The Effect of Circadian Arousal, Endorser Expertise, and Argument Strength on Attitudes Toward the Brand and Purchase Intention

EXTENDED ABSTRACT - This research investigates the influence of circadian arousal (i.e., changes in arousal level due to biological variables that show rhythms with a cycle length of 24 hours), endorser expertise, and argument strength of a message on attitudes toward the brand and purchase intention. The experimental design is a 2 (high versus low endorser expertise) x 2 (strong versus weak arguments) x 2 (morning-type versus evening-type persons) x 3 (advertisement viewing time: 10 a.m., 3 p.m., or 8 p.m.) between-subjects factorial design with 602 Thai female adults aged 17B40. The experimental stimuli are print advertisements of a fictitious brand of shampoo.

Citation:

Chanthika Pornpitakpan (2002) ,"The Effect of Circadian Arousal, Endorser Expertise, and Argument Strength on Attitudes Toward the Brand and Purchase Intention", in AP - Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 5, eds. Ramizwick and Tu Ping, Valdosta, GA : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 116.

Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 5, 2002      Page 116

THE EFFECT OF CIRCADIAN AROUSAL, ENDORSER EXPERTISE, AND ARGUMENT STRENGTH ON ATTITUDES TOWARD THE BRAND AND PURCHASE INTENTION

Chanthika Pornpitakpan, National University of Singapore, Singapore

[This research receives financial support from the National University of Singapore.]

EXTENDED ABSTRACT -

This research investigates the influence of circadian arousal (i.e., changes in arousal level due to biological variables that show rhythms with a cycle length of 24 hours), endorser expertise, and argument strength of a message on attitudes toward the brand and purchase intention. The experimental design is a 2 (high versus low endorser expertise) x 2 (strong versus weak arguments) x 2 (morning-type versus evening-type persons) x 3 (advertisement viewing time: 10 a.m., 3 p.m., or 8 p.m.) between-subjects factorial design with 602 Thai female adults aged 17B40. The experimental stimuli are print advertisements of a fictitious brand of shampoo.

The results are not in complete accordance with predictions from the Elaboration Likelihood Model. For both types of persons, higher argument strength leads to better attitudes toward the brand and higher purchase intention, regardless of endorser expertise and advertisement viewing time. When morning-type persons view the advertisements in the morning (high circadian arousal) and evening (low circadian arousal), the high and the low expertise endorsers have no different effect on attitudes toward the brand, regardless of argument strength. When they view the advertisements in the afternoon (moderate circadian arousal), the high expertise endorser creates better attitudes toward the brand than does the low expertise endorser, regardless of argument strength. For evening-type persons, endorser expertise does not affect eithr of the dependent variables. Evening-type persons viewing the advertisements in the evening show better attitudes toward the brand than those viewing in the morning. They exhibit higher purchase intention than those viewing in the afternoon, who in turn show higher purchase intention than those viewing in the morning.

It is concluded that (i) the effect of argument strength is very strong, consistent with the findings in Pornpitakpan and Francis (2000) that for both Thais and Canadians, stronger message arguments lead to better attitudes toward the brand and higher purchase intention, (ii) the effect of endorser expertise is rather weak, but it is not a liability, and (iii) marketers and practitioners in other fields may be better off placing their advertisements/messages in the evening, as opposed to the afternoon and morning, unless the target audience does not watch or listen to evening programs.

REFERENCE

Pornpitakpan, Chanthika and June N. P. Francis (2000), "The Effect of Cultural Differences, Source Expertise, and Argument Strength on Persuasion: An Experiment with Canadians and Thais," Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 13(1), 77-102.

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