Comparative Advertising
Journal of Business Research 62 (2009) 768–774
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Business Research
Effects of comparative advertising format on consumer responses: The moderating effects of brand image and attribute relevance
Mehmet I. Yagci a, Abhijit Biswas b,⁎, Sujay Dutta b a b
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, University of Mersin, Mersin 33342, Turkey School of Business Administration, Wayne State University, 5201 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, United States
a r t i c l e
i n f o
a b s t r a c t
In this research we distinguish between ads that compare two different brands (Across-Brand Comparison or ABC ads) and those that compare different versions of the same brand (Within-Brand Comparison or WBC ads). Results from an experiment indicate that when comparative ads use attributes that are relevant to product performance, ad type and brand image interact such that an ABC ad leads to less favorable consumer perceptions than a WBC ad when image of the sponsor brand is low but not when it is high. However, when the ads use attributes that are irrelevant to product performance an ABC ad leads to less favorable consumer outcomes than a WBC ad, regardless of the image of the sponsor brand. We further propose and show that ad believability mediates these effects. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed and directions for future research are provided. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Article history: Received 14 August 2006 Accepted 31 March 2008 Keywords: Comparative ad Brand image Attribute relevance Persuasion knowledge model Characterization–correction model.
1. Introduction Comparative advertising is an increasingly popular promotion tactic. Its popularity stems from the FTC 's informal encouragement of explicit comparisons in the 1970s (Grewal et al., 1997; Tannenbaum, 1974; Wilkie and Farris, 1975) and advertisers ' belief in its effectiveness in influencing
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Business Research
Effects of comparative advertising format on consumer responses: The moderating effects of brand image and attribute relevance
Mehmet I. Yagci a, Abhijit Biswas b,⁎, Sujay Dutta b a b
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, University of Mersin, Mersin 33342, Turkey School of Business Administration, Wayne State University, 5201 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, United States
a r t i c l e
i n f o
a b s t r a c t
In this research we distinguish between ads that compare two different brands (Across-Brand Comparison or ABC ads) and those that compare different versions of the same brand (Within-Brand Comparison or WBC ads). Results from an experiment indicate that when comparative ads use attributes that are relevant to product performance, ad type and brand image interact such that an ABC ad leads to less favorable consumer perceptions than a WBC ad when image of the sponsor brand is low but not when it is high. However, when the ads use attributes that are irrelevant to product performance an ABC ad leads to less favorable consumer outcomes than a WBC ad, regardless of the image of the sponsor brand. We further propose and show that ad believability mediates these effects. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed and directions for future research are provided. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Article history: Received 14 August 2006 Accepted 31 March 2008 Keywords: Comparative ad Brand image Attribute relevance Persuasion knowledge model Characterization–correction model.
1. Introduction Comparative advertising is an increasingly popular promotion tactic. Its popularity stems from the FTC 's informal encouragement of explicit comparisons in the 1970s (Grewal et al., 1997; Tannenbaum, 1974; Wilkie and Farris, 1975) and advertisers ' belief in its effectiveness in influencing
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