Prior brand attitude and advertising effectiveness

Abstract

Incongruent advertising can be effective to cut through advertising clutter, but does not always result in positive reactions from consumers. This paper investigates whether incongruent advertising could be used as a method to create positive responses in consumers who dislike the brand by exploring the effect of ad-brand congruence on credibility, attitude towards the ad and brand attitude, while accounting for prior brand attitude valence. Multi-group analysis using partial least squares path modelling indicated that prior brand attitude moderates these relationships. For those with a positive prior brand attitude, findings reinforced the importance of congruence to ensure corporate credibility as well as positive ad and brand attitudes. For respondents who disliked the brand, incongruent advertisements led to higher brand attitudes, but decreased corporate credibility. Consequently, incongruent advertising can create positive attitudes for those initially disliking the brand, but the negative impact on perceived credibility needs to be managed.