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.
Highlights
An increase in the number of symbolic elements in commercial advertisements has been observed in the last few years
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 tested the significance of the simple main effects of the independent variables and revealed that symbolic cues resulted in significantly different attitudes toward advertisements (Aad) in participants with high-involvement (F(1,137) = 18.79, p < .001); such participants had a more positive attitude toward brand-oriented symbolic cues (M = 4.31) than toward celebrity-oriented symbolic cues (M = 3.37)
Summary
An increase in the number of symbolic elements in commercial advertisements has been observed in the last few years. Consumer needs have gone beyond those related to the functional features of a product to incorporate their symbolic meanings (Stratton & Northcote, 2016). Consumption based on such needs is referred to as symbolic consumption (Luna-Cortés, 2016; Ekinci, Sirakaya-Turk, & Preciado, 2011). Scholars have considered symbolic consumption as a contemporary consumption phenomenon derived from the interaction between private and sociocultural worlds. The emphasis on brand awareness and celebrity endorsements in product advertisements indicates the importance of symbolic consumption (Kim, Lee, & Prideaux, 2014; Amos, Holmes, & Strutton, 2008). The two aforementioned advertising elements are effective persuasion tactics in advertising
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.