Generic Advertising Campaigns: a Goals-Based Perspective on the Effect of Market Trends and Solicitation Messages on Voluntary Contributions

Although generic advertising campaigns, intended to increase primary (or category) demand, are common in the marketplace, such campaigns have received relatively little attention in the literature. Focusing on generic advertising campaigns that are funded voluntarily (instead of mandatory contributions), this research examines the influence of situational factors (i.e., market trends) and solicitation messages on voluntary contributions to a generic campaign. Taking a goals-based perspective, we propose that market trends induce different goals, which in turn, influence voluntary contributions. We propose further that a solicitation message that is congruent with the existing mean-goal association is likely to be most effective in increasing voluntary contributions relative to incongruent messages. Consistent with a goals-based framework, results of three studies show that voluntary contributions are higher when the market trend is declining versus increasing and a solicitation message that reinforces the association between induced goal and the means to achieve that goal is more effective in increasing contributions.

Citation:

Shweta Oza and Joydeep Srivastava (2009) ,"Generic Advertising Campaigns: a Goals-Based Perspective on the Effect of Market Trends and Solicitation Messages on Voluntary Contributions", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Sridhar Samu, Rajiv Vaidyanathan, and Dipankar Chakravarti, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 215-216.