The effect of imagery and product involvement in copy testing scores of animatics and finished ads: a schemata approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although animatics – animated storyboards with voiceovers – and finished ads are often used in copy testing, little research has examined the psychological processes underlying participants’ evaluations of these pretest forms. Based on schema theory we contend that individuals’ imagery and product involvement affect their pretest scores. An experimental study using a consumer panel demonstrates that inducing imagery – by instructing participants that the pretest ad is a draft – increases pretest scores. This imagery effect, however, depends on participants’ level of product involvement. Low-involvement participants, who lack a schema around the product, are more susceptible to imagery effects when evaluating animatics; high-involvement participants, who have a schema around the product, are more susceptible to imagery effects when evaluating a finished ad. Furthermore, a moderated mediation test supports a categorization tension process by showing that the conditional effects of imagery on pretest scores were fully explained by ad credibility. These findings have implications for advertising copy testing and animation-based interactive advertising.