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Political Affiliation of Musical Artists Contributing to Sonic Elements of Advertising
Abstract
In this chapter, a conceptual approach is proposed for how sonic elements of advertising can be utilized to create a connection with a particular target segment based on their homogeneous political viewpoints. After a literature review of pertinent topics, theoretical development of the proposed approach is presented, followed by sections related to how Integrated Marketing Communications strategy can employ sonic elements in a way that appeals to some target markets while minimizing potential backlash from others. Audience fragmentation, where technology is changing how consumers view entertainment, is identified as an opportunity for how advertising is morphing in contemporary society. A formative model is presented that can potentially be used as a starting point for further research, which is briefly discussed along with limitations.
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A proposition offered in this manuscript is that activist musicians use their musical competencies to enhance their social change strategies within the local community. However, it is unclear what strategies are being utilized by local activist musicians in order to reach collective action and achieve social and political change. A self-developed framework, the Framework for Activist Musicians (FAM), portrays how an activist musician utilizes their social experiences, behaviors, and influence to enact social change. The framework delineates how a musician utilizes their music-making involvement and status to enhance their charisma and authenticity as an activist to establish social change. Additionally, the framework outlines the unique qualities of a musician and activist which make them well-prepared to be an influential community leader.
On January 24, 2015, the folk punk band Dropkick Murphys penned a tweet to former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker that read “please stop using our music in any way…We literally hate you!!!” Within hours, thousands of users interacted with the post and a contentious mediated discussion materialized. By exporting the full conversation using the program BrandWatch and applying Sonja Foss’s ideological criticism approach, I found several recurrent ideological constructions reappear throughout the data. Through comments considering the band’s political activism as alienating, re-envisioning punk rock as right-wing, and framing Dropkick Murphys as inherently un-American and undesirable through Twitter comments, Walker supporters rhetorically dismiss the band and their message. These constructions show how new media audiences discursively construct ideologies to delegitimize opposition along the lines of political affiliation and illustrate the communicative mechanism of populism on a micro-level.
This paper presents a survey of the worldwide use of Digital Television interactivity (DTVi) standards. First, we recall some concepts of first-generation interactivity middlewares released in the early 2000s, such as the European MHP (based on Java) and the Japanese BML (based on XML). Then, we cover the new standards (emerging after 2010) that introduced the new Integrated Broadcast Broadband (IBB) model, which combines broadcast signals with a broadband interface and leverages synergies to offer high-quality, flexible, interactive and customized services and applications to viewers. Regarding IBB systems, we also cover the main aspects of their architectures and innovations introduced by this kind of technology, such as support to companion devices, e.g., smartphones, tablets, targeted advertisements, and integration with Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. Finally, we show the current adoption of different IBB systems around the world as well as current challenges regarding IBB technologies.
Prior work has shown that accurately perceiving the risk for COVID-19 is associated with higher adherence to protective health behaviors, like face mask use, and more acceptance of governmental restrictive measures such as partial or complete banning of indoor activities and social gatherings. In this study we explored these associations at the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19 in Argentina through a national representative probabilistic survey that evaluated personal and contextual risk perception, self-reported compliance with protective health behaviors, attitude to governmental restrictive measures, and political orientation and psychological distress as potential modulators. Also, going beyond measures of association, here we sought to test whether messages highlighting potential risks increased acceptance of restrictive measures. Three types of messages were randomized to the participants. Two messages conveyed risk-related content (either through emotional arousal or cognitive appraisal) and the third a prosocial, altruistic content. Between March 29th and 30th, 2021, 2,894 participants were recruited (57.57% female). 74.64% of those surveyed evaluated the current health situation as “quite serious” or “very serious” and 62.03% estimated that the situation will be “worse” or “much worse” in the following 3 months. The perception of personal risk and the level of adherence to protective behaviors gradually increased with age. Through a regression model, age, perceived personal risk, and contextual risk appraisal were the variables most significantly associated with protective behaviors. In the case of the acceptance of restrictive measures, political orientation was the most associated variable. We then found messages aimed at increasing risk perception (both emotionally or cognitively focused) had a significantly greater effect on increasing the acceptance of restrictive measures than the prosocial message, mainly for government supporters but also for non-supporters. However, the level of response was also modulated by the political orientation of the participants. We propose a mechanism of “ideological anchoring” to explain that participants were responsive to risk modulation, but within the limits established by their pre-existent political views. We conclude that messages highlighting risk can help reinforce the acceptance of restrictive measures even in the presence of polarized views, but must be calibrated by age and political orientation.
Most Americans think that the country is politically divided and polarization will only get worse, not better. Such perceptions of polarization are widespread, but we do not know enough about their effects, especially those unrelated to political variables. This study examines the consequences of perceived polarization for levels of social trust in the United States. Trust in fellow citizens is the backbone of a well-functioning democracy, given its role in promoting social cohesion and facilitating collective action. Using nationally representative panel data, as well as an original survey experiment, I find that perceived polarization directly undermines Americans’ trust in each other. A belief that members of society share common values fosters social trust, but perceptions of partisan divisions and polarization make people less trusting of their fellow citizens. Due to perceived polarization, people are less likely to believe that others can be trusted to do the right thing, which in turn decreases their willingness to cooperate for good causes. I discuss the implications of these findings for society’s ability to work together toward common goals.
Traditionally, it has been argued that companies should maintain a neutral stance on issues of a social or political nature, especially controversial ones. However, in recent years, corporations have begun to adopt clear positions on sensitive and polarizing social and political issues. This new phenomenon, called corporate activism, is beginning to gain prominence in corporate strategies, which now extend beyond business objectives and sometimes may go against the beliefs held by many customers. To date, studies aimed at identifying whether these types of actions benefit or harm companies are scarce, and none of them have focused on consumer perceptions. Adopting the latter approach, this work identifies the antecedents and effects of corporate activism, and the influence that political ideology can have as a variable moderating these effects. Analysis of a sample of 1,521 individuals representative of the Spanish population using a structural equation model yielded the following results: (i) institutional and corporate credibility and authenticity act as antecedents of corporate activism, (ii) when credibility in institutions diminishes, consumers perceive that corporations should be more involved in social and political affairs, even when controversial or polarizing, (iii) reputation and brand equity are considered effects of corporate activism, and (iv) political ideology acts as a variable moderating these effects, in such a way that individuals with a more conservative ideology do not appreciate that companies that get involved in activist initiatives will enjoy positive consequences on their reputation and brand equity, while individuals with more liberal views do perceive such positive effects. These findings help companies to guide their strategic decisions, especially those related to corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as help governments and institutions to understand the social changes that are taking place and understand the role that consumers expect corporations to play today.
This article examines the effect of political identity on customers’ satisfaction with the products and services they consume. Recent work suggests that conservatives are less likely to complain than liberals. Building on that work, the present research examines how political identity shapes customer satisfaction which has broad implications for customers and firms. Nine studies combine different methodologies, primary and secondary data, real and hypothetical behavior, different product categories, and diverse participant populations to show that conservatives (vs. liberals) are more satisfied with the products and services they consume. This happens because conservatives (vs. liberals) are more likely to believe in free will (i.e., that people have agency over their decisions) and therefore to trust their decisions. We document the broad and tangible downstream consequences of this effect for customers’ repurchase and recommendation intentions and firms’ sales. The association of political identity and customer satisfaction is attenuated when belief in free will is externally weakened, choice is limited, or the consumption experience is overwhelmingly positive.
People hold strong moral objections to commercial bodily markets – the buying and selling of the human body and its components (e.g., prostitution; commercial surrogacy; trade of kidneys, blood plasma, sperm, ovum, and hair). This research takes a descriptive approach to understand why people object to the marketing of the human body and how their moral objections differ across the political spectrum. The authors propose that liberals and conservatives find bodily markets to be morally wrong; however, the two groups object to bodily markets for different reasons. Liberals are more sensitive to exploitation concerns, but conservatives are more sensitive to violation of sanctity concerns in these markets. Real-world observational data and controlled experiments test these predictions. The findings show how socio-political leaders utilize the different moral objections to persuade their respective audiences, such as how conservative versus more liberal pastors sermonize differently on prostitution. Second, results show how targeted marketing campaigns encourage liberals and conservatives to participate in consumer advocacy and donate to political causes. Third, findings outline how liberals and conservatives support different regulatory laws that penalize buyers versus sellers. Finally, results show how the different moral objections manifest for live bodily products but not for dead bodily products.
Ideology plays a central role in consumer decisions, actions, and practices. While there have been numerous studies of ideological formations in specific consumption contexts, an integrative theoretical framework on consumption ideology has been missing. The theoretical framework presented in this article integrates systemic, social group, and social reality perspectives from social theory with prior consumer research to conceptualize consumption ideology as ideas and ideals that are related to consumerism and manifested in consumer behavior. Consumption ideology originates from conflicts between consumer desires and the system of consumerism. It is reflected in consumers’ lived experiences and expressed in social representations and communicative actions related to status-based consumption, brand affinity and antipathy, performed practices, and political consumption. By adapting to the market, consumers confirm the system, but when they resist, they accelerate conflicts in consumer experiences unless resistance is ideologically co-opted by the market. Three illustrative cases–upcycling, Zoom backgrounds, and the commercialization of TikTok—exemplify how the framework may be used to analyze consumption ideology and generate new research questions. The article concludes with future research programs that move beyond micro-theorizations to illuminate the broader role of ideology in contemporary consumerist society.
This study examined associations between Black youth’s engagement with hip-hop culture and their sociopolitical development (SPD) (e.g., critical social analysis, critical agency, and anti-racist activism). Participants included 499 Black adolescents recruited from across the United States through an online survey panel. Findings from regression analysis revealed the differential effects of rap media (music and music videos) and hip-hop media (e.g., blogs, video shows, radio) on youth’s SPD. Black youth who consumed more hip-hop media and who interacted with artists on social media had more agency to address racism and reported engaging in more racial-justice activism. The frequency of youth’s rap media usage was not consistently related to youth’s SPD. However, youth’s perceptions of rap (e.g., rap is empowering or misogynistic) were found to be directly associated with indicators of SPD. These findings provide insight into the potential influence of hip-hop culture beyond music on youth’s racial-justice beliefs and actions.
Shirley Jackson’s essays in popular women’s magazines negotiate the gendered tensions and commercial contradictions of postwar print culture. This essay shows how the women in Jackson’s essays are figures of the fraught convergence of women’s public affiliation and the restrained politics of gender critique. These female figures are also representative of broader issues in US print culture after the Second World War. In particular, Jackson’s essays represent how a certain strain of feminist writing—sometimes known as “domestic humor”—was absorbed within the market forces of print capitalism. To explain this absorption, I draw on mid-century theories of market segmentation.
Music is a universal phenomenon that has existed in every known culture around the world. It plays a prominent role in society by shaping sociocultural interactions between groups and individuals, and by influencing their emotional and intellectual life. Here, we provide evidence for a new theory on musical preferences. Across three studies we show that people prefer the music of artists who have publicly observable personalities ("personas") similar to their own personality traits (the "self-congruity effect of music"). Study 1 (N = 6,279) and Study 2 (N = 75,296) show that the public personality of artists correlates with the personality of their listeners. Study 3 (N = 4,995) builds on this by showing that the fit between the personality of the listener and the artist predicts musical preferences incremental to the fit for gender, age, and even the audio features of music. Our findings are largely consistent across two methodological approaches to operationalizing an artist's public personality: (a) the public personality as reported by the artist's fans, and (b) the public personality as predicted by machine learning on the basis of the artist's lyrics. We discuss the importance of the self-congruity effect of music in the context of group-level process theories and adaptionist accounts of music. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Attitude toward the ad (Aad) has been postulated to be a causal mediating variable in the process through which advertising influences brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Previous conceptual and empirical research on this topic has suggested four alternative models of the relationships between brand-related cognitive, affective, and conative responses and ad-related cognitive and affective responses. The authors describe a structural equations analysis of these four models, utilizing two data sets generated within a commercial pretest setting. The results suggest that a dual mediation hypothesis, which postulates that Aad influences brand attitude both directly and indirectly through its effect on brand cognitions, is superior to the other three models under the particular set of conditions in the pretest setting.
Human sociality depends upon the benefits of mutual aid and extensive communication. However, diverse norms and preferences complicate mutual aid, and ambiguity in meaning hinders communication. Here we demonstrate that these two problems can work together to enhance cooperation through the strategic use of deliberately ambiguous signals: covert signaling. Covert signaling is the transmission of information that is accurately received by its intended audience but obscured when perceived by others. Such signals may allow coordination and enhanced cooperation while also avoiding the alienation or hostile reactions of individuals with different preferences. Although the empirical literature has identified potential mechanisms of covert signaling, such as encryption in humor, there is to date no formal theory of its dynamics. We introduce a novel mathematical model to assess when a covert signaling strategy will evolve, as well as how receiver attitudes coevolve with covert signals. Covert signaling plausibly serves an important function in facilitating within-group cooperative assortment by allowing individuals to pair up with similar group members when possible and to get along with dissimilar ones when necessary. This mechanism has broad implications for theories of signaling and cooperation, humor, social identity, political psychology, and the evolution of human cultural complexity.
I discuss the function of social identity signaling in facilitating cooperative group formation, and how the nature of that function changes with the structure of social organization. I propose that signals of social identity facilitate assortment for successful coordination in large-scale societies, and that the multidimensional, context-dependent nature of social identity is crucial for successful coordination when individuals have to cooperate in different contexts. Furthermore, the structure of social identity is tied to the structure of society, so that as societies grow larger and more interconnected, the landscape of social identities grows more heterogeneous. This discussion bears directly on the need to articulate the dynamics of emergent, ephemeral groups as a major factor in human cultural evolution.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth consideration of the color line in the US music market, much deeper treatment than that of a superficial social construct.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis was performed using archives from the Performing Arts Division of the New York Public Library.
Findings
A complex intersection of social and capitalist influences is fueled by culture and economics, filtered through the contributions of artists and media. Six major categories: social, media, artist, culture, industry, and economics contribute to its development and propagation. It continues to affect contemporary music markets.
Research limitations/implications
Interpretation of archival data is subject to availability of material and subjectivity of the researcher. Steps were taken to minimize bias. The research implies an opportunity for the US music market to celebrate diversity and social justice.
Practical implications
Focusing on the symbolic use of music, marketers have the opportunity to empower consumers to embrace diversity, reversing the trajectory of the color line.
Social implications
Embracing cultural heritage and celebrating diversity can promote economic gain without detriment to cultural interests.
Originality/value
The present research provides a much deeper consideration of the color line in the American Music Market than previous literature does. The consideration includes a combination of forces, from profit focused to cultural.
We investigate the effectiveness of political campaign advertisements. From findings in communications, political science, and psychology, we know that the relation between voters and campaign strategists is dynamic and evolves until voters’ views on a candidate crystallize. After that point, political campaign advertisements are ineffective. To capture this “dynamic” we develop an adaptive learning model that relates voters’ impression formation to expectations about candidate behavior, one form of which (rational expectations), renders political advertising ineffective. We treat rational expectations as a limiting result that supports the concept of crystallization. Our model assumes that voters misspecify their forecasts about a particular candidate’s attributes and campaign strategy. Over time voters can reach a rational expectations equilibrium about a candidate’s qualities and discount political advertising. We illustrate the learning dynamics using simulations. As one application of this approach we focus on the influence campaign message (strategy) volatility has on crystallization (i.e., reaching the rational expectations equilibrium). Our simulation results show that campaign message volatility has an important effect on crystallization. One implication is that crystallization is a fragile, special case result that can be altered by informational shocks during the campaign.
This study aims to determine the beliefs about advertising of two controversial products, namely political parties and sexual diseases prevention. The theory of reasoned action was utilized as underlying premise to elicit beliefs about controversial advertising in order to understand the formation of attitude towards the advertising. A qualitative approach by means of personal interview was adopted to explore the relatively unknown phenomenon. Subsequently, 43 interviews were conducted in Sarawak and the transcripts were then content-analyzed by multiple coders. The findings show that there are 11 statements of belief for the advertising of political parties and 6 statements for the advertising of sexual diseases prevention. Although both types of advertising are primarily considered as a source of information, their descriptions are largely different. While the advertising of political parties is mainly believed to be giving misleading information and for personal interest, the advertising of sexual diseases prevention is regarded as a form of education when executed appropriately. Therefore, the former must be carried out with care to avoid negative responses, and the latter should be done fittingly. This articulates the underlying consideration that there are different beliefs by type of advertising, and about what might create controversy.
Recent research suggests that music comprises a sign system that could add meanings to advertising. However, research in this area is scant and there is practically no research that has examined the process by which consumers use music to create meanings. This study extends previous research on print advertising to delineate effects of music in congruent / incongruent TV advertising. A mixed design integrating features of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. Results indicated that the viewers' knowledge of cultural texts form a reference point for reading the commercials. Specifically, music in congruent ads reduces “noise” by reinforcing the connecting cultural context to communicate meanings. However, music in incongruent ads helps enact an alternative context that is meaningful to the viewer to communicate the ad message.
Marketing practitioners and advertising firms have increasingly embraced an integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach to their promotional efforts in order to achieve direct effects of the individual communication tool used, as well as an additional "synergistic" effect from the combination of communications tools used. The present study is designed to fill a gap in the marketing literature by using a controlled experimental design to assess and compare the individual and combined influences of two IMC tools--publicity and advertising--on attitude toward the ad (A<SUB>ad</SUB>) and attitude toward the brand (A<SUB>b</SUB>). The study also looks for synergies from the use of multiple media (radio and print). Findings show that the combined effects of these IMC tools on A<SUB>ad </SUB>and A<SUB>b </SUB>are not identical, and that there are complex interactions between media, brand familiarity, and the valence of news stories.
Teaser ads rely heavily on nonverbal executional cues to communicate. This research suggests that music may function in a manner similar to verbal captions with regard to the meanings viewers attribute to a teaser ad. Whereas previous research tended to examine the effects of executional cues within a single medium (e.g., music, visual element), this research suggests that interactive audiovisual images play an important role in the meaning enactment process. Specifically, music connects with and accentuates selective visual events, as well as selective aspects of a visual event, to draw out the advertising proposition. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Music is very popular in advertising. You can hear as much music in commercials as you can on some commercial radio stations. This research analyzed 3,456 prime-time television commercials to not only quantify, but qualify the placement of music in advertising. Overall, 94 percent of the total advertisements (3,456) and 86 percent of the unique advertisements (715) contained some type of music. Of the unique music advertisements, 14 percent contained popular music, 81 percent used needledrop, and 5 percent utilized jingles. Popular music (primarily pop and rock) was observed more often in automotive, audio/video, and food commercials than any other product category. Popular music was more likely to be relevant to the narrative in the commercial than the product or service. This study facilitates future trending and encourages further investigation of the role of music in advertising effectiveness. WHEN WATCHING TELEVISION, it is almost impos- sible not to be inundated by a profusion of pop- ular music in advertising. This research analyzed one week of prime-time television commercials from ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC (N = 3,456) to determine not only the frequency with which pop- ular music is placed in commercials, but also, when employed, various aspects of the relation- ship between the advertised product and the type of music accompanying it. Centrally, then, this research examines how popular music is currently being used in prime-television commercials, and whether or not there are patterns for the inclusion of this music, especially with respect to how it may be contextualized. In terms of contextualiza- tion, attention is paid to several variables, partic- ularly those examining the extent to which the selections have relevance to the brand and/or the narrative.
Processing narratives demands sufficient cognitive resources; therefore, the effectiveness of narrative advertising depends on individuals' cognitive capacities. In contexts where cognitive capacity was constrained by processing narrative editorials, narrative advertising was less likely to transport and "hook" readers or evoke empathy. The relative effectiveness of narrative and argument advertising was also moderated by editorial content. When reading narrative magazine articles, participants failed to take argument strength into account when evaluating a subsequent ad. In addition, the superior effectiveness of narrative advertising compared to argument advertising in terms of generating more favorable cognitive responses, warm feelings, and positive ad and brand attitudes did not emerge when participants read narrative articles. In contrast, when reading facts-based articles, participants elaborated more on the subsequent ad and took argument strength into account. In this condition, narrative advertising was able to be processed and, as a result, was more effective than argument advertising.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a model of consumer response to music in broadcast commercials outlining four variables (listening situation, musical stimulus, listener characteristics, and advertising processing strategy) that affect a consumer's attitude toward the advertising music (A am ).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of an integrative review of the relevant literatures from the psychology of music, marketing, and advertising.
Findings
A am can be positively but also negatively influenced by many factors. Only some of these variables are employed in any typical study on consumer response to music, which may account for some conflicting findings.
Practical implications
The paper discusses factors for effectively using commercial music to affect A am , with special focus on advertising processing strategy. Advertisers are urged to exercise extreme caution in using music and to always pretest its use considering factors identified in this paper. The paper suggests ways in which the model can guide future research.
Originality/value
The paper integrates diverse literatures and outlines the major variables comprising our model of consumer response to advertising music. Advertisers can use these variables as a checklist for factors to consider in selecting ad music.
Music theory distinguishes between two types of meanings that music can impart: (1) embodied meaning, which is purely hedonic, context independent, and based on the degree of stimulation the musical sound affords, and (2) referential meaning, which is context dependent and reflects networks of semantic-laden, external world concepts. Two studies investigate which (if either) of these background music meanings influence perceptions of an advertised product and when. Findings suggest that people who engage in nonintensive processing are insensitive to either type of meaning. However, more intensive processors base their perceptions on the music's referential meaning when ad message processing requires few resources, but they use the music's embodied meaning when such processing is relatively resource demanding.
The perceived importance of five technical service qualities (Gronroos 1984) or features (i.e. national and local policies, leaders, values and candidates), and voters' ratings of the Labour and Conservative Parties' competence on each of these parameters, were investigated during the 2001 British General Election using an a priori segmentation method and the classification tree statistical technique for data analysis. Voter ratings of the technical service features were found to be indicators of intention to vote. A product differentiation approach is most likely to influence voting intention, because the technical service features are more readily manipulated through marketing programmes than demographic and customer characteristics (Bucklin and Gupta 1992). Ratings of technical service features are stronger indicators of voting intention than voter demographics and characteristics. A product differentiation approach, based around technical service features, would be the most effective focus for strategy development in future political marketing campaigns.
While organizations have increasingly engaged in corporate social advocacy (CSA) for sexual and gender diverse populations, transgender people have often been overlooked in LGBTQ advocacy campaigns. Among the different strategic communication tactics that can be used in CSA, advertising is an important channel for organizations to send their prosocial messages as well as to publicly demonstrate their support of particular causes and populations. Given the tension between growing social acceptance of gender diverse populations and anti-transgender political landscape in the USA, only a handful of organizations have recently shown transgender advocacy advertising campaigns. This study explores corporate transgender advocacy advertising campaigns as one contemporary CSA program, attending to the role of authenticity in CSA effectiveness. Findings show cisgender people perceive authenticity from transgender advocacy advertising campaigns regardless of their gender, which in turn, mitigates consumer skepticism and increases the willingness to engage with the campaign on social media and, further, to engage with other transgender advocacy campaigns. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
While existing consumer research on political ideology often focuses on ideological differences in preferences for high-status, typically observably superior products, little is known about how political ideology may shape preferences for observably inferior products in non-status-signaling domains. Observably inferior products are product options which are dominated by alternatives along observable dimensions. We propose that in non-status-signaling domains conservatives are more interested in observably inferior products than liberals. This happens because conservatives (vs. liberals) have a stronger belief that things, including products, are in balance, whereby positives offset negatives. As a result, when presented with observably inferior products, conservatives (vs. liberals) are more likely to engage in compensatory reasoning and attribute positive qualities to these products, boosting their appeal. Activating belief in balance and preventing compensatory reasoning through cognitive load attenuate this effect. Salience of status-signaling motives serves as a boundary condition. Five studies and four follow-ups provide converging evidence using data collected in the lab and in the field, hypothetical and actual product choices, a variety of product categories and participant populations. These findings contribute to literatures on political ideology, compensatory inferences, and inferior products, and provide insights with respect to managing product manufacturing, inventory, and waste.
Political advertising on digital platforms has grown dramatically in recent years as campaigns embrace new ways of targeting supporters and potential voters. We examine how political campaign dynamics have evolved in response to the growth of digital media by analyzing the advertising strategies of US presidential election campaigns during the 2020 primary cycle. To identify geographic and temporal trends, we employ regression analyses of campaign spending across nearly 600,000 advertisements published on Facebook. We show that campaigns employed a new strategy of targeting voters in candidates’ home states during the “invisible primary.” In contrast to earlier studies, we find that home state targeting is a key strategy for all campaigns, rather than just for politicians with existing political and financial networks. While all candidates advertised to their home state, those who dropped out during the invisible primary tended to spend disproportionately more than the candidates who outlasted them. We also find that as the first wave of state caucuses and primary elections approach, campaigns shift digital ad expenditures to states with early primaries such as Iowa and New Hampshire and, to a lesser extent, swing states.
We study the effects of positive and negative advertising in presidential elections. We develop a model to disentangle these effects on voter turnout and candidate choice. The central empirical challenges are highly correlated and endogenous advertising quantities that are measured with error. To address these challenges, we construct a large set of potential instruments, including interactions with incumbency that we demonstrate provide the critical identifying variation, and apply machine-learning causal inference methods. Using data from the 2000 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections, we find that positive and negative ads play fundamentally different roles. Negative ads are more effective at driving relative candidate shares, whereas positive ads stimulate turnout. These results indicate that a candidate geographically targeting tone trades off local relative share gains and local increases in turnout for localities with a strong base. Counterfactual simulations, where the candidates adjust the quantity of positive and negative advertising while budgets remain fixed, indicate that ad tone alone can impact the outcome of close elections. Our analysis also provides potential explanations as to why past studies have produced mixed findings on both ad-tone and turnout effects.
This paper was accepted by Matthew Shum, marketing.
The process of buying creative advertising is often as difficult for marketing clients as it is for advertising agencies. Clients are frequently risk averse in making decisions about creative work and may favor work that is less creative and effective because it is easier to accept. Advertising agencies can also display risk aversion. Fear of losing business may cause them to pander to clients, even toning down ideas that may be the most effective advertising solutions. The authors have coined the term clientelism to describe this phenomenon. Client risk aversion and agency clientelism ultimately suppress the quality of work clients adopt. We show these effects empirically by collecting data on 258 advertising campaigns produced by major London advertising agencies. Although working toward highly creative advertising is uncomfortable for clients—and this discomfort spreads to agencies—clients need to expect agencies to present their best creative work and agencies need to better assist clients in adopting these campaigns.
An increasing number of advertisements imply that market competition is becoming fiercer. This study identifies different types of advertising elements to suggest advertising design strategies that can attract consumers' attention. In this paper, we investigate the effects of schema congruity and attribute relevance on attitude toward advertising. We refer to schema congruity that is created by product color design as “color congruity” and verify the influence of color congruity. To identify the underlying psychological mechanism by which these effects occur, we investigate the mediating effect of perceived novelty and typicality on advertisement attitude. Study 1 identifies the effect of color congruity and product attribute relevance on advertising attitude. When presenting secondary attributes, low color congruity leads to a more favorable advertising attitude than that of high color congruity, whereas when presenting primary attributes, high color congruity is more effective. In Study 2, for secondary attributes, perceived novelty explains the positive impact of low color congruity on advertising attitude. However, for primary attributes, the effect of high congruity on advertising attitude is mediated by perceived typicality. These findings may be useful in proving guidelines for advertising companies and marketers that want to create fresh content by suggesting how to combine advertising elements that will attract consumers' attention.
Sonic branding – the sonic expression of a brand's identity – is the audio equivalent of a brand's logo, a sound that is both distinct and adaptable to diverse contexts, and serves to communicate a brand's narrative. Sonic branding has been a feature of marketing strategies for the past two decades, but more recently there has been increased commercial interest in sonic branding, a move from the ‘visual turn’ to the ‘sonic turn’, as voice activation technologies such as Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant immerse the consumer in a personal encounter across diverse sensory touch points. While there has been significant scholarly discussion in popular music studies of the ways that sound is employed to increase capital in commercial contexts, little has been written to address the ways in which popular music is courted and implicated in brand strategy specific to sonic branding. In this paper, we consider the ways in which sounds are embedded in contemporary brand practice and detail the ways in which popular musicians and genres are complicit partners in ‘branding to the senses’. Here, we focus on two sonic branding case studies – Mastercard and HSBC – which highlight the key role of popular music in constructing the way we ‘hear’ brands.
This interdisciplinary essay combines science, social sciences, and the humanities to argue in favor of a less rigid understanding of the traditional gender binary of male and female. Relying on recent scientific studies on the sex/gender of the body (internal organs like the brain and chromosomal constitution, for example), this essay mentions results of scientific studies that challenge the binary understanding of gender. These studies point to a much more fluid biological spectrum of the binary male/female—to a trans fluid nature of gender. A less rigid understanding of the nature of gender of all human beings–not just those identified as trans sexual–might help in eradicating prejudices that lead to discrimination and harassment towards the trans community. As the public policy literature reviewed in this article documents, even with laws and policies to protect them from discrimination and harassment, the trans community is still subjected to both. One reason is that laws and policies are still subjected to the interpretation of policy makers and administrators whose decisions, consciously or not, are not immune to biases and prejudices. To further illustrate the scientifically proven trans fluid nature of gender, I will analyze two recent cultural products: One is from Latin America, the Chilean film “Una mujer fatástica,” and the second is an autobiographical essay by a transgender Chicano Professor of Women and Gender Studies—Francisco J. Galarte’s “Transitions: The Dolorous Return of a Chicana/o Transfronterizo.” By analyzing these two cultural products, my aim is to illustrate how these works illustrate gender fluidity in everyday life.
This research examines the influence of CEOs' regulatory focus on firms' strategic marketing behavior. The authors propose that the degree of CEOs' promotion focus relative to their prevention focus positively impacts firms' advertising and R&D intensities. However, the authors also propose a dark side of predominantly promotion-focused CEOs: a higher likelihood of firms getting involved in marketing controversies. The impact of CEO regulatory focus on these outcomes is proposed to be magnified when CEOs have high power, when stock options comprise a small proportion of CEOs' compensation, and when firms operate in highly dynamic environments. Findings based on observing a sample of publicly listed U.S. firms between 2006 and 2010 provide considerable support for the authors' hypotheses. These findings have important implications for managers, board members, investors, and researchers interested in the determinants of and mechanisms to prevent marketing myopia and marketing controversies.
Purpose
Marketers are increasing their use of digital strategies and prioritizing digital tactics, although the effectiveness digital video advertising (DVA) has not been examined empirically. The purpose of this research is to suggest that it is useful for advertisers to consider theories of the past to understand the link between product, advertising format and message processing.
Design/methodology/approach
To examine DVA effectiveness, this study utilized a 2-product type (utilitarian vs hedonic) × 2-product involvement (low vs high) x 2-platform (laptop vs mobile) mixed-design. Participants were recruited from a research company, who invited members of their panel to participate in an online experiment.
Findings
DVA for hedonic products resulted in stronger attitudes toward the ad and brand, and intentions to purchase. DVA for low involvement products resulted in stronger purchase intentions and likelihood to opt-in for more information. Moreover, there was an interaction between product category and involvement across all five measures of DVA effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
Like TV commercials, DVA is more effective when used with low involvement, hedonic products than with high involvement, utilitarian products. Additionally, the device on which the advertisement is viewed impacts the effectiveness of DVA.
Practical implications
Companies promoting high-involvement utilitarian products may consider alternative advertising strategies (e.g. MDAs, apps, websites and advergames), as DVA may not be the most effective ad format.
Originality/value
As technology continues to develop and marketers continue to pursue growing numbers of consumers through digital means and on mobile devices, understanding how device type influences advertising effectiveness is important for media strategy, message placement and marketing metrics. This research takes one step in that direction.
Do features like humor, sex, color, and music in a commercial merely increase our attention to product information in a message, or can they directly influence our attitudes? The results of an experiment using a classical conditioning approach suggest that hearing liked or disliked music while being exposed to a product can directly affect product preferences. A second experiment differentiated communication situations where a classical conditioning approach or an information processing approach might be appropriate in explaining product preference.
This research sought to better understand local food consumers and take steps to begin to identify how targeted messages could engage different groups. In order to accomplish these aims, data was collected through a survey mailed to a random sample of Wisconsin households with a final sample size of 577. These consumers were then segmented based on variables related to the food related lifestyle (FRL) and political ideology. Political ideology was included as it influences the media to which individuals pay attention, and how they interpret messages. Identified groups were further profiled with variables related to local food purchasing, frequency of shopping at farmers’ markets and natural food stores, willingness to pay a premium for local food, perceptions related to local food, communication habits, and demographics. Five segments were identified, with three standing out as likely consumers of local produce. The liberal, “Adventurous” consumers showed a strong interest in local food, perceiving local food to be superior for its environmental benefits, among other reasons. The “Traditional” and “Rational” groups were not interested in local food for environmental reasons, and may find such messages unappealing. In order to engage these other groups, messages should address the high quality of local food, how it can be incorporated into traditional recipes (for the “Traditional” group), and ways to make local food affordable and convenient to buy (for the “Rational” group).
In 2016, both the United Kingdom and the United States found themselves embroiled in bitter battles, battles in which the citizens themselves became their own worst enemies. The Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom and the 2016 United States Presidential campaign precipitated a rebirth of populism and nationalism, reinvigorating entire populations and charming even the most casual observer into political action and discourse. Yet, in both cases, what began as an endeavor to serve the needs of the citizenry morphed into a battlefield of derision and division. Racism and xenophobia are no longer isolated issues affecting only small portions of a society. Hate crimes, hate speech and overt racial discrimination are on the rise worldwide, stemming from populist empowerment. Battlegrounds of freshly brewed hostility, pitting neighbor against neighbor, have created a pandemic with the potential to permanently alter our understanding of right and wrong as well as the application of law and order. Rather, these issues are now at the forefront of debate and have assumed a position on the frontlines of political warfare worldwide. The parallels between campaigns are not merely provocative, they are disarming; but the manifestation of similar events in countries around the world is cause for concern. This book explores the course of Brexit, the parallels between it and the 2016 US Presidential election, and how it served as an impetus and inspiration for public outcry and uprising around the world. (Nova)
An unbiased comprehensive oversight synthesis of three decades of gender-related advertising research is undertaken. Seventy-six articles found in premiere marketing, psychology, sociology, and communications journals were reviewed. Findings of the gender role research indicate advertisements are generally moving toward a slightly less stereotypical stance. Findings of the selectivity hypotheses research indicate females versus males process advertisements differently. Findings of the spokesperson gender effects research indicate controversy exists, and the gender advertising response literature findings assert gender differences in advertising responses exist. Finally, the gender brand positioning literature specifies gender differences exist. The findings are synthesized and implications are suggested.
This case study describes competing activist campaigns triggered by a provocative poster promoting safe gay sex, which became one of the most complained-about outdoor advertisements in Australia. Drawing on issue management theory and personal interviews, the study analyses the contrasting strategies followed by two outdoor advertising companies caught up in the controversy, where family value advocates failed to consistently present their objections, whereas supporters of the same-sex equality effectively mobilised traditional and social media to frame the case as advertising free speech. One company held firm against issue activism, whereas the other wavered in its response and suffered reputational damage. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This research examines the undesirable effects that an unpleasant experience with a musical composition can have on consumers' attitudes toward a brand that is subsequently associated with the music in an advertising-type relationship. Results from an experiment using second-order classical conditioning procedures indicate that subjects who were originally exposed to music in an unpleasant context held less favorable attitudes toward the brand than did subjects who were not preexposed to the music but rather learned it only in context of conditioning trials. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The use of music and lyrics in commercials run in the United States is compared with their use in commercials run in the Dominican Republic (D.R.). The authors briefly review present theoretical perspectives on the role of music in advertising and address the need to conceptualize music as a culturally situated variable. They discuss the structure of Dominican TV media and examine the influence of U.S. media culture in the D.R., then develop a set of propositions about cross-cultural differences in the extensiveness of music and lyrics in commercials, the style of music used, and the product meanings conveyed in lyrics. The propositions are tested in a content analysis of commercials. The findings support the propositions and indicate a need for sociological and interpretive approaches to the study of the role of music in advertising.
One function of music is considered to be defining social identity for oneself and for others. This aspect of musical styles was investigated in the light of Social Identity Theory by examining how a college student population described fans of different musical styles. Respondents were questioned about their perception of listeners of six musical styles, two of which were indigenous to Turkey. Three basic dimensions that described the listeners of these styles emerged as the result of factor and scale reliability analyses. These dimensions were labelled the sophisticated, the sprightly, and the loser. Respondents associated these features with fans of different styles to different extents. The sprightly dimension characterized listeners of pop, rock, and rap best. The sophisticated dimension was most closely associated with listeners of classical and Turkish folk music. Listening to Arabesk, which is a style that is specific to Turkey, was most closely associated with the loser dimension. Consistent with the predictions of Social Identity Theory, evaluations by a person were affected by the attitude of that person towards a style in the cases of rock and Turkish folk music. Especially on the sophisticated dimension, respondents who liked rock or Turkish folk music rated the listeners of these styles closer to the ideal than respondents who disliked them. However, the self-evaluations of these groups were similar. Furthermore, respondents typically described themselves as being closer to the ideal value on the three dimensions than the listeners of musical styles they liked. These results provide considerable support for the idea that liking a musical style shows characteristics of group membership according to Social Identity Theory.
Media is in the midst of a digital revolution that frees news, information and advertising from the technological limits of print and broadcast infrastructures. The digitization and networking of information transform marketing communications into a vastly different set of practices for connecting consumers and brands. This paper overviews the transformation in media and describes the implications for integrated marketing communications (IMC) practice and scholarship.Digital media brings about infinite reproduction of content, consumer networking, user-generated content and an expansion of media from news and entertainment to almost any technology that has a digital interface with people. The role of media in marketing communications practices shifts from the execution of message strategies into an extension of consumer understanding. Media planning, the practice of allocating a media budget across a set of vehicles, will be replaced by a dynamic, automated process that serves ads based on information streams of consumer intentions and actions. Several of the core principles of IMC – consumer insight, data-driven decision making, cross-media integration and communications with multiple stakeholders – represent an improved framework for managing communications in a digital world.
Studied the use of music as a memory cue for an automobile advertising campaign, using telephone interviews with 2,856 Ss (aged 18–24 yrs) during a 9-mo ad campaign. The interviewer began with very general questions about the product category and gradually moved to more specific questions regarding the ads for the specific make of the automobile. Respondents were then played a 10-sec tape of the music used in the campaign. 62% indicated that they remembered seeing advertising for the product when cued with a verbal product name. 83% reported that they recognized the music after hearing the musical cue. Musical cues appeared to be more sensitive than verbal cues both as absolute measures of memory and as a means for detecting changes in awareness over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)