Creativity is a central tenant of advertising :MOTIVATION

introduction

:SIGNIFICANCE

:CONTRIBUTIONS

:OVERALL GOAL

Viewing it as a process can lead to a better understanding of how to refine, encourage, manipulate and promote

that process in the real world

Many studies view creativity as a product or outcome (advertisements, etc.) not a process

What is the relationship, role, influence and impact of creativity in advertising.

literature review

The dominant area of research in Creativity views creativity in terms of output: Ads, art,

music, written word, etc. (Sasser & Koslow, 2008)

Creative Process research, though not as extensive, is still divided into two main

streams or thoughts (Lubart, 2000).

literature review

The first explores the factors that influence and enable the creative process.

Amabile’s (1996) Component Model of creativity is one of the most cited by

Contemporary scholars.Doesn’t look at the

process itself.

literature review

The second stream focuses on the process that individuals undergo when seeking solutions to

creative problems.

Guilford’s (1950) Incubation/Illumination model forms the foundation of a majority of this

research and is a linear, step-based process.

Orientation Preparation Analysis Ideation Incubation Illumination Evaluation

literature review

In all streams, there seems to be little research which focuses on this process within the

specific context of advertising.

To address this weakness in the literature, I plan to use Norcutt and McCoy’s (2006) Interactive

Qualitative Analysis method to identify an advertising-specific Creative Ideation Process.

general research questions

1. What are the elements in the system/process?

2. How are those elements related?

3. How does this system compare to other systems

IQA +

SystemsTheory =

3 basic RQ’s:

method

To really understand the method, you have to understand systems theory.

Is anyone familiar?

Systems are made up of two things:Affinities (or elements) and Relationships

method

For instance:

This is a linear system with five affinities and clearly defined relationships

method

My goal is to examine the creative ideation process advertising students use when encountering a creative

dilemma (i.e. getting a new client or planning a new campaign)

My specific research questions are: 1. What affinities do they use (brainstorming, etc.)?

2. How do those affinities relate to each other?

3. How does their process compare to traditional models of the creative process?

method

A quick refresher Mini focus group with creative professors :1

Two focus groups, one with P3, one with P4 :2-Prompt, index card “brain dump”

Place all cards on wall, clarify any vague cards :3Silently organize cards into categories :4

Group names each category :5-these group names become the affinities used in the system

method

14 students randomly selected for interviews :6-Each Interview consists of two parts:

1. Axial Interview: students are asked to explain each element.This is an in-depth interview and provides rich, meaningful data

that is used to “tell the story” of the creative process

2. Theoretical Interview: Each student is asked to indicate the direction of the relationship between each of the affinities

(i.e.- brainstorming influences rough drafts) This section provides the details about affinity relationships that

are used to map out the system or process.

The theoretical interviews are then placed in a Combined Affinity Frequency Table in order to find the dominant direction of the relationship

:7

method

These relationships are then placed in an Interrelationship Diagram Table in order to sort

them by delta value and determine which affinities drive the system, and which are the

outcomes of the system

:8

method

These relationships are then mapped into a cluttered system.

(Bolded, back-facing arrows represent relationships where ties or near ties occur in the Frequency Relationship Table)

:9

method

Using IQA protocol, redundant links are eliminated :10

method

Finally, the system is rearranged and organized to create the final system

:11

method

Using the final system as a guide, and the quotes obtained from the axial portion of the interview,

a discussion of each of their affinities and their relationship is created.

Special attention is given to the timbre/tone within each of the affinity descriptions.

:12

data analysis

anticipated results

IQA is essentially a modified, more rigorous form of grounded theory (with a heavy nod to systems

theory).

As such, results are not predicted but are allowed to emerge naturally from the interviews.

However, I anticipate that the creative ideation process used by students will be less linear and more

complex than tradition models of the creative process.

future research

If this study goes well, it will essentially become a pilot run for a more rigorous study using

advertising creative professionals as the constituent group.

Further similar studies could also be conducted on those portions of the system/process that

differ from regular models.

references

Amabile, T. M. (1996). The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 45(2), 357-376.

Guilford, J. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5, 444-454.

Lubart, T. (2000). Models of the creative process: Past, Present and Future. Creativity Research Journal, 13(3), 295-308.

Norcutt, N., McCoy, D. (2006). IQA Method: Version Two [PDF Document]. Retrieved from https://courses.utexas.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp

Sasser, S. L., & Koslow, S. (2008). Desperately seeking advertising creativity. Journal Of Advertising, 37(4), 5-19.

thank you

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