Influences of Product Involvement and Symbolic Consumption Cues in Advertisements on Consumer Attitudes

Abstract

Symbolic consumption has become pervasive in daily life; advertisements focusing on brand awareness and celebrity endorsements involve strong product symbols and serve as a persuasive advertising tool. This study employed a 2 × 2 between-subject experimental design to investigate the influence of two independent variables, namely the level of consumer product involvement (high and low levels of involvement) and types of symbolic cues (brand and celebrity symbols), on consumer attitudes toward advertisements (Aad) and brands (Ab). Four notable findings were revealed: (1) the level of participant product involvement affected their fondness for Aad and Ab; (2) symbolic cues affected participant Aad and Ab; (3) participants with a high level of product involvement exhibited more positive Aad; and (4) participants with low product involvement demonstrated more positive Ab. In the contemporary advertising market, how enterprises can enable a product to convey a certain symbolic meaning has become particularly critical, and enterprises should not ignore the influences that symbolic consumption may have on consumers. These study results serve as a reference for enterprises and advising agents for devising future product advertising strategies.