You Decide: Making a Good Decision or Avoiding a Bad One?

We feel good about a purchase if we believe we've made a decision that's in line with our goals. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examines the ways consumers evaluate brand features to make choices.

"When there is a fit between people's goals and how information is acquired, these feelings are positive and thus enhance brand evaluations," write authors Echo Wen Wan (University of Hong Kong), Jiewen Hong (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), and Brian Sternthal (Northwestern University).

According to the researchers, even seemingly complicated decisions fall into two categories: Either we want to make a good decision that will help us get ahead in our life—the accomplishment goal—or we want to avoid making a mistake—the safety goal. Depending on the situation, we may switch decision processes.

In four separate studies carried out in Hong Kong and Chicago, the authors tested subjects' reactions to varying marketing copy to determine how favorably they would rate products. They found that participants with accomplishment goals responded more positively to ads that conveyed a sense of rapid progress. An example of this would be reporting several brand features on each of several successive pages of a magazine.

"Those whose goal was accomplishment evaluated the brand more favorably when information was acquired in a manner that prompted a sense of rapid progress toward a choice than when the acquisition was perceived to provide an opportunity to consider all of the information in detail. In contrast, those with a safety goal evaluated the brand more favorably when they perceived that they had an opportunity to consider all information in detail," the authors explain.
"These findings have important implications for designing persuasive messages," write the authors. They believe marketers could boost product perceptions and potential sales by matching ad strategies to consumers' likely goals. For example, since toothpastes typically are used to prevent tooth decay (a safety goal), ads should use a simultaneous presentation of information. Teeth whiteners, which are used to gain a brighter smile (a cosmetic accomplishment), should be advertised in ways that make consumers perceive rapid progress in their decision processes.

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Study: 'Stealth Advertising' Sliding Under Radar Into TV Newscasts

Advertisers’ messages are infiltrating small-market television newscasts at about the same percentage that owners of digital video recorders are skipping the commercials, say researchers at the University of Oregon.

What’s disturbing about this trend of “stealth advertising” is that viewers seldom are aware of potential slants in coverage because the connection of a story to an advertiser rarely is disclosed, says Jim Upshaw, a professor of journalism. Stealth advertising, he said, uses commercial messages that are intended to promote a product or service “that are cloaked in some other garment than a normal commercial.”

“Stations are not telling their viewers that what they are putting on the air in news or feature stories or in other news content is being done to court a specific advertiser,” Upshaw says. “I think people need to learn to be media literate, informed viewers of television. We may not be able to stop these practices but we need to be aware that these practices do exist.”

Upshaw and colleagues monitored two evening newscasts a month at 17 U.S. stations over four months in early 2004, including a February ratings sweeps week in which stations target larger audiences and thereby increase advertising revenues. The markets were affiliated with the four major commercial networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox).

They found that 90 percent of 294 monitored newscasts included at least one instance per newscast of stealth advertising. They documented 750 instances, about 2.5 individual slots per newscast – with an average of one minute, 42 seconds per occurrence – of commercial influences.

The study – co-authored by Upshaw and colleagues David Koranda, a visiting professor of advertising, and former journalism doctoral student Gennadiy Chernov, now at the University of Regina in Canada -- appeared in the June issue of the journal Electronic News.

Small market stations showed more commercially influenced material, either connected with or not connected with paid advertising, the researchers found. Small and medium markets also showed more explicitly commercially influenced promotional content.

“News is the big income generator for television stations,” Upshaw says. “Something like 40 percent of a station’s advertising sales revenue comes from ads running during newscasts or news-related presentations. Big markets do this too but often in other ways and different time slots.”

Upshaw spent 22 years as a television journalist. From 1982 to 1992 he was a reporter for the NBC-owned station in Washington, D.C. He retired from full-time teaching in June 2006. Upshaw and colleagues noted that commercial TV stations are indeed businesses.

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Banner Ads Work -- Even If You Don't Notice Them at All

The majority of advertising exposure occurs when the audience’s attention is focused elsewhere, such as while flipping through a magazine or browsing a web site. However, a new study reveals that even this incidental exposure to advertising may have a positive effect on consumer attitudes. Forthcoming in the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, the study revises existing theories of exposure advertising, specifically repeated views of web-based banner ads.

"Effects of mere exposure are expected to grow in a marketplace where consumers’ attention is often focused elsewhere," write Xiang Fang (Oklahoma State University), Surendra Singh (University of Kansas), and Rohini Ahluwalia (University of Minnesota). "Regardless of measured click-through rates, banner ads may still create a favorable attitude toward the ad due to repeated exposure."

The researchers investigated whether "mere exposure effect," a condition in which people develop a positive perception of stimuli not presented to them on a noticeable level, was also applicable to incidental advertising. In a series of experiments, the researchers discovered that even if people could not recall the content of the ad, repeated exposure led to familiarity, which then led to positive feelings.

"Our research could have important theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it enhances our understanding of the process underlying the mere exposure effect. Practically, it provides some useful guidelines for advertisers to develop more accurate measures of banner ad effectiveness," the authors write.

Participants had more positive evaluations toward the target banner ad as exposure frequency increased. Surprisingly, participants also showed high levels of tolerance for banner ads on which they were not directly focused. According to the researchers, even after twenty exposures, common wear-out effects were not apparent.

"Our results suggest that the fluency resulting from frequent passive exposure and the consequent spontaneous affective reaction provide a crucial link between exposure and positive impressions," write the authors. "Such spontaneous affect influenced evaluative judgments through a more complex process, likely by coloring the interpretation of the fluency experience and the nature of resulting metacognitions relating fluency with liking."

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New Study Finds That Food Is the Top Advertised Product Seen by Children

As the fight against childhood obesity escalates, the issue of food advertising to children has come under increasing scrutiny. Policymakers in Congress, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and agencies such as the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have called for changes in the advertising landscape, and U.S. food and media industries are developing their own voluntary initiatives related to advertising food to children.

To help inform this debate, the Kaiser Family Foundation today released the largest study ever conducted of TV food advertising to children.

The study, Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children inthe United States, combines content analysis of TV ads with detailed data about children's viewing habits, to provide an estimate of the number and type of TV ads seen by children of various ages. The study found that tweens ages 8-12 see the most food ads on TV, an average of 21 ads a day, or more than 7,600 a year. Teenagers see slightly fewer ads, at 17 a day, for a total of more than 6,000 a year. For a variety of reasons -- because they watch less TV overall, and more of their viewing is on networks that have limited or no advertising, such as PBS and Disney -- children ages 2-7 see the least number of food ads, at 12 food ads a day, or 4,400 a year.

For each age group studied, food was the top product seen advertised. Thirty-two percent of all ads seen by 2-7 year olds were for food, while 25% of ads seen by 8-12 year olds and 22% of ads seen by 13-17 year olds were for food. Of all genres on TV, shows specifically designed for children under 12 have the highest proportion of food advertising (50% of all ad time).

"Children of all ages see thousands of food ads a year, but tweens seemore than any other age group," says Vicky Rideout, vice president and director of the Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "Since tweens are at an age where they're just becoming independent consumers, understanding what type of advertising they are exposed to is especially important."

Types of Food Advertised. Of all food ads in the study that target children or teens, 34% are for candy and snacks, 28% are for cereal, and 10% are for fast foods. Four percent are for dairy products and 1% for fruit juices. Of the 8,854 ads reviewed in the study, there were none for fruits or vegetables targeting children or teens.

Appeals Employed to Advertise Food. One in five (20%) food ads targeting children or teens include a push to a website, and a similar proportion (19%) include the offer of a premium, such as a game or toy. About one in ten (11%) have a tie-in to a children's TV or movie character.

Physical Activity Portrayed. Fifteen percent of all food ads targeting children or teens include depictions of a physically active lifestyle, such as showing children skateboarding, snowboarding, or playing basketball.

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Watch the TV Ad the Florida Bar Doesn't Want You to See

Steven Miller says his message issimple and direct: If you want out of your marriage, his flat-fee, no-frills divorce law practice is the answer. It's a message Florida BarAssociation apparently doesn't want Floridians to hear.

Miller, founder of DivorceEZ, a Plantation, Fla., law firm, submitted language for a new 30-second television commercial to the Florida Bar for mandatory review. Within weeks, the answer came back: The ad is a "verbal depiction" whose language promises a particular result -- both of which are banned in legal services advertising.

Miller disagrees. The ad reveals the realities of many married couples seeking divorce. "If you and your spouse hate each other like poison and want to get out of the hell hole you call a marriage, you've come to the right place," the ad begins.

"You and your spouse are reasonable people. You agree on how to divide your property and debts. DivorceEZ can help..."

Florida consumers can view the banned commercial here.

"Sure it's a tongue-in-cheek jab at the process, and the bar doesn't like that. But I simply want to inform people about an affordable alternative to greedy, billable-hour lawyers," says Miller, a 22-year veteran Florida and Massachusetts trial lawyer who launched the service in 2006. "The Florida Bar is supporting lawyers who get $300 or more an hour to create and perpetuate an acrimonious situation."

DivorceEZ.com counsels clients and files divorce papers in Florida's 67 counties. Unlike divorce attorneys who bill more the longer a divorce lasts, or self-help centers, paralegals or document preparers who aren't attorneys and legally are not allowed to provide advice or represent clients, DivorceEZ.com's $249 service provides a fast path to an amicable split. In most cases, no court appearance is required, Miller says.

"Our message is poignant, direct and the honest truth about divorce," he says. "We take the hassle out of divorce and set you free to get on with your life."

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Site To Be YouTube For Homemade Campaign Ads

A new website has opened to host user-generated political television ads.

Campaignads.org is the first non-partisan website that will provide a vehicle for creative artists, political activists, issue advocates,political and advertising professionals to come together, decide what isimportant and then affect the debate, site organizers say.

It will be old media meets new as consumer-generated ads move from the Internet to television and other media and back, they say.

"The presidential campaign is already heating up. And today, the public have the tools and the voice to affect the debate through advertising. We are going to propel that force into motion," says Laura Crawford, founder of Campaignads.org.


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Brain Scans To Show Which Super Bowl Ads Score

A scientist and a research company will use brain scans of viewers to test the effectiveness of ads shown during Sunday's Super Bowl game.

FKF Applied Research, LLC and Marco Iacoboni of the UCLA Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center will undertake their second annual ranking of the most effective Super Bowl ads using fMRI brain imaging.

They will monitor activity in regions of the brain known to help control whether a consumer will buy or reject a pitch, and will provide color images showing these reactions. The fMRI displays activity in parts of the brain responsible forelemental responses, including wanting, reward, surprise, fear, disgust, conflict, and attempts to control emotions, the researchers say.

Super Bowl XLI will pit the Chicago Bears against the Indianapolis Colts.

CBS said it's close to selling out ad time for the Super Bowl, which often draws imaginative ads that companies hope make a big impression on consumers. CBS reportedly is asking $2.6 million for a single 30-second Super Bowl spot. Coca-Cola, Emerald Nuts, Careerbuilder, FedEx and GoDaddy.com, Honda, Toyota and GM's Chevrolet division, have all bought Super Bowl ad time, according to reports.

FKF Applied Research and Iacoboni's group at the UCLA Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center recruit advertising's prime target viewers, men and women ages 18-34, to watch the Super Bowl ads as they air during the game.

The subjects view the ads while in UCLA's high-field fMRI scanner, which measures real-time the activity in their brains.

"Many of the forces that determine how people feel and act are very automatic: they can't tell you exactly what is going on deep in their brain any more than they could tell you what is happening in their heart," says Joshua Freedman, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and co-founder of FKF Applied Research. "Pundits and polls certainly can'taccess this information either -- fMRI lets us see how people are actually reacting to the ad."

Freedman says that last year's Sierra Mist ad was a big hit in people's brains, but commentators overlooked it. "Research is confirming what seems obvious in hindsight -- buying or not buying isdetermined by activity in the peoples' brains," he says.



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