; Chiu and Ho [18] found that source credibility and endorser-product match affected Gen Z's purchase intention of endorsing products, there is an indirect relationship between attitude homophily, physical attractiveness and social attractiveness with the purchase intention [19], but lack the exploration of advertising intention. In a study of traditional text blogs, Uribe et al. [4] discussed the role of advertising intention, but there is little research in the field of video blogs. The discussion of advertising intention is a necessary condition for discussing the purchase intention for advertising products. ...
... This study examines how homophily and expertise affect consumers' emotional attachment to vloggers and perceived source credibility (organism), which leads to consumers' purchasing behavior (response). In a study of traditional blogs, Uribe et al. [4] found that blogs' sponsorship information may have a certain negative impact on stimulating consumers' willingness to buy, and sponsorship information includes more positive information about products or services. Consumers are usually skeptical and critical of messages with commercial intent; therefore, sponsored messages may have a negative impact on persuading them to buy [4]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Video blogging channels for social media technology continue to innovate and evolve, and brands are beginning to rely on social media channels for product marketing. The factors influencing consumers’ purchase intention for products advertised by video bloggers are numerous and unclear. The main purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism by which the characteristics of video bloggers influence the formation of emotional cognition and then influences consumers’ purchase intention. Based on the SOR model, 518 questionnaires were administered to Chinese video blogging users. The AMOS 24.0 and SPSSAU 24.0 web tools were used to analyze the study data. Empirical results indicate that consumers’ perceived homogeneity, expertise, degree of emotional attachment to video bloggers, and perceived source confidence have a direct or indirect positive influence on purchase intentions. Evident advertising intention weakens the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase intention. This result is strategically important for a brand’s advertising efforts and market share and provides new research insights and frameworks for studying consumers’ advertised product purchase behaviors in the context of video blogging channels for social media.
... For instance, the commercial motivations or bias of a source may lead them to include only one-sided or content biased information. This interaction between aspects of source-and content-related bias were examined by Uribe et al. (2016). In their study, undergraduate and graduate students were asked to evaluate blogs with (a) either one-sided (i.e., advertising only the advantages) or two-sided (i.e., considering advantages and disadvantages) product reviews, attributed to (b) expert or non-expert sources (i. ...
... This interaction between content-related and source-related facets of bias is examined here, across two studies. In particular, we integrate analyses from Kammerer et al. (2016) and Uribe et al. (2016) to introduce students to commercially biased or unbiased sources (Kammerer et al., 2016), evidencing explicitly identified or only implicit commercial intent (Uribe et al., 2016), and introducing educational app reviews that are either one-sided or two-sided in nature. Across two studies, PSTs were asked to rate educational app reviews attributed to four different sources, differing in the form and extent of their commercial bias: (a) an objective, third-party review site (R-O), (b) a third-party review site disclosing a sponsored post (R-SP), (c) a commercial site including a "real" teacher testimonial (C-RTT), and (d) a commercial site with no testimonial (C-NT); with these reflecting the range of commercially-biased source attributions that PSTs may be expected to navigate when selecting apps for classroom use and with each of these differentially attributed sites also introducing content bias or not (i.e., introducing reviews in a one-sided or two-sided fashion). ...
... This interaction between content-related and source-related facets of bias is examined here, across two studies. In particular, we integrate analyses from Kammerer et al. (2016) and Uribe et al. (2016) to introduce students to commercially biased or unbiased sources (Kammerer et al., 2016), evidencing explicitly identified or only implicit commercial intent (Uribe et al., 2016), and introducing educational app reviews that are either one-sided or two-sided in nature. Across two studies, PSTs were asked to rate educational app reviews attributed to four different sources, differing in the form and extent of their commercial bias: (a) an objective, third-party review site (R-O), (b) a third-party review site disclosing a sponsored post (R-SP), (c) a commercial site including a "real" teacher testimonial (C-RTT), and (d) a commercial site with no testimonial (C-NT); with these reflecting the range of commercially-biased source attributions that PSTs may be expected to navigate when selecting apps for classroom use and with each of these differentially attributed sites also introducing content bias or not (i.e., introducing reviews in a one-sided or two-sided fashion). ...
Article
Across two studies we examine the role of bias in preservice teachers' (PSTs) selection of educational applications for classroom use. In Study 1, participants were asked to rate and form recommendations based on four app reviews, varying in their source bias or commercial motivations (e.g., a sponsored post on a third-party review site; a commercial site with a real teacher testimonial) and in their introduction of one-sided or two-sided content (i.e., content bias). In Study 2, participants were asked to rate eight differentially attributed app reviews and complete two bias discrimination tasks, purposefully constructed to capture PSTs’ reasoning about source bias and content bias. Results from Study 1 showed that PSTs were somewhat effective at discounting reviews demonstrating source bias but were less effective at considering content bias. Study 2 showed that while PSTs considered two-sided information to be more trustworthy than one-sided information, they did not seem to differentiate between commercially biased reviews, of different types. Implications for supporting PSTs and all students to reason about forms of bias are discussed.
... Higher number of followers increases source credibility and intention to build an online friendship. The joint impact of high number of followers and positive valence increases buying intention and product involvement Uribe et al., 2016 Experiment/online blog Communicator expertise ...
... In this respect, our study advances extant research that has suggested that an influencer's number of followers affects users' perceptions of the influencer's popularity, attractiveness and likability (De Vries, 2019;Jin and Phua, 2014;Schouten et al., 2020). Second, it contributes to the literature on the role of message characteristics in determining the effectiveness of a brand-related message posted on social platform (Balabanis and Chatzopoulou, 2019;Balaji et al., 2021;Lee and Theokary, 2021;Lou and Yuan, 2019;Uribe et al., 2016;Xiao et al., 2018) by testing if argument quality affects consumer responses to advertising message posted by micro-versus meso-influencers. Third, the study findings contribute to the growing body of literature that seeks to understand how neurophysiological processes affect online experiences and customer responses to online marketing communication (Lin et al., 2018a(Lin et al., , 2018bPozharliev et al., 2022). ...
... By combining these streams, we offer a theoretical explanation, alongside empirical evidence, of how these two concepts influence consumer responses to SMIs. In doing so, we contribute to the literature on the role of message characteristics in determining the effectiveness of a product-related advertising posted on social platform (Balabanis and Chatzopoulou, 2019;Balaji et al., 2021;Lee and Theokary, 2021;Lou and Yuan, 2019;Uribe et al., 2016;Xiao et al., 2018). Thus far, research has studied influencer type (Boerman, 2020;De Veirman et al., 2017) and argument quality (Xiao et al., 2018;Papyrina, 2019) in isolation. ...
Article
Purpose This paper aims to examine a two-way interaction between social influencers’ number of followers (micro vs meso) and argument quality (weak vs strong) on consumers’ self-reported and brain responses to advertising posts on Instagram. Further, drawing upon source credibility theory and contemporary theories of persuasion, the Instagram users’ perceptions of the influencer’s credibility are predicted to mediate the hypothesized effects. Design/methodology/approach Through an online (N = 192) and a lab study (N = 112), the authors examined Instagram users’ responses to an advertising post from Instagram influencers in terms of perceived source credibility and electronic word-of-mouth intention, using validated multi-item scales from existing literatures and electroencephalogram (EEG) measures. The hypotheses were tested with a 2 (type of influencer: micro vs meso) × 2 (argument quality: weak vs strong) between-subject design using mediated moderated linear regression analysis. Findings The results highlight that meso-influencers are perceived as a credible source of information only when their product-related post provides strong argument quality. Moreover, this process involves an increase in users’ cognitive work (measured with EEG), with possible implications on marketing communication strategies and online message design. Research limitations/implications The limitations of the work can serve as ideas for future research. First, this study did not account for the influencer’s relevance and resonance. Second, the authors studied consumer responses to online communication produced by Instagram influencers within a single product category. Another important product type distinction that requires further attention is between hedonic and utilitarian products. Finally, the two studies only used positive review content. Further research should study how consumers evaluate the source credibility of a micro- vs meso-influencer when they are exposed to negative reviews containing weak vs strong arguments. Practical implications The results suggest that marketers should carefully consider Instagram influencers based on the trade-offs between credibility and reach. Specifically, micro-influencers are perceived as more credible sources of information than meso-influencers, which means that they have greater potential to affect Instagram users’ behavior. Moreover, the results suggest that meso-influencers should leverage argument quality to enhance their credibility and draw greater positive outcomes for the products and brands they endorse. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate how the interaction between the type of social media influencer and the argument quality affects consumers’ self-reported and brain responses to advertising posts on Instagram. Moreover, using neuroscience, this study aims to shed light on the neurophysiological processes that drive consumer responses to product-related communication posted by different influencer types.
... In contrast, when influencers demonstrate their competencies and share their knowledge with their followers (Grgurić Čop et al., 2023;D. Y. Kim & Kim, 2021;Uribe et al., 2016), or when they are recognised as opinion leaders who provide valuable content to followers (Farivar et al., 2021;Sánchez-Fernández & Jiménez-Castillo, 2021;, they are more likely to foster engagement. ...
... In addition, product attribute description about utilitarian products carries significant information value for viewers, which further demonstrates influencers' respect for their audiences and their genuine concern about the informative value of their recommendations (Martínez-López et al., 2020;Uribe et al., 2016). Despite the monetary incentive from brands, influencers' detailed descriptions of utilitarian products highlight their efforts to balance brand interests and follower welfare, thereby enhancing the credibility and trustworthiness of influencers as content creators. ...
... Hence, when young consumers perceive a strong manipulative intent, such as recognising an influencer post as advertising, they might develop negative perceptions of the message's source [20,44]. They might decrease their source credibility, defined as [45]' a message sender's positive characteristics that influence receivers' acceptance of the message communicated' [43] (p. 4406). ...
... Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework. defined as [45]' a message sender's positive characteristics that influence receivers' acceptance of the message communicated' [43] (p. 4406). ...
Article
Full-text available
Sustainable food consumption is seen by many as a significant challenge. Green marketers are trying to combine newer formats of marketing communications, such as influencer marketing, to change consumer’s behaviour to a more environmentally sustainable food choice. Especially, adolescents and young adults have been found to be relevant target groups. In this study, based on persuasion knowledge and reactance theory, we examined the moderating role of disclosures on the effectiveness of food influencer posts, both for sustainable and non-sustainable products. In an online 2 (non-sustainable vs. sustainable food) × 2 (no disclosure vs. disclosure) experiment (N = 332) this study finds that, surprisingly, sustainable food posts are more often recognized as advertising compared to non-sustainable food posts. Nevertheless, a disclosure increases the likelihood that a non-sustainable food post would be recognized as advertising compared to no disclosure. Finally, the recognition of selling intent decreases source credibility and ultimately decreases attitude towards the post and product, as well as liking intention.
... In addition, Tran and Can (2020) investigated that review consistency is related to review credibility. Uribe et al. (2016) found that credibility has affected behavior intentions. In addition, Hsu and Liao (2014) showed that customer received information two-sided recommendations are better than one-sided information. ...
... However, Chakraborty (2019) does not support the theory that review sidedness clearly affects the reliability of online reviews. Moreover, Uribe et al. (2016) indicated that two-sided reviews improve credible information. Besides, they found that twosided reviews affected behavioral intentions. ...
Article
Full-text available
This study investigated the relationship between source, receiver, review quality, review sidedness, review consistency, online credible review, reliability, intentionality, and willingness to buy the electric consumers in Vietnam. This study performed structural equation modeling (SEM). A total of 427 valid respondents were used in this research. The findings indicated that sources, receiver review, review quality, review sidedness, and review consistency have positive effects on online credible review. Moreover, it found that online credible reviews had a significantly positive influence on the intentionality and reliability of brand trust. This research also illustrated that intentionality and reliability have a significant impact on willingness to buy. From academic contributions in this research, it has a variety of important indicators of online review credibility. Therefore, marketers should be mindful of the leading position played by periphery signals and focus on taking advantage of the latter to keep improving the credibility of the assessment process.
... Other studies have focused on specific products when examining the influence of eWOM on consumer's intention to purchase. For instance, studies have analyzed the impact of eWOM on intention to buy cars (e.g., Jalilvand & Samiei, 2012a), restaurant services (e.g., C. W. Park et al., 2021), electronic devices (Cheong et al., 2020), laptops (e.g., Aerts et al., 2017;Uribe et al., 2016), or smartphones (e.g., J. Chen et al., 2016). Some research has also investigated the areas of tourism and hospitality, such as the influence of eWOM on the desire to reserve hotels (e.g., Agag & El-Masry, 2016;Teng et al., 2016), or on the selection of travel destinations (e.g., Jalilvand & Samiei, 2012b). ...
... First, the power of influencer marketing stems from influencers' expertise and reputation (Ladhari et al., 2020). Followers follow influencers to derive useful information, tactics and skills in a certain area (Sakib et al., 2020;Uribe et al., 2016). When expert influencers endorse a brand that is within their domain of expertisea phenomenon we refer to as a same-domain endorsementfollowers likely readily construe that influencers are seeking to be particularly persuasive about the video content using their expertise and qualifications (Chetioui et al., 2020;Kim et al., 2018;Ohanian, 1991). ...
Article
Purpose This study aims to empirically test how sponsored video customization (i.e. the degree to which a sponsored video is customized for a sponsoring brand) affects video shares differently depending on influencer characteristics (i.e. mega influencer and expert influencer) and brand characteristics (i.e. brand establishment and product involvement). Design/methodology/approach This study uses a unique real-world data set that combines coded variables (e.g. customization) and objective video performance (e.g. sharing) of 365 sponsored videos to test the hypotheses. A negative binomial model is used to analyze the data set. Findings This study finds that the effect of video customization on video shares varies across contexts. Video customization positively affects shares if they are made for well-established brands and high-involvement products but negatively influences shares if they are produced by mega and expert influencers. Research limitations/implications This study extends the influencer marketing literature by focusing on a new media modality – sponsored video. Drawing on the multiple inference model and the persuasion knowledge theory, this study teases out different conditions under which video customization is more or less likely to foster audience engagement, which both influencers and brands care about. The chosen research setting may limit the generalizability of the findings of this study. Practical implications The findings suggest that mega and expert influencers need to consider if their endorsement would backfire on a highly customized video. Brands that aim to engage customers with highly-customized videos should gauge their decision by taking into consideration their years of establishment and product involvement. For video-sharing platforms, especially those that are planning to expand their businesses to include “matching-making services” for brands and influencers, the findings provide theory-based guidance on optimizing such matches. Originality/value This paper fulfills an urgent research need to study how brands and influencers should produce sponsored videos to achieve optimal outcomes.
... 22 If our theorizing about the underlying role of persuasion knowledge is correct, counterbalancing the valence of the message should mitigate the negative effect of high-arousal language for macro-influencers. That is, an influencer who acknowledges some concerns or negative aspects of the promoted product may appear less likely to be driven by manipulative intent (Uribe, Buzeta, and Velásquez 2016). Therefore, high-arousal language should have a weaker (negative) influence. ...
Article
Full-text available
Influencer marketing is a popular strategy to connect with consumers. However, influencers’ use of overly high arousal language in promoting products (e.g., “it’s totally AMAZING!”) has raised questions about their true motivations. This article investigates how high arousal language in micro versus macro influencers’ sponsored posts might shape engagement. Six studies, combining automated text, image, video, and audio analyses of thousands of Instagram and TikTok posts with preregistered controlled experiments, demonstrate that high arousal language increases engagement with micro influencers, but it decreases engagement with macro influencers, seemingly because it makes micro (macro) influencers appear more (less) trustworthy. Yet the negative effect of arousal for macro influencers can be mitigated if their posts provide counterbalanced valence (e.g., both positive and negative assessments) or if they indicate an informative, rather than commercial, goal. These findings deepen understanding of how language arousal shapes consumer responses, reveal a psychological mechanism through which language arousal affects perceptions, and provide actionable insights for crafting more effective social media content.
... facto, os consumidores têm tendência a recuar e resistir mais facilmente quando reconhecem os conteúdos como persuasivos, desenvolvendo, assim, atitudes mais negativas (Eva Adriana van Reijmersdal et al., 2015). Neste sentido, vários estudos demonstraram que a divulgação aumenta o reconhecimento do post como sendo publicidade, aumentando o conhecimento de persuasão, impactando negativamente aPor sua vez, e como referido supra, o tipo de influenciador também interfere na relação que medeia a credibilidade da fonte e o passa-a-palavra, i.e., os macroinfluenciadores ao serem percecionados como menos credíveis(Westerman et al., 2012) irão refletir, no consumidor, uma menor pré-disposição para o passa-a-palavra.Paralelamente, há autores que defendem que, apesar da divulgação da parceria impactar negativamente a credibilidade da fonte, se a mensagem passada pelo influenciador for devidamente explicada e enquadrada e o consumidor a entender como genuína, esses efeitos podem ser minimizados ou mesmo neutralizados(Hwang & Jeong, 2016;Uribe et al., 2016). Isto acontece pois o consumidor ao perceber que o influenciador está preocupado com a audiência, desenvolve atitudes mais favoráveis em relação ao influenciador, e consequentemente, em relação à marca, por acreditar que a recomendação do serviço é honesta e legítima(Spry et al., ...
Article
Full-text available
Os consumidores mostram-se cada vez mais exigentes pelo que as marcas têm de conseguir destacar-se de forma a conseguir captar a sua atenção. Simultaneamente, o mundo online tem ganho importância crescente pelo que as marcas precisam de garantir presença no digital e, ao mesmo tempo, proporcionar conteúdos que sejam valorizados pelos consumidores de forma a acompanhar as suas preferências. Este estudo surge, assim, com o objetivo de perceber o efeito moderador do patrocínio no impacto do influenciador digital no comportamento do consumidor, mais concretamente no consumidor de viagens e no fenómeno do passa-a-palavra. Para tal, foi desenvolvida uma investigação quantitativa aos utilizadores do instagram. Os resultados, obtidos através do PLS-SEM permitiram concluir que, de facto, o impacto da credibilidade da fonte e da interação parassocial na intenção do consumidor em se envolver no passa-a-palavra é moderado pela divulgação de patrocínio, no entanto não existe evidência que suporte que esse mesmo impacto é, também, moderado pelo tipo de influenciador. A investigação contribui, desta forma, para a literatura do marketing de influência ampliando o conhecimento já existente, demonstrando o impacto de diferentes variáveis no passa-a-palavra, alargando o conhecimento a um novo contexto, evidenciando, ainda, a relevância da valência positiva no passa-a-palavra. A nível da gestão, os resultados irão contribuir para uma aplicação mais eficaz das estratégias de marketing por parte dos profissionais.
... Influencer 1's posts included negative views of DAR's policies and projects but of all SMIs identified in Project 2, Influencer-1 had the highest stakeholder-RPMF values. From a marketing perspective, sponsored posts incorporating negative perspectives of a brand or product enhance followers' perceptions of authenticity and improve marketing outcomes (Leung, Gu, Li, et al., 2022;Uribe et al., 2016). ...
Thesis
Full-text available
To effectively address modern environmental problems, managers require the input of practitioners, scientists, and stakeholders on local to international scales. With the rise of social media, traditional approaches to engaging stakeholders risk becoming antiquated. Social-media-based marketing methods may represent opportunities for managers to enhance their stakeholder engagement abilities. This project tested the utilization of Influencer Marketing (IM), an approach used to reach particular demographics through pre-established online communities and relationships, to increase the number of core stakeholders engaged by The State of Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR). DAR sponsored Social Media Influencers (SMIs) to post sponsored content designed to engage DAR's core stakeholders and elicit their participation in four projects. Project-1 and Project-3 were meetings used to engage and inform DAR's stakeholders. Project-2 and Project-4 were online stakeholder surveys used to begin designing DAR's new policies. Each Project provided methodology lessons and potential trends adapted to the subsequent Projects. Effectiveness was determined through comparisons with DAR's past projects, survey results, SMI metadata, and independently tracked URLs. The results of each project varied, but all showed an increase in the number of engaged stakeholders compared to DAR's traditional approaches: Project-1 yielded an 83.1% increase in meeting attendance (p<0.01); Project-2 resulted in 3,277 survey responses, 90.3% originating from the survey "going viral" by the posts of unsponsored SMIs; Project-3 yielded a 50.7% increase in meeting attendance (p<0.05); Project-4 resulted in 191 survey responses, of which stakeholders submitted 99.5%. The effectiveness of IM for stakeholder engagement appears to be affected by the messaging used by sponsored SMI and the platforms sponsored content is posted on. This project demonstrated that IM could be utilized to engage the stakeholders of environmental managers and that SMIs with identities similar to those of stakeholders can have concentrations of stakeholders in their followings. Furthermore, independent SMIs were found to be able to unilaterally affect policy.
... A primary driver of influencer market outcomes is how authentic followers perceive the sponsorship (Leung et al., 2022;Uribe et al., 2016). Furthermore, how similar an influencer's identity is to a follower modulates how authentic the messaging is perceived (Hugh et al., 2022). ...
Technical Report
Full-text available
With estimates of the percentage of the U.S. population who regularly use social media as high as 90%, governing agencies have been thrust into a virtual landscape with little to no training and guidance. This paper provides coastal and marine managers with a summary of how social media might positively, and negatively, affect their abilities to manage the environment. I draw upon personal experiences, scientific literature, and emerging case studies to guide managers to unexplored territory. I explain the pitfalls that prevent effective social media use, explore novel opportunities spawned from private-sector marketing, and highlight issues that must be addressed regardless of an agency's social media presence. I recommend how managers should address the problems and harness the opportunities. This information can enable coastal and marine managers to protect their existing stakeholder engagement approaches, correct the trajectory of failing stakeholder relations, and provide decision-makers with the knowledge to set pragmatic policies for agency social media use.
... With regard to brand-related outcomes, we focus here on purchase intentions as an outcome, as it is a widely accepted and used measure. We used a 7-point semantic differential scale (e.g., Unlikely/Likely, Improbable/Probable) to assess how likely participants were to consider purchasing the product featured in the post (Lee and Kim 2020;Till and Busler 2000;Uribe, Buzeta, and Vel asquez 2016). To operationalize aspects of moral/affective advertising literacy (our second dependent variable), we followed Boerman and colleagues' (2018) scale of appropriateness of sponsored content, which measures beliefs about the moral appropriateness of sponsored content. ...
Article
Influencer advertising has sparked controversy among both consumers and regulators, in that influencer advertising’s very effectiveness is built on deceit, because consumers are often unaware of the persuasive intent. Empirical evidence on influencer advertising is built largely on the premise that disclosure will activate consumers’ reactance, as consumers will recognize the persuasive intent. Using a mixed-method approach (focus groups and survey), we contribute to the growing body of research on influencer advertising by demonstrating the role of three important boundary conditions in the relationship between knowledge of persuasive intent and activation of “resistant coping” mechanisms: trust, overconfidence, and transparency. Based on our focus-group results, we propose that two groups of outcome variables need further research attention: (1) consumers’ moral and affective advertising literacy and (2) other individual-level psychological outcomes, such as cognitive dissonance and reduced control over one’s time and productivity. In our further empirical test, we focus more specifically on perceptions of moral appropriateness of advertising, and we illustrate its importance for understanding how influencer advertising works.
... Expertise refers to the degree of knowledge of a specific object in a particular field, including authority, ability, or qualification [23]. Numerous studies have shown that as external sources of information for fans in online communities, internet celebrities' expertise affects fans' attitudes and subsequent behaviors [24][25][26]. Daneshvary & Schwer (2000) also pointed out in their study that expertise is a crucial information source for internet celebrities to obtain fans' recognition and attention [27]. Internet celebrities' professional knowledge increases fans' perceived credibility, which enhances their purchasing behavior. ...
Article
Full-text available
In the past few years, internet celebrities have become a new and important way to get people to buy energy-saving products. Their psychological mechanisms for promoting fans’ intention to purchase have become the focus of academic attention, but a unified conclusion has yet to be reached. This study uses online communities as a scenario, with the characteristics of influencers’ expertise, social attraction, and task attraction as antecedent variables and social cognitive theory and parasocial interaction theory as the theoretical basis to explore their influence on fans’ intention to purchase household energy-saving products. The study investigates the mediating role of parasocial relationships and the moderating role of fans’ green self-efficacy in influencing internet celebrities’ expertise and attraction of fans’ parasocial relationships. The results showed that the parasocial relationships formed between fans and influencers mediated the relationship between the expertise and attraction of influencers and fans’ intention to purchase energy-saving products and that “green self-efficacy” positively moderated the parasocial relationships formed between fans and internet celebrities in terms of their expertise and task attraction. The moderating effect of “green self-efficacy” on the parasocial relationships between fans and internet celebrities was insignificant.
... Relatedly, credibility has been documented in the influencer marketing literature to be of utmost importance (e.g., Lou and Yuan 2019). SMIs perceived as experts in their area of interest are more likely to drive consumer behavior, especially in blogging contexts (Uribe, Buzeta, and Velásquez 2016;Hughes, Swaminathan, and Brooks 2019). Nevertheless, we suggest that a platform to allow for kindness contagion moves beyond credibility (Hughes, Swaminathan, and Brooks 2019), to the underlying nature of the poster's authenticity. ...
Article
Social media influencers have received significant recognition for their marketing capabilities but are also identified as contributing to several negative societal consequences. This commentary explores social media influencers’ emergent role and associated practices in the spread of kindness to benefit the larger society. Informed by parasocial and construal level theories, we introduce the concept of kindness contagion and conceptualize social media influencers’ kindness contagion cycle. The framework includes six authentic kindness practice forms in which influencers are most likely to reinforce their kindness-embedded relationship (e.g., posts of encouragement to be kind and kindness meditations). By integrating parasocial and construal level theories we go beyond the commonly discussed marketization capabilities for this actor to help generate insights into how a social media influencer can build an intimate, trusting relationship with their followers, to spread kindness among consumers. Practical and theoretical implications are also discussed in addition to future research directions.
... En effet, parce que l'effet persuasif des recommandations d'IMS repose sur leur crédibilité perçue (Leung et al., 2022), il nous semble primordial d'intégrer ce concept dans le mécanisme des effets de la divulgation. L'évaluation de la crédibilité d'une source a, en effet, pour préalable qu'elle soit jugée comme impartiale, que ses motivations soient perçues comme désintéressées et non commerciales (Martínez-López et al., 2020 ;Uribe et al., 2016). Nous souhaitons ainsi évaluer si, et à quelles conditions, la reconnaissance de la nature publicitaire de la recommandation peut se retourner contre l'influenceur et affecter sa crédibilité (De Jans et al., 2018 ;Dhanesh et Duthler, 2019 ;Han et al., 2020 ;Weismueller et al., 2020) et, de ce fait, avoir un potentiel impact sur les réactions des audiences. ...
... The literature on influencer marketing is divided into three main areas of research: (1) the influence maximization and influencer identification problem (Li & Du, 2017;More & Lingam, 2019;Roelens et al., 2016;Sheikhahmadi et al., 2017); (2) the study of practices associated with managing online presence and influence (Audrezet et al., 2020;Delisle & Parmentier, 2016;García-Rapp, 2017); and (3) the impact of social media influencers (SMIs) on consumer attitudes and behaviors (Lim et al., 2017;Magno & Cassia, 2018;Torres et al., 2019;Uribe et al., 2016;Vrontis et al., 2021). ...
Article
Full-text available
This study analyzes the effect of the parasocial relationship on the audience's intention to adopt the recommendations of micro, macro and mega-influencers, considering the number of followers, perceived popularity and opinion leadership. A sample of 140 Portuguese social media influencers (SMIs) was classified into micro, macro or mega-influencers. 577 valid responses to a questionnaire were analyzed using Andrew Hayes' macro PROCESS for SPSS. The findings suggest that the indirect effect between the number of followers and the intention to adopt SMIs' recommendations is mediated by the perceived popularity and opinion leadership, and are moderated by the parasocial relationship. Significant differences are found between micro, macro and mega-influencers in terms of credibility, attractiveness and established relationship. The categorization into micro, macro and mega-influencers is adapted to the context of a small country. This paper provides relevant information on the process of SMI selection.
... It can be one sided where the reviews are focused on either on strengths or weakness. Prior studies recommended that credible reviews should have both the aspects of the products or services (Uribe et al., 2016). Contrary to prior arguments, extant literature further argued that negatively framed reviews are more rational . ...
Article
The proliferation of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has sped up the evolution of online education. People now have a habit of checking internet reviews before deciding on and enrolling in an MOOC. However, issues about the veracity of online reviews have grown in significance. The SO -R framework was used to determine the factors that have an impact on the reliability of reviews of MOOCs. The current study uses dual process theory (DPT) as a theoretical framework for identifying the stimuli. This finding reveals that review consistency and overall rating are more important in influencing the adoption of MOOC than the various informational factors. The findings also highlight that informal online communication (online reviews) is crucial to the adoption of e-learning. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Dalam studi sebelumnya dinyatakan bahwa two-sided review dianggap sebagai ulasan yang tidak memihak (bias) terhadap suatu produk. Dalam studinya Uribe et al. (2016) menemukan bahwa ulasan dua sisi dianggap dapat meningkatkan kredibilitas dari suatu ulasan. Namun studi lainnya justru menemukan hasil yang bertolak belakang, studi tersebut justru menyatakan bahwa ulasan yang kredibel justru tidak dipengaruhi oleh two-sided review. ...
Article
Full-text available
Sejak Covid-19 dan penerapan kebijakan Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar (PSBB) membawa potensi perubahan yang sangat signifikan dalam pola berbelanja konsumen. Hal ini tentunya memicu perubahan pola pembelian dari offline menjadi online melalui platform e-commerce. Perkembangan tren industri kecantikan juga dapat mempengaruhi pola konsumsi masyarakat akan kosmetik. Penelitian ini merupakan replikasi dari studi Chakraborty dan Bhat (2018) mengenai topik kredibilitas ulasan online serta citra merek dari segi fungsional dan hedonis. Namun peneliti melakukan perubahan konteks dari produk elektronik menjadi produk makeup dengan spesifikasi produk pensil alis dalam platform Sociolla. Sehingga peneliti ingin mengembangkan penelitian ini dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui faktor kredibilitas ulasan online dan pengaruhnya terhadap citra merek baik dari segi fungsional dan hedonik dalam konteks produk pensil alis di Sociolla di Jabodetabek. Dengan target sampel kurang lebih 325 responden dan setelah menjalani tahap data cleaning di eliminasi menjadi 302 responden menggunakan teknik sampling purposive dilengkapi dengan teknik aksidental. Kemudian akan diuji tahap lanjut melalui analisis Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Dari penelitian ini didapat 3 temuan utama: (1) review quality dan review consistency berpengaruh positif terhadap ulasan online yang kredibel, (2) receiver berpengaruh secara parsial terhadap credible online review, dan (3) ulasan online yang kredibel berpengaruh positif terhadap functional brand image. Dari sisi teoritis, penelitian ini berkontribusi dalam bidang literatur pemasaran terkait topik ulasan online yang kredibel dan citra merek pada platform e-commerce. Dari sisi praktis, penelitian ini dapat mengembangkan ulasan online bagi e-commerce yang bermanfaat untuk membantu perusahaan menyusun strategi yang dapat mendorong pelanggan untuk menulis ulasan yang kredibel.
... Consumers generally view negative information as more credible and trustworthy than positive information, particularly in circumstances where the delivery of positive information may be construed as selfserving, as is the case in the majority of one-sided ads (Ein-Gar, Shiv, & Tormala, 2012) and supportive ads in general. For this reason onesided advertisements tend to be most effective with consumers already in a positive mindset about a brand (Golden & Alpert, 1987;Min, Martin, & Jung, 2013), but may cause consumers in neutral or negative mindsets to question what information is being left out (Dillard & Shen, 2012;Uribe, Buzeta, & Velasquez, 2016). In contrast, offering unflattering information enhances perceptions of transparency (Zillifro & Morais, 2004) which explains why two-sided ad messages are more effective than one-sided messages in generating message credibility (Etgar & Goodwin, 1982) and ad credibility (Kamins & Assael, 1987;Pechmann, 1992;Settle & Golden, 1974;Swinyard, 1981). ...
Article
A number of well-known brands are not only loved by many consumers, but also hated by a sizeable portion of the population and are thus termed polarizing brands. Because digital media offers consumers nearly unlimited opportunities to voice their hate, managers can no longer ignore vocal haters. However, the current marketing literature offers few strategies for addressing the challenge of brand hate. This paper introduces the concept of hate-acknowledging advertising (HAA), an ad technique in which polarizing brands openly admit that some segment of the population hates them. Over the course of three studies, the data indicates that, compared with supportive advertising, HAA results in higher perceptions of ad credibility and ultimately higher levels of brand trust. Moreover, the improvements in ad credibility and brand trust drive increased consumer intentions to engage in positive word of mouth on behalf of the polarizing brand.
... However, studies that addressed if and how perceived source credibility influences endorsement effectiveness provided mixed results (Vermeulen and Seegers, 2009). Certain studies indicated that laypeople are seen to be more credible than experts (Smith et al., 2005;Wang, 2005), whereas other works have shown that experts are deemed to be more credible than peer endorsers (Chiou et al., 2014;Uribe et al., 2016). ...
... However, studies that addressed if and how perceived source credibility influences endorsement effectiveness provided mixed results (Vermeulen and Seegers, 2009). Certain studies indicated that laypeople are seen to be more credible than experts (Smith et al., 2005;Wang, 2005), whereas other works have shown that experts are deemed to be more credible than peer endorsers (Chiou et al., 2014;Uribe et al., 2016). ...
... Manipulative tactics can reduce perceived content value (Ducoffe 1996), activate consumers' persuasion knowledge, and elicit reactance (Campbell and Kirmani 2000). A moderately positive post that includes some negative comments should offer greater content value than posts with low or high levels of positivity (Uribe, Buzeta, and Velásquez 2016), because it is positive enough to generate positive impressions but still allow for perceptions of discernment. We thus expect an increase in influencer marketing spend on moderately positive posts to produce the most engagement, resulting in the highest level of engagement elasticity. ...
Article
Full-text available
Influencer marketing initiatives require firms to select and incentivize online influencers to engage their followers on social media in an attempt to promote the firms’ offerings. However, limited research considers the costs of influencer marketing when evaluating these campaigns’ effectiveness, particularly from an engagement elasticity perspective. Moreover, it is unclear whether and how marketers might enhance influencer marketing effectiveness by strategically selecting influencers, targeting their followers, or managing content. This study draws on a communication model to examine how factors related to the sender of a message (influencer), the receiver of the message (influencer’s followers), and the message itself (influencer’s posts) determine influencer marketing effectiveness. The findings show that influencer originality, follower size, and sponsor salience enhance effectiveness; posts that announce new product launches diminish it. Several tensions arise when firms select influencers and manage content: Influencer activity, follower–brand fit, and post positivity all exert inverted U-shaped moderating effects on influencer marketing effectiveness, suggesting that firms that adopt a balanced approach along these dimensions can achieve greater effectiveness. These novel insights offer important implications for marketers designing influencer marketing campaigns.
... People share their genuine opinion and experience because the platform was not run by Starbucks directly. People generally are less skeptical toward the information sources that are perceived as unbiased [15]. The program encouraged customers and fans to share their ideas and suggestions on enhancing Starbucks's product and services to a better level and experiences [16]. ...
Chapter
Influencer marketing on YouTube has become an increasingly popular method for building engagement with consumers. This study examines how perceived homophily and interactivity with social media influencers impact the effectiveness of food-related YouTube influencer marketing and consumer engagement with social media. An online survey (N = 404) found that perceived homophily and interactivity both positively relate to intentions to engage with social media. In addition, perceived expertise and physical attractiveness of the social media influencer mediated the relationship between both perceived homophily and interactivity and social media engagement. Study results provide evidence-based implications for influencer marketing strategies and insight into consumer engagement with food-related YouTube content.
Article
Fueled by the rise of social media, internet celebrities (or influencers) are a subgroup of public figures who have gained extreme public attention in recent years. In this study, we examined the qualities of finance knowledge influencers to elucidate the impact that investment discussions or tutorials posted by influencers have on followers' and audiences' investment willingness. We adopted attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness as the independent variables, followers' risk tolerance as the moderator, and followers' investment willingness as the dependent variable. For data collection, respondents were instructed to watch three different influencer videos and complete a questionnaire. A total of 327 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The questionnaire survey results showed that influencers' attractiveness expertise, and trustworthiness positively affected followers' investment willingness. Furthermore, followers' risk tolerance negatively moderates the relationship between influencer attractiveness and investment willingness, but it positively moderates the relationship between influencer trustworthiness and investment willingness. The empirical findings of this study theoretically contribute to academics and have practical implications in the real world. We propose several suggestions for future research.
Article
Reward‐based crowdfunding provides a rich arena for co‐creation, where different types of dialogues between backers and project initiators aid crowdfunding performance. Nevertheless, research on how backers' co‐creation, in the form of comments, influences crowdfunding performance is still scarce. Based on signaling theory, this research investigates the impact of backers' specific co‐creation comments (we coded comments for co‐ideation, co‐evaluation, and co‐design) on crowdfunding performance. The present study also examines whether the timing of posting co‐creation comments influences associated performance benefits. We used a panel dataset of 446 reward‐based crowdfunding projects with 7254 observation days. The results show that backers' co‐ideation and co‐evaluation activity leads to a higher funding amount. Furthermore, the impact of co‐ideation is higher for comments made early in the project's lifecycle, while the effect of co‐design is wholly contingent on the time of commenting, with early co‐design comments contributing negatively to crowdfunding performance.
Article
Purpose Two-sided messages in advertising, which contain both negative and positive information, can have varying effects on persuasion. Thus, it is crucial to understand the conditions under which such messages are more or less effective compared to one-sided messages that only contain positive information. This research investigates the moderating role of the visual angle (close-up vs. long shot) of an image by drawing upon construal level theory. Design/methodology/approach This research reports two experimental studies employing a 2 (message: two-sided [positive and negative information], one-sided [positive information as a control condition]) × 2 (visual angle: near [close-up], distant [long shot]) between-subjects design. Findings The results demonstrate that two-sided messages paired with a close-up image decrease positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM) due to increased feelings of ambivalence, while two-sided messages paired with a long-shot image increase positive eWOM due to increased perceived authenticity. Originality/value These findings provide insight into the impact of two-sided messages on advertising persuasion and provide guidance for marketers in developing effective communication strategies to leverage positive eWOM.
Article
Full-text available
Purpose This study aims to empirically test how sponsored video customization (i.e. the degree to which a sponsored video is customized for a sponsoring brand) affects video shares differently depending on influencer characteristics (i.e. mega influencer and expert influencer) and brand characteristics (i.e. brand establishment and product involvement). Design/methodology/approach This study uses a unique real-world data set that combines coded variables (e.g. customization) and objective video performance (e.g. sharing) of 365 sponsored videos to test the hypotheses. A negative binomial model is used to analyze the data set. Findings This study finds that the effect of video customization on video shares varies across contexts. Video customization positively affects shares if they are made for well-established brands and high-involvement products but negatively influences shares if they are produced by mega and expert influencers. Research limitations/implications This study extends the influencer marketing literature by focusing on a new media modality – sponsored video. Drawing on the multiple inference model and the persuasion knowledge theory, this study teases out different conditions under which video customization is more or less likely to foster audience engagement, which both influencers and brands care about. The chosen research setting may limit the generalizability of the findings of this study. Practical implications The findings suggest that mega and expert influencers need to consider if their endorsement would backfire on a highly customized video. Brands that aim to engage customers with highly-customized videos should gauge their decision by taking into consideration their years of establishment and product involvement. For video-sharing platforms, especially those that are planning to expand their businesses to include “matching-making services” for brands and influencers, the findings provide theory-based guidance on optimizing such matches. Originality/value This paper fulfills an urgent research need to study how brands and influencers should produce sponsored videos to achieve optimal outcomes.
Article
Full-text available
Social media influencers, a new type of opinion leader, are considered followers’ role models and strongly affect their attitudes and behaviors. Although their power on social media platforms is an emerging phenomenon, the studies exploring the impact of influencers’ endorsement of products on their followers’ buying intentions are still limited. By employing 272 respondents exposed to influencers, this study used PROCESS models to test hypotheses. The results demonstrate that the desire to mimic influencers and the sense of materialism mediate the effect of influencers on followers’ buying intentions. In addition, fear of missing out (FOMO) plays a moderation role in these relationships by altering the impact of influencer exposure on materialism and buying intention. These findings contribute to the current literature on social media influencers, the desire to mimic, materialism, and FOMO and also yield suggestions for influencers and marketers in their strategies.
Article
At the request of brands, influencers promote products in their social media feed. They publish both authentic and sponsored content and, to distinguish one from the other, they are required to clearly disclose when their posts are sponsored. This research examines the impact of advertising disclosure on consumer reactions. We first propose an integrative model of the disclosing effect including advertising recognition and source’s credibility. We also examine the impact of influencer’s popularity in the disclosure process. An experiment conducted on Instagram ( n = 400) shows that disclosure negatively affects consumers’ intentions via the double mediation of advertising recognition and influencer’s credibility. It also reveals that, for very popular influencers, the negative effect of disclosure on consumer reactions through the double mediation is attenuated.
Article
Full-text available
Sponsorship disclosure is now mandated for social media marketing, influencer marketing, and brand-sponsored content (pictures, videos, posts, etc.). This study reviews the research conducted on sponsorship disclosure using bibliometric techniques and Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methods (TCCM) framework. The study includes 119 published articles (2715 citations) on sponsorship disclosure in 45 journals (marketing and consumer psychology, business, management, and information systems) between January 2011 and September 2022. Through the analysis, this study extends the discussion on sponsorship disclosure to highlight persuasion knowledge, psychological reactance, and source credibility theory as the theoretical foundations of the domain. At the confluence of marketing, psychology, and information science, the literature on sponsorship disclosure encompasses paid partnerships, influencer marketing, advertising literacy, trust, native advertising, and sponsorship transparency. Also, this review contributes to the existing literature by presenting a comprehensive structural model for the domain of sponsorship disclosure and suggesting novel future research directions.
Chapter
Full-text available
The arrival of influencers has modified marketing budgets all over the world, being used more and more often as a new marketing tool. Given the importance of the influencer phenomenon, many studies have been published about this topic in the previous years. However, there are still several areas that need further research. One of these areas is the conceptualization of influencers. The influencer phenomenon is dynamic, so what was understood as an influencer ten years ago may have evolved and changed. Additionally, classifications based on the number of followers may be easily manipulated, so there is need for an improved classification of influencers based on their potential reach. Following this criterion, the authors propose to classify influencers as mega-reach, macro-reach, medium-reach, and mini-reach influencers. Moreover, the numerous factors that may determine their influence are still not well accounted for nor organized. Finally, most studies have analyzed the success of influencers as a new marketing tool, but the way influencers collaborate with brands is very special and has also evolved recently. This chapter contributes to previous literature by proposing a renewed definition and classification of influencers that is more consistent with their origin, evolution, and progressive level of professionalization, as well as by identifying several research gaps that may guide future research.KeywordsInfluencerEngagementPotential reachFollowerDisclosureInteractivity
Article
Brands and digital marketing rely on influencers more than ever. As the marketing landscape for social media influencers quickly changes, policies and regulations require standardized sponsorship disclosures. This study examined the effectiveness of three different types of sponsorship disclosure—no disclosure, implicit disclosure, and explicit (standardized) disclosure. This study also compared three different types of influencers and their effectiveness as endorsers: a celebrity, a micro-influencer, and a layperson. The results of an online experiment showed that the presence of sponsorship disclosure and explicit disclosure successfully activated consumers’ conceptual persuasion knowledge, which leads to diminished message credibility, engagement, product attitude, and purchase intention. Furthermore, the results show that a layperson is the most influential endorser; celebrities and micro-celebrities were indifferent as influencers.
Conference Paper
The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to gain insights on how consumers´ perception of influencer authenticity can be positively affected and, secondly, to examine the mediating role of influencer authenticity. An online experiment with the typical Instagram user (n=296) is conducted, using a 2 x 2 between-subject design. We find that both the existence of verified badges as well as the influencer´s use of two-sided messages drive perceived influencer authenticity. The interaction effect of these two antecedents on perceived influencer authenticity depends on the influencer´s status. While two-sided messages do not affect perceived influencer authenticity when the influencer´s account has a verified badge, they lead to an increase in authenticity perception in the badge´s absence on the influencer´s account. The findings confirm that perceived influencer authenticity fully mediates the relationship between the two antecedents and advertising effectiveness.
Article
Full-text available
Influencer marketing is an emerging area in the field of marketing. Specifically, this topic grabs the attention of several academicians and practitioners because of the key role played by influencers to stimulate consumer behaviour. Significantly, a systematic way of analysing and summarising the works of literature in this nascent area is necessary. A systematic literature review provides a comprehensive overview of the whole literature studied. From this knowledge, a systematic literature review has been undertaken from the period of 2016 to 2021 based on 65 articles from the ABDC journal to fetch relevant research themes, methodology, theories, variables, antecedents and consequences and potential research gaps. From this information, this research proposed an integrative framework which depicts the role of social media influencers in activating consumer behaviour. Future research direction has presented comprising of knowledge gap in the existing literature from key areas such as theory, methodology and settings. This research provides implications for both theories and practice.
Article
Prior research conceptually assumes that sponsorships might have a stronger impact on brand attitude than do celebrity endorsements primarily due to the more indirect and less commercial intent to persuade. However, empirical evidence is lacking on why and under what conditions this assumed effect of sponsorships actually occurs. This paper empirically analyses potential mediating and moderating drivers of the effect of sponsorships compared with that of celebrity endorsements. The results reveal that higher level of perceived brand authenticity mediates the effect of sponsorships versus celebrity endorsement on brand attitude. Furthermore, the effect of sponsorships on brand authenticity is superior when (a) relative corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending in the industry is low and (b) the corporate reputation of the firm is good.
Article
This research aims to identify the antecedents and consequents of trust in the product review blogs in an emerging market, which possess different characteristics than developed markets. We adopt the definition of product review blogs (PRB) as those blogs, websites, or social networking pages that disseminate experiences and/or information about products and services. We propose a model that incorporates individual characteristics and beliefs as antecedents of trust in the PRB and behavioral intentions as its consequence. Next, we conduct a questionnaire with 407 Brazilians who follow any PRB. We analyzed the data using structural equation modeling with partial least squares estimation (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate the influence of trust in the PRB on users’ purchase intention, intention to follow blog recommendations, and intention to continue participating in the blog in an expressive emerging market. The trust in the PRB tends to have the PRB credibility as an antecedent. The findings suggest that subjective knowledge directly affects trust in the PRB and indirectly affects trust through PRB credibility, a mediating variable in the relationship between these variables. Our results reveal a direct and negative effect on PRB trust regarding susceptibility to informational influence. However, we also identify an indirect positive impact on trust in the PRB through PRB credibility. The results allow us to conclude that PRB credibility plays a central role in the antecedents of trust in the PRB in emerging markets.
Article
Full-text available
Two meta-analyses were conducted to Investigate the effectiveness of the Fishbein and Ajzen model in research to date. Strong overall evidence for the predictive utility of the model was found. Although numerous instances were identified in which researchers overstepped the boundary conditions initially proposed for the model, the predictive utility remained strong across conditions. However, three variables were proposed and found to moderate the effectiveness of the model. Suggested extensions to the model are discussed and general directions for future research are given.
Article
Full-text available
A LTHOUGH not new, comparison advertising hcis only in the last few years become prevalent enough to provoke growing interest and controversy. The subject is of concern to many groups—consumer organizations, the advertising industry, govemment bodies—and, of course, to individual marketers. The question arises as to whether comparison advertising is, indeed, a powerful marketing tool; in this regard, there are many interesting issues that require further consideration. The purpose of this cirticle is to present the contexts for these issues and to propose some fruitful avenues for investigation. Definition and Overview It is useful and appropriate to begin this treatment of comparison advertising with a working definition of the term and some illustrative examples. Therefore, for the purposes of this article comparison advertising is defined as advertising that: 1. Compares two or more specifically named or recognizably presented brands of the same generic product or service class, and 2. Makes such a comparison in terms of one or more specific product or service attributes Although knowledgeable marketers might rightfully offer alternative definitions, the above version does serve to highlight several important issues. The first element of the definition—that brands must be specifically named or recognizably presented—is significant because of the real possibilities that explicit comparisons will evoke different consumer responses from those evoked by more traditional advertising appeals. The second element—that brands be compared along one or more product attributes—focuses attention on
Article
Full-text available
Research dealing with various aspects of* the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1987) is reviewed, and some unresolved issues are discussed. In broad terms, the theory is found to be well supported by empirical evidence. Intentions to perform behaviors of different kinds can be predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control; and these intentions, together with perceptions of behavioral control, account for considerable variance in actual behavior. Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are shown to be related to appropriate sets of salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs about the behavior, but the exact nature of these relations is still uncertain. Expectancy— value formulations are found to be only partly successful in dealing with these relations. Optimal rescaling of expectancy and value measures is offered as a means of dealing with measurement limitations. Finally, inclusion of past behavior in the prediction equation is shown to provide a means of testing the theory*s sufficiency, another issue that remains unresolved. The limited available evidence concerning this question shows that the theory is predicting behavior quite well in comparison to the ceiling imposed by behavioral reliability.
Article
Full-text available
Four groups of students were presented with identical advertisements for sangria wine, attributed to one of four different types of endorsers: a celebrity, student, professional expert, and company president. A fifth group serving as a control was presented with the same advertisement, but it was not attributed to an endorser. Subjects were asked to rate the wine on three scales: expected selling price, probable (anticipated) taste and intent-to-purchase. In addition, the advertisements were rated on their believability. While endorsers did not significantly affect the expected selling price or believability, they had an effect on probable taste and intent-to-purchase. The authors conclude that it is probably worthwhile for an advertiser to use an endorsement for his product, rather than utilize a similar advertisement without an endorsement.
Article
Full-text available
This research investigated the question of how laypersons are influenced by textual representations of scientific uncertainty. In an online experiment (N = 78), a blog article about effects of computer games on children was presented in four different versions: Each version contained three arguments on negative effects that were either phrased neutrally, contained assertive statements, or included hedges. The fourth version contained an additional argument on positive effects of computer games (two-sided). In comparison to the basic one-sided version, the two-sided text led to a more moderate attitude toward the topic. According to moderation analyses, this difference was mainly based on readers with more advanced epistemological beliefs and with a higher need for cognition, who were more strongly affected by a two-sided presentation of evidence. The assertive version was less effective than the basic version, suggesting that recipients were skeptical when statements were presented as overly certain.
Article
Full-text available
The aim of this study was to investigate children's understanding of six popular tactics used by advertisers to elicit certain advertising effects, including ad repetition, product demonstration, peer popularity appeal, humour, celebrity endorsement and premiums. We first asked 34 advertisers of child products to indicate what kind of effects (e.g. ad or product recall, learning and liking) they intend to elicit by using each of the six tactics. Subsequently, in a survey among 209 children (aged 8-12) and 96 adults (>18), we investigated the extent to which children understood advertisers' intended effects of these tactics and how this compared to an adult benchmark. Results showed that children's understanding of advertisers' tactics increased progressively between the ages of 8 and 12, showing a significant increase around age 10. The age at which children reach an adult level of understanding differed by tactic. For example, the use of celebrity endorsement was generally understood at an earlier age than other tactics, whereas product demonstration was understood at a later age.
Article
Full-text available
Two studies are presented that examine the role of attractiveness and expertise in the “match-up hypothesis.” Much “match-up hypothesis” research has focused on physical attractiveness. Study One examined physical attractiveness as a match-up factor and its impact on brand attitude, purchase intent and key brand beliefs. In a 2 × 2 experiment, endorser attractiveness and product type are manipulated. Results indicated a general “attractiveness effect” on brand attitude and purchase intent but not the match-up predicted in previous literature. Study Two considered expertise as the match-up dimension. The second experiment manipulated product and endorser type. A match-up effect was found as the athlete was most effective as an endorser for the energy bar in increasing brand attitude, but not purchase intent. The variable “fit,” or “belongingness,” was shown to play an important role in match-up effects.
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of this study was to develop a scale for measuring celebrity endorsers' perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Accepted psychometric scale-development procedures were followed which rigorously tested a large pool of items for their reliability and validity. Using two exploratory and two confirmatory samples, the current research developed a 15-item semantic differential scale to measure perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. The scale was validated using respondents' self-reported measures of intention to purchase and perception of quality for the products being tested. The resulting scale demonstrated high reliability and validity.
Article
Full-text available
The interactive role of source expertise, time of source identification, and involvement was examined in an experiment on advertising effectiveness. In general, findings support an elaborative processing explanation. A three-way interaction among the manipulated variables emerged in the study, which utilized print advertisement stimuli. The findings also suggest that the source expertise information was processed more as a central persuasion cue than as peripheral information. Managerial implications are offered.
Article
Full-text available
This paper examines the differential effects of celebrity and expert endorsements on consumer risk perceptions via three studies. Using source model theories, it is hypothesized that for high technology—oriented products there will be stronger effects of expert endorsers than celebrity endorsers in reducing consumer risk perceptions. In addition, for high technology—oriented products, there is likely to be an interaction effect between endorser type and consumer knowledge on respondents' risk perceptions. Such an interaction effect is likely to be absent for products with a low technology orientation. These hypotheses are supported by the first two studies. The third study examines the underlying theoretical processes of internalization versus identification and shows that the stronger effects of expert (versus celebrity) endorsers for high technology-oriented products is somewhat neutralized for certain types of perceived risks when there is high congruency between the celebrity endorser and the product.
Article
Full-text available
In Germany the World Wide Web is at an earlier stage of development than in the US. In the spring of 1999 about 17.7 percent of the German population used the web or other online services. The article looks at how the 10 percent of online users and 90 percent of non-users rate the credibility of the new medium, and how their attitudes, stemming from different sources — own experience vs media coverage and personal narrations — differ. A survey of 540 respondents carried out in summer 1998 found that German users and non-users rate the credibility of the web as remarkably similar to television and newspapers. Nevertheless, there are some differences. The article shows that the credibility of the web, as one factor of diffusion, is seen as quite positive, but television and newspapers are still in front in Germany.
Article
Full-text available
This article examines personal Web sites as a conspicuous form of consumer self-presentation. Using theories of self- presentation, possessions, and computer- mediated environments ( CMEs), we investigate the ways in which consumers construct identities by digitally associating themselves with signs, symbols, material objects, and places. Specifically, the issues of interest include why consumers create personal Web sites, what consumers want to communicate, what strategies they devise to achieve their goal of self- presentation, and how those Web space strategies compare to the self- presentation strategies of real life ( RL). The data reveal insights into the strategies behind constructing a digital self, projecting a digital likeness, digitally associating as a new form of possession, and reorganizing linear narrative structures.
Article
Full-text available
Rapid growth in online advertising revenues indicates the viability of World Wide Web advertising as an alternative to that of traditional media. Practitioners and academicians recognize that building credibility is important in this relatively new environment. To date, no academic research has explored the interplay of vehicle and advertiser source credibility in determining advertising effects on the web. The present study explores antecedents and consequences of online advertising credibility and examines the effects of (1) website credibility, (2) ad relevance (the advertised product's relevance to website content), and (3) advertiser credibility on ad credibility, ad and brand attitudes, and product purchase intentions. Structural equation modeling systematically tested and refined a model representing interrelated relationships among the relevant variables. The results suggest that source credibility is vital to understanding web advertising effectiveness. Managerial implications and directions for future research are provided.
Article
Full-text available
This study comprehensively reviews the literature on product placements to develop an integrative conceptual model that captures how such messages generate audience outcomes. The model depicts four components: execution/stimulus factors (e.g., program type, execution flexibility, opportunity to process, placement modality, placement priming); individual-specific factors (e.g., brand familiarity, judgment of placement fit, attitudes toward placements, involvement/connectedness with program); processing depth (degree of conscious processing); and message outcomes that reflect placement effectiveness. The execution and individual factors influence processing depth (portrayed as a high—low continuum), which in turn impacts message outcomes. The outcomes are organized around the hierarchy-of-effects model into three broad categories: cognition (e.g., memory-related measures such as recognition and recall); affect (e.g., attitudes); and conation (e.g., purchase intention, purchase behavior). This study integrates potential main and interaction effects among model variables to advance a series of theoretical propositions. It also offers an extensive research agenda of conceptual and empirical issues that future work can address.
Article
Full-text available
Three studies investigated the effects of consumer skepticism toward advertising on responses to ads. Consumer skepticism, defined as the tendency toward disbelief of advertising claims, is measured by each study and then related to various measures of advertising response, including brand beliefs, ad attitudes, responses to informational and emotional appeals, efforts to avoid advertising, attention to ads, and reliance on ads versus other information sources. The results generally support they hypothesis that more skeptical consumers like advertising less, rely on it less, attend to it less, and respond more positively to emotional appeals relative to informational appeals.
Article
To understand information processing on blogs, this study investigates how perceived blogger trustworthiness affects blog readers’ elaboration of brand-related messages and its interaction effects with argument quality. The results reveal that the degree of perceived blogger trustworthiness affects the extent of message elaboration, and findings from a 2 × 2 (perceived blogger trustworthiness × argument quality) factorial experiment suggest a significant interaction effect on brand attitudes. This interaction reveals that when perceived blogger trustworthiness is high, argument quality has a greater impact on brand attitudes than when perceived blogger trustworthiness is low. The authors discuss some implications and suggestions for further research.
Article
Two-sided ads often are more credible than one-sided ads because they admit that the advertised brands have shortcomings. Findings about the effectiveness of such ads have been inconclusive, however, perhaps because a critical moderator has been ignored. The author found that a two-sided ad was more effective than one-sided ads only when negatively correlated (vs. uncorrelated) attributes were featured. The brand's unfavorable positioning on the negatively correlated secondary attribute per se (i.e., "correlational inferences"), as well as the advertiser's honesty (i.e., "correspondent inferences"), jointly enhanced judgments of the brand on the primary attribute and thus overall brand evaluations.
Article
The authors consider the effects of exposure to various advertising appeal types (differing in sidedness) on cognitive response and belief change in the context of inoculation and correspondence theory. In one experiment, subjects were exposed to either a one-sided, two-sided refutational, or two-sided nonrefutational appeal and the degree of cognitive activity incurred was measured. Results are partially supportive of both inoculation and correspondence theory, as two-sided appeals produced significantly less counterargumentation and source derogation than the one-sided appeal. In addition, the refutational appeal led to significantly more support argumentation than the one-sided appeal. However, exposure to either two-sided appeal did not differentially affect cognitions. In a second experiment, a disconfirming product trial experience was introduced as an "attack" condition to observe the effects on belief change given exposure to one of the advertising appeals used before. For all attributes, exposure to the one-sided appeal resulted in the greatest degree of belief change. Dominance for the predictions of inoculation over those of correspondence theory is not evident as belief change did not differ significantly between subjects exposed to either two-sided appeal. Finally, a measure of the change in purchase intent has only (nonsignificant) directional support.
Article
In just two decades, the Internet has integrated itself into our lives as an important, if not indispensable, tool for information and communication. Millions of people perform searches each day looking for a wide variety of information, including medical and health information
Article
This study used meta-analysis to quantify the relationship between intentions and behaviour in prospective studies of condom use. The effects of six moderator variables were also examined: sexual orientation, gender, sample age, time interval, intention versus expectation and condom use with ‘steady’ versus ‘casual’ partners. Literature searches revealed 28 hypotheses based on a total sample of 2532 which could be included in the review. Overall, there was a medium to strong sample-weighted average correlation between intentions and condom use (r+ = .44), and this correlation was similar to the effect sizes obtained in previous reviews. There were too few studies of gay men to permit meaningful comparison of effect sizes between homosexual versus heterosexual samples. Gender and measurement of intention did not moderate the intention-behaviour relationship. However, shorter time intervals, older samples and condom use with ‘steady’ rather than ‘casual’ partners were each associated with stronger correlations between intentions and condom use. Factors which might explain the significant effects of moderator variables are discussed and implications of the study for future research on intention-behaviour consistency are outlined.
Article
This research investigates how cues describing the authors of user-generated online science articles in blogs, and indications about whether the articles are 1-sided or 2-sided, affect others' decision about which content to read. It extended the elaboration likelihood model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), to predict whether better-quality arguments and individuals' need for cognition affected their content selections. In 2 experiments, 121 parents were asked to search for information on a blog concerning the effects of violent media. Results showed a general preference for texts composed by users with greater expertise and for 2-sided messages. Need for cognition magnified the effect of message sidedness, suggesting that the ELM is relevant for blogs and the selection of user-generated science stories.
Article
This study examines celebrity endorsements in advertising using a two-sided framework, in terms of the internalization and identification processes of social influence as discussed by Kelman (1961). The two-sided execution was designed to increase a viewer's perception of advertiser credibility by including a discussion of a limitation of the advertised service. Results show that when compared to a traditional one-sided celebrity endorsement, the two-sided communication elicited significantly higher advertising credibility and effectiveness ratings, higher evaluation of the sponsor in terms of perceived overall quality of service, as well as a significantly greater intention to use the advertised service. These findings suggest that the use of a celebrity appeal in a two-sided form is an effective advertising strategy.
Article
Sponsored recommendation blog posts, a form of online consumer review, are blog articles written by bloggers who receive benefits from sponsoring marketers to review and promote products on their personal blog. Because national regulations require that marketer sponsorship must be revealed in the blog post, sponsored recommendation posts can no longer conceal their marketing intent. Consumer’s attitudes toward sponsored recommendation posts are thus a vital issue in assessing the effectiveness of the advertisement. This study uses a 2(sponsorship type) × 2(product type) × 2(brand awareness) experimental design and a total of 613 valid samples to examine consumer attitudes toward sponsored recommendation posts and purchase intention. The results show that when products recommended in blog posts are search goods or have high brand awareness, consumers have highly positive attitudes toward sponsored recommendation posts, which improves purchase intention. The directly-monetary/indirect-monetary benefits received by the bloggers have no significant effect on readership attitudes. Using these features in blog writings appears to improve online readers’ trust toward and the credibility of sponsored recommendation posts and thus can be a vital online marketing tool for marketers.
Article
Networked digital media present new challenges for people to locate information that they can trust. At the same time, societal reliance on information that is available solely or primarily via the Internet is increasing. This article discusses how and why digitally networked communication environments alter traditional notions of trust, and presents research that examines how information consumers make judgments about the credibility and accuracy of information they encounter online. Based on this research, the article focuses on the use of cognitive heuristics in credibility evaluation. Findings from recent studies are used to illustrate the types of cognitive heuristics that information consumers employ when determining what sources and information to trust online. The article concludes with an agenda for future research that is needed to better understand the role and influence of cognitive heuristics in credibility evaluation in computer-mediated communication contexts.
Article
The notion of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication has received considerable attention in both business and academic communities. Numerous studies have been conducted to examine the effectiveness of eWOM communication. The scope of published studies on the impact of eWOM communication is large and fragmented and little effort has been made to integrate the findings of prior studies and evaluate the status of the research in this area. In this study, we conducted a systematic review of eWOM research. Building upon our literature analysis, we used the social communication framework to summarize and classify prior eWOM studies. We further identified key factors related to the major elements of the social communication literature and built an integrative framework explaining the impact of eWOM communication on consumer behavior. We believe that the framework will provide an important foundation for future eWOM research work.
Article
Despite conceptual benefits expressed for comparative advertising, most studies have found it relatively ineffective and lacking credibility. By means of a field experiment, the author explores the impact of the attribution theory tool of two-sided claims on the credibility and effectiveness of comparative advertising. Results suggest that the effectiveness of comparative advertising might be significantly increased with such tactics.
Article
In a new test of the process of forgetting, the authors found that subjects, at the time of exposure, discounted material from “untrustworthy” sources. In time, however, the subjects tended to disassociate the content and the source with the result that the original scepticism faded and the “untrustworthy” material was accepted. Lies, in fact, seemed to be remembered better than truths.
Article
Data from 574 participants were used to assess perceptions of message, site, and sponsor credibility across four genres of websites; to explore the extent and effects of verifying web-based information; and to measure the relative influence of sponsor familiarity and site attributes on perceived credibility.The results show that perceptions of credibility differed, such that news organization websites were rated highest and personal websites lowest, in terms of message, sponsor, and overall site credibility, with e-commerce and special interest sites rated between these, for the most part.The results also indicated that credibility assessments appear to be primarily due to website attributes (e.g. design features, depth of content, site complexity) rather than to familiarity with website sponsors. Finally, there was a negative relationship between self-reported and observed information verification behavior and a positive relationship between self-reported verification and internet/web experience. The findings are used to inform the theoretical development of perceived web credibility.
Article
This paper reports a preliminary investigation into interpersonal communication and personal influence on the Internet. It addresses the potential need to reformulate current thinking about what comprises interpersonal communication to address its specific use in an interactive electronic environment. We look particularly at one of the most potent forms of interpersonal communication-word-of-mouth (WOM)-and offer a typology for examining online WOM. A review of current online activities uncovers ways in which both consumers and businesses are using WOM, which represent tactics heretofore unavailable via traditional media. Findings suggest the need to expand our view of interpersonal communication and personal influence to include special cases of online sources and online WOM.
Article
This experiment investigates the effects of an advertorial message on 4 dimensions of reader involvement. The use of the advertorial format was found to have increased participants' perceived message relevance, attention to written message, message elaboration, and message recall over the use of a standard advertisement format. Responses to labeled and unlabeled versions of the same advertorial did not vary significantly. Although participants perceived both labeled and unlabeled advertorials to be advertisements, rather than editorial material, more than two thirds of the participants who were exposed to a labeled advertorial failed to recall the presence of the label. Our findings indicate that the advertorial format fools readers into greater involvement with the advertising message and that the presence of advertorial labels may not be particularly effective in alerting consumers to the true nature of the message.
Article
Examined the impact of celebrity endorsers on alcohol advertising and young audiences. Results obtained with 196 Ss, aged 13–77 yrs, show that the use of famous persons to endorse alcohol products was highly effective with teenagers, while the impact on older Ss was limited. For all age groups, the celebrity figure was perceived as more competent and trustworthy. The image of the product tends to be more favorable when a famous endorser is shown; readers are especially likely to rate the alcohol brand as enjoyable and pleasant. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication has been one of the most exciting research areas of inquiry. There is an emerging attention on the effectiveness of eWOM communication. The scope of published studies on the impact of eWOM communication is rather broad and the studies appear relatively fragmented and inconclusive. In this study, we focused on the individual-level eWOM research. We conducted a systematic review of eWOM research and identified key factors that are specific to the context of eWOM communication. We believe that this literature analysis not only provides us with an overview of the current status of knowledge within the domain of eWOM communication, but also serves as a salient guideline for future research directions.