Can Advertising Change Memory for Even a Really Discrepant Experience? Paradigm Issues in the Study of Postexperience Advertising

Abstract

There has been some debate between marketing researchers regarding the role postexperience advertising can play on influencing consumer memory. Our investigation looks at whether paradigm differences can account for these different findings or whether advertising's influence on altering sensory memory is indeed limited. We also investigate a potential mediator of the advertising misinformation effect: strength of encoding the original experience. Paradigms are important for scientific progress, but they are not infallible. It is important for advertising researchers that the methodology is precise and controlled enough in order to identify the mechanism theoretically proposed for inducing the memory change while at the same time being externally valid for understanding consumers' marketplace behavior. We discuss the implications of our findings for practice and academic research.