The Impact of Nfc and Knowledge on Consumer Response Toward Complex Print Advertisements

EXTENDED ABSTRACT - In this era of high media clutter, advertisers frequently use a variety of ad-execution strategies to gain the attention of an increasingly fickle audience. One such strategy is to vary the level of complexity inherent in the message. To assess the efficacy of such a strategy, one needs to understand the impact of ad complexity on consumers. Research addressing this issue has generated mixed results; some find that simple ads are superior (Anderson and Jolson 1980; Paivio 1986; Rossiter and Percy 1983) while others find that complex messages are more effective (Chamblee et al. 1993; Lowrey 1998; Morrison and Dainoff 1972; Phillips 1997). This research attempts to reconcile such mixed findings by (a) isolating the various dimensions of message complexity and (b) studying the impact of two potential moderating variables, need for cognition (NFC) and knowledge, on consumer response toward complex messages.

Citation:

Sanjay Putrevu, Joni Tan, and Kenneth R. Lord (2004) ,"The Impact of Nfc and Knowledge on Consumer Response Toward Complex Print Advertisements", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 31, eds. Barbara E. Kahn and Mary Frances Luce, Valdosta, GA : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 35-36.