UNAIR NEWS – Social research in management field does not always use survey methods. Another approach that can be used is the experimental design. In the realm of marketing management, especially related to advertising, experimental studies can use various instruments, such as printed media advertisements, electronic media advertisements, digital media advertisements, outdoor advertising, and so on.
A study using an experimental approach from Faculty of Economics and Business was conducted by Prof.听Tanti Handriana and Wahyu Rahman Wisandiko.听The research was titled听Consumer Attitudes Toward Advertisement and Brand, Based on the Number of Endorsers and Product Involvement: An Experimental Study听and it involved 120 participants.
This research听by Prof. Tanti examines consumers’ attitudes toward advertising and brands related to the number of听endorsers听or ad stars who promote them, as well as product involvement.听In her research, Prof.听Tanti and Wahyu used printed media advertisements designed for experimental research purposes.
Product liability consists of two types, high involvement听and听low involvement.听In听high involvement,听consumers will have greater motivation to pay attention, understand and elaborate information about a purchase.听Whereas in听low involvement, consumers have lower motivation.听The example of听high involvement听products听is buying a home and buying a smart phone, while examples of听low involvement products听are the purchase of table salt and bottled drinking water.
In marketing communication, there are terms of听central route听and听peripheral route.听In general,听there is a听central route听for听high involvement products,听while听peripheral route occurs in听low involvement听products.听It means when choosing听high involvement听products, consumers tend to see the benefits, features, advantages, price, and facilities of these products.听On the other hand, when choosing a听low involvement听product, consumers tend to be quite attracted from its packaging or the provider of product information.
For her research, Prof.听Tanti and Wahyu used mobile phone products as examples of听high involvement听products听and snacks as an example of听low involvement听products.
There were four advertising design scenarios.听First, the high involvement听product was advertised by one celebrity as the ad star.听Second, the high involvement听product was advertised by three celebrities.听Third, the low involvement听product was advertised by one celebrity.听And the last one, low involvement听product was advertised by three celebrities.
The results showed that consumers’ attitudes toward advertisements were higher if there were more ad stars. It means, ads with more celebrities will influence the consumers more. “Maybe consumers are more confident if there are more celebrities,” said Prof. Tanti during interview on Tuesday, July 30, 2019.
The study also showed that the attitude of consumers towards the brand is higher if there are more ad stars.听Meanwhile, consumers’ attitudes towards advertisements that display ad stars on听low involvement听products听are higher than听high involvement听products.听On the other hand, consumer attitudes towards brands will be higher in ads that display celebrities in听low involvement products category听than听high involvement products.听(*)
Author: Rio F. Rachman
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
References:
Tanti Handriana, Wahyu Rahman Wisandiko. 2017. Consumer attitudes toward advertisement and brand, based on the number of endorsers and product involvement: An experimental study. Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business 19(3):289
