An experiment to measure the effects of visual imagery potential, model treatment, and presence of imagining instructions on brand attitude, attitude towards advertisements, and behavioral intentions

Abstract

The aim of the present research is to focus on the manipulation of imagining instructions, individual imaging potential and advertising content of pictorial stimulus materials. Measurement of brand attitude, attitude towards advertisements, and behavioral intention to use the product was taken using a semantic differential scale designed by Osgood, Suci and Tannenbaum (1957). Subjects were drawn by a convenience sample from 487 undergraduate psychology, marketing, and history students from Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio. Students consisted of a mixture of both sexes. The design structure was a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial experiment which divided half the subjects into the Imagery Instruction group while the other half constituted the No Imagery group. Half of these two groups were shown the Model portion of the Advertising Content variable containing a colored photograph of people interacting with the brand object, a personal computer. All subjects were administered the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ) which determined if they were Visualizers or Verbalizers. After the stimulus material was viewed on slides, subjects rated the three dependent variables on the bipolar scales. Finally, all subjects completed the Vivdness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) which determined if they visualized after the imagery instructions were supplied. Statistical significance was obtained for the main effects of imagery instructions and advertising content (Model treatment) for brand attitude and attitude towards the advertisement. Only the imagery instructions variable produced a main effect for intention to use the brand. No significance was found for the Imagery Potential variable nor for any interactions. Correlation was extremely low between the Imagery Instructions and the direct assessment of VVIQ. Instructions to imagine did produce more favorable attitudes than the non-imagery instructions for pictorial stimulus materials. Supporting the current experimental hypothesis, the imagery instructions act to strengthen the functional role that imagery plays in increasing the effectiveness of advertising. By increasing the favorableness of brand attitude, imagery instructions have far more support as a means of producing positive advertising efficacy. A magazine advertisement of people interacting with the brand item created a significant brand attitude rating over the noninteractive ad. Applications are widespread concerning the implications for greater use of magazine ads with interactive displays.