Advertising: advertising-consumer interaction

Psychology A2 · Consumer Psychology. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

The same advert does not work on everyone. Self-monitoring is how far a person watches and changes their behaviour to suit the social situation. High self-monitors care about the image they present. Low self-monitors act on their own attitudes and values.

Snyder and DeBono (1985) predicted that high self-monitors respond to image appeals and low self-monitors to claims about quality. In study 3, students heard about a new shampoo by telephone. High self-monitors were more willing to try it when told how good it makes hair look; low self-monitors when told how well it cleans.

Product placement puts a brand inside a film. It works through mere exposure (familiar things are liked more) and as a reminder of the brand.

Rules to remember

High self-monitor: prefers image-based (soft-sell) adverts. Low self-monitor: prefers quality-based (hard-sell) adverts.
Self-monitoring was measured with Snyder’s Self-Monitoring Scale, a true/false self-report.
Snyder and DeBono study 3: IVs were self-monitoring (high or low) and the message (image or quality); DV was willingness to use the shampoo.
Mere exposure: repeated contact with a brand increases liking, even without awareness.
Auty and Lewis (2004): children who saw a film clip with a branded cola were more likely to choose that brand afterwards.
In Auty and Lewis the effect was linked to having seen the film before (a reminder), not to recalling the brand.

Common mistake

Students reverse the two groups. High self-monitors go with image; low self-monitors go with quality.

Worked example

A car advert shows only the fuel economy figures and safety test results. Which type of consumer should it persuade most, according to Snyder and DeBono?

The advert makes claims about the product’s performance, so it is a quality appeal.
It says nothing about the image of people who drive the car.
Low self-monitors judge products by their own standards of quality.

Answer: Low self-monitors, because they respond to quality-based claims.

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