Consumer responses to high-tech product advertisements: The Role of Technical Complexity

Abstract

Consumers’ perceptions of new technologies are vital for the adoption of innovations. However, due to the complexity of technological innovations and associated consumer concerns, marketing communications play a crucial role in shaping attitudes. In this context, the level of technical complexity presented in advertisements can be a critical determinant of communication effectiveness. By conducting an experiment in the context of plug-in hybrid electric cars, this study examines the impact of technical complexity on communication effectiveness. We also include consumers’ product involvement as a potential moderator of this relationship. This article reveals that individuals with low product involvement respond more favourably toward technically simple ads. However, medium-involved consumers show the best responses towards ads with a high level of technical complexity. Interestingly, we could not find significant attitude differences for high- involvement individuals in terms of the level of technical comp...