On Resonance_ a Critical Pl..

7/29/2019 On Resonance_ a Critical Pl..

1/20

On Resonance: A Critical Pluralistic Inquiry into

Advertising Rhetoric

by Edward F. McQuar r i e and Davi d Gl en Mi ck

(This paper appeared in the September 1992 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.

This is the author's draft copy, which does not reflect the copy edits that produced

the published version.)

McQuarrie home page

ABSTRACT

Pr i nt ads exhi bi t r esonance when t hey combi ne wordpl ay wi t h a r el evant pi ct ur e so ast o cr eat e ambi gui t y and i ncongr ui t y. Thi s ar t i cl e uses mul t i pl e per spect i ves andmet hods wi t hi n a f r amewor k of cr i t i cal pl ur al i sm t o i nvest i gat e adver t i si ngr esonance. Semi ot i c t ext anal yses, a cont ent anal ysi s of cont empor ar y magazi neadver t i sement s, t wo exper i ment s, and phenomenol ogi cal i nt ervi ews combi ne t o yi el di nsi ght s i nt o t he oper at i on, pr eval ence, i mpact , and exper i ence of r esonance.

Speci f i cal l y, t he two experi ment s show t hat mani pul at i on of r esonance pr oducesposi t i ve t r eat ment ef f ect s i n t hr ee domai ns: l i ki ng f or t he ad, br and at t i t ude, andunai ded r ecal l of ad headl i nes. These ef f ect s appear cont i ngent upon subj ect s'successf ul decodi ng of r esonance and thei r t ol er ance f or ambi gui t y ( an i ndi vi dualdi f f er ence var i abl e) . I mpl i cat i ons f or f ut ur e resear ch on resonance and f or t he useof cr i t i cal pl ur al i sm i n consumer adver t i si ng r esear ch ar e di scussed.

Come See the Shooting Stars

- ad f or a gol f t our nament

Puns surpr i se and ent ert ai n, expr essi ng mul t i pl e meani ngs wi t h a si ngl e wor d orphrase ( Redf ern 1982) . These qual i t i es may expl ai n why puns and wordpl ay r egul ar l yappear i n adver t i sement s ( Gr i nnel l 1987) , i ncl udi ng many awar d wi nners ( Bel t r ami niand Bl asko 1986) . I n f act , t he use of wordpl ay i n adver t i si ng dates back many years ,and l i t er ar y cr i t i cs have l ong di scussed i t s char act er and specul at ed on i t s i mpact( Ki r schner 1972; Qui r k 1951; Redf ern 1982; Shel don 1956) . Nonethel ess, somepr act i t i oner s and adver t i si ng resear cher s have di sput ed the val ue of wor dpl ay. Cl audeHopki ns ( 1927, p. 179) , a gr andf at her of moder n adver t i si ng, asser t ed t hat "Fr i vol i t yhas no pl ace i n adver t i si ng" whi l e, mor e recent l y, Rossi t er and Per cy ( 1987, p. 512)have counsel l ed, "Do not use ambi guous wor ds or puns. " Cr i t i cs al l ege that wordpl ayi s t oo i ndi r ect i n i t s appr oach, and t her eby det r i ment al t o per suasi on. Thi scont r over sy f i t s wi t hi n t he l ong- r unni ng debat e about t he super i or i t y of har d- sel lver sus sof t - sel l adver t i si ng t echni ques ( Fox 1984) . Despi t e i t s r egul ar occur r enceand uncer t ai nt y about i t s i mpact , consumer r esear cher s have yet t o i nvest i gat ewordpl ay i n any concer t ed manner .

I n t hi s art i cl e we adopt a mul t i per spect i ve, mul t i met hod appr oach wi t h t hr ee mai npur poses. The f i r st i s t o cl ar i f y and extend on a t heor et i cal l evel t he concept ofadver t i si ng r esonance, whi ch i s charact er i zed here as wor dpl ay i n t he pr esence of ar el evant pi ctori al . Dr awi ng i nsi ght s f r om semi ot i cs and i t s text anal ysi s tr adi t i on,we i nt erpr et a set of r esonant ads. These anal yses ar e t hen combi ned wi t h pr i orr esear ch i n aest het i cs and psychol i ngui st i cs t o der i ve hypotheses about r esonance.Our second pur pose i s t o i nvest i gat e adver t i si ng r esonance i n a causal desi gn ( oncewi t h st udent s and t hen a repl i cat i on/ extensi on wi t h non- st udent s) i n whi ch resonancei s mani pul at ed and i t s i ncr ement al ef f ect s are assessed. Cont ent anal ysi s andphenomenol ogi cal i nt ervi ews ar e al so used t o compl ement bot h the semi ot i c t extanal ysi s and the exper i ment al r esul t s. Thus, our t hi r d pur pose concer ns t hesyner gi st i c i nsi ght s t hat emer ge f r om t he combi nat i on of i nt er pr et i ve appr oaches i n

consumer r esear ch (semi ot i c t ext anal ysi s, phenomenol ogi cal i nt er vi ewi ng) wi t hposi t i vi st appr oaches ( cont ent anal ysi s, exper i ment at i on) . Some consumer r esear cher shave quest i oned the commensur abi l i t y of i nt er pr et i vi sm and posi t i vi sm ( e. g. , Ander son1986, 1988) . Ot her s have been more opt i mi st i c ( Hi r schman 1985; Hunt 1991; Lut z 1989) ,advocat i ng a cr i t i cal pl ur al i sm t hat woul d empl oy mul t i pl e met hods and i nvokeappr opr i at e appr ai sal standar ds. Thi s ar t i cl e i l l ustr at es t he benef i t s of cri t i cal

Resonance: A Critical Pluralistic Inquiry into Advertising Rhetoric http://lsb.scu.edu/~emcquarrie/reson55.ht

20 2009-11-10 11:57


2/20

pl ur al i sm f or consumer adver t i si ng resear ch.

ADVERTISING RESONANCE

McQuar r i e ( 1989) di scussed adver t i si ng r esonance br oadl y, as a pl ay or t wi st wi t hi nan ad' s st r uct ur e that ser ves t o pr oduce an echo or mul t i pl i cat i on of meani ng. I nt hi s ar t i cl e we f ocus on i nst ances of r esonance where wor dpl ay i n t he headl i ne i sr ei nf orced by an accompanyi ng i l l ust r at i on. For exampl e, a r ecent ad shows men' st i es, ar r anged t o f or m a bouquet , wi t h t he headl i ne, "Forget Me Knot s. " Anot herexampl e, t hi s f or Bucks ci gar et t es, shows a ci gar et t e pack wi t h a pi ct ur e of a stag,and t he headl i ne "Herd of These?" Based on Shel don ( 1956) and McQuar r i e ( 1989) , t hepr ocess of const r uct i ng a resonant ad i s st r ai ght f or war d. A cl i che or st ockexpr essi on i s f i r st appr opr i at ed, and t hen i t i s ei t her changed sl i ght l y and/ orpl aced i n an unconvent i onal set t i ng. The i l l ust r at i on ( whi ch may ser ve as t heunconvent i onal set t i ng) i n conj unct i on wi t h the phr asi ng l eads t o t wo or mor ei nt erpr et at i ons. I t i s the cent ra l ro l e of t he i l l ustr at i on, and t he r ar i t y of t hi spar t i cul ar ki nd of ver bal - vi sual j uxt aposi t i on out si de of moder n adver t i si ng, t hatj ust i f i es t he use of t he t erm r esonance i n pl ace of pun or wor dpl ay. I n f act , t heaccompanyi ng pi ct ure t hat r ei nf orces and even cr eat es the pun "may be adver t i si ng' sor i gi nal cont r i but i on t o t he hi st or y of t he pun" ( Shel don 1956, p. 20) .

RESONANCE IN MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS

To est i mat e t he preval ence of r esonance i n magazi ne ads, we r andoml y sel ect ed onei ssue f r om 20 of t he t op 50 magazi nes ( based on annual ad r evenue) , and conducted acont ent anal ysi s. The i ssues were sampl ed over a si x mont h per i od i n 1990- 91 andi ncl uded Gener al I nt er est ( e. g. , Peopl e) , Men' s ( e. g. , GQ) , Women' s ( e. g. , Fami l yCi r cl e) and Busi ness/ Fi nanci al ( e. g. , Busi ness Week) magazi nes. Al l f ul l - page andl arger ads f r omeach i ssue were removed, numbered, and pl aced i n f ol ders ( n = 1286) .Two r esear ch ass i st ant s i ndependent l y coded each ad f or t he presence of wor dpl ay i nt he headl i nes ( agr eement = 84. 6%) . Next , t hey met t o resol ve di sagr eement s. Fi nal l y,f or al l ads where wordpl ay was agreed t o be pr esent , t hey j oi nt l y determi ned whet heran accompanyi ng pi ct or i al r ei nf or ced t he wor dpl ay. Thi s pr ocedur e uncover ed 196i nst ances of r esonant ads- - 15. 2% of t he sampl e ( see exampl es i n Tabl e 1) . Ever ymagazi ne exami ned cont ai ned at l east one i nst ance of r esonance, and the i nci dence ofr esonance was r el at i vel y const ant acr oss t he f our magazi ne cat egor i es. Thus,

r esonance i n magazi ne adver t i si ng appears t o be a wi despr ead phenomenon.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tabl e 1 about here

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF RESONANCE

Semi ot i c Text Anal ysi s

Semi ot i cs f ocuses on t he st r uct ur e of meani ng- pr oduci ng event s, wi t h t he si gn ( ver bal

or nonver bal ) t he f undament al uni t ( Mi ck 1986) . Si gns ( e. g. , wor ds, cl ot hi ng) combi net o f or m messages and t ext s ( e. g. , sent ences and short st ori es, ensembl es andf ashi ons) . Both t he pr oduct i on of a message or t ext , and t he subsequent decodi ng byr eader s, ar e gover ned by rul es that are general l y known t o i ndi vi dual s who ar e f r omt he i nt er pr et i ve communi t y or cul t ur al l y- const i t ut ed code envi r onment i n whi ch t hemessage or t ext i s exchanged. These rul es est abl i sh t he manner i n whi ch si gns combi nei nt o accept abl e and unders t andabl e messages or t ext s, and t he cor r el at i on t hat si gns( as expr essi on) can have wi t h t hei r pot ent i al meani ngs ( as cont ent ) i n speci f i ccont exts. Theor et i cal semi ot i ci ans have concent r at ed on descr i bi ng and cl assi f yi ngboth si gns and si gn- f unct i ons t o expl i cat e t he compl ex natur e of communi cat i on ( seeMi ck 1986) . As a resul t , a speci al i zed vocabul ar y has devel oped ( i . e. , i t s own si gnsyst em) , some of whi ch we def i ne and use her e.

Semi ot i cs has i nf l uenced pr i or anal yses of adver t i si ng as a cul t ur al f or m ofcommuni cat i on ( e. g. , Bar t hes 1964/ 1985; McCr acken 1986; Scot t 1990; Stern 1989;Wi l l i amson 1978) . A semi ot i c t ext anal ysi s scrut i ni zes t he var i ous si gns i n a t ext i nan at t empt t o char act er i ze t hei r st r uct ur e and i dent i f y pot ent i al meani ngs ( Mi ck,Horvath- Nei meyer and McQuarr i e 1992) . Hence, semi ot i c t ext anal ysi s r eadi l y over l apswi t h an i nt erpr et i ve- her meneut i c appr oach t o consumer r esearch ( Hol brook and


20 2009-11-10 11:57


3/20

O' Shaughnessy 1988, p. 400) whi ch i nvol ves t he "cr i t i cal anal ysi s of a t ext f or t hepur pose of determi ni ng i t s s i ngl e or mul t i pl e meani ng( s) . " However , meani ng can neverbe f ul l y speci f i ed si nce each i nt er pr et er br i ngs a reser voi r of per sonal i nt er est sand exper i ences t hat i nt r oduces var i ous degr ees of non- conver gence and i di osyncr acyi nt o the communi cat i on pr ocess. The di st i nct i ve f eat ur e of semi ot i cs r el at i ve toot her appr oaches to anal yzi ng t ext s i s t hat semi ot i cs pl aces due wei ght on t heconst r ai nt s i mposed by t he st r uct ur e of si gns wi t hi n a t ext , on t he f r eedom of t her eader t o i nt er pr et t he t ext i n a var i et y of ways, and on t he soci ocul t ur al cont extt hat j oi nt l y shapes t he t ext and i t s pot ent i al r eadi ngs.

Meani ng i t sel f i s a compl i cat ed and cont r over si al t opi c. I n t hi s ar t i cl e we f ol l owEco ( 1976, p. 66- 71) who, i n part , concept ual i zes meani ng as t he denot at i ve andconnot at i ve associ at i ons produced as a r eader decodes a t ext . That i s, semant i cchai ns ( ment al concept s) are act i vat ed i n memory by t he si gns i n a t ext . For exampl e,f or many reader s t he wor d / t r easur e/ woul d conj ur e up i deas of r i ches ( j ewel s andgol d) , pi r ates, and somethi ng hi dden and even dangerous, wi t h each of t hese concept sconnect ed to yet ot her concept s. Thi s not i on of meani ng i s di r ect l y i n l i ne wi t hnetwork model s of memory i n cogni t i ve psychol ogy, i ncl udi ng Qui l l i an' s, whose modelEco (1976, p. 122- 125) di scusses, t hus provi di ng a par t i al l i nkage bet ween thesemi ot i c t ext anal ysi s t o f ol l ow and our subsequent exper i ment s.

Resonance: A Semi ot i c Anal ysi s

I n t echni cal t erms, adver t i si ng resonance pr esent s t he consumer wi t h an i ncongr uouspol ysemy. Fol l owi ng Berl yne (1971) , i ncongr uous means t hat t he st r uct ur e of t headver t i si ng t ext devi at es f r om expect at i ons. Fol l owi ng t he semi ol ogi st Bar t hes( 1985) , pol ysemy means t hat cer t ai n el ement s ( si gns) wi t hi n t he ad have been made t oconvey ext r a meani ng t hat t hey woul d not ordi nar i l y have when st andi ng al one. Mostf i gurat i ve speech, and even l anguage i n general , i s pol ysemous, and many ads cont ai nsome degr ee of i ncongr ui t y. However , f or r esonance to be possi bl e, t he verbal andvi sual el ement s have t o combi ne t o cr eat e ext r a meani ng, and t hi s ext r a meani ng hast o depart f r omnor mal usage.

Resonance i s but one exampl e of a f ami l y of l i t erar y devi ces t er med r het ori calf i gur es. The best known r het ori cal f i gur e, and t he onl y one pr evi ousl y exami ned byconsumer r esear cher s, i s metaphor ( Hi t chon 1991; Ward and Gai di s 1990) . Based on

Dur and' s ( 1987) semi ot i c wor k ( see al so Dyer 1982) , r hetori cal f i gur es can becl assi f i ed accor di ng t o f i ve t ypes of r el at i ons among el ement s i n t he r het or i calf i gur e and f our t ypes of r het or i cal oper at i ons. These r el at i ons and oper at i onssuggest under l yi ng r ul es and pr ocesses t hat gui de t he encodi ng and decodi ng of adt exts. A f ul l di scussi on of Dur and' s scheme i s beyond t he scope of t hi s ar t i cl e, butf or our pur poses i t cont r i but es t o a mor e r ef i ned anal ysi s of r esonance, i ncl udi ng acompar i son wi t h met aphor .

Wi t h ref erence t o Durand' s scheme, both resonance and metaphor per f orm t he operat i onof subst i t ut i on, but t hey do so by means of qui t e di f f er ent r el at i ons bet weenel ement s. Consi der t he met aphor "War i s hel l . " Wher e a met aphor per f orms asubst i t ut i on by connect i ng t wo thi ngs t hat have some i ni t i al si mi l ar i t y i n cont ent( Gl ucksber g and Keysar 1990) , r esonance perf orms a subst i t ut i on by means of a f al sehomol ogy i n whi ch t he si mi l ari t y i s f or ced or i mposed ( Dur and 1987) . Hence, unl i ke

met aphor , r esonance al ways i nvol ves an el ement f orced t o bear a doubl e meani ng.Somet i mes t he f al se homol ogy wi l l t ake t he f or m of a homonymi c pun, i . e. , asi mi l ar i t y i n sound ( Shel don 1956) . An exampl e i s an ad showi ng a short cake cover edwi t h st r awber r i es and whi pped cr eam t hat pr ocl ai ms t he di et desser t t o be "Ber r i edTr easur e. " A semi ot i c t ext anal ysi s woul d suggest t hat by means of t he f al se homol ogyt he qual i t i es of bei ng r i ch and hi dden, and t he spi r i t of advent ur e associ at ed wi t hpi r at es and deser t ed i sl ands- - par t i cul ar l y appr opr i at e i n t he case of a di etdesser t - - al l become pot ent i al l y avai l abl e f or subst i t ut i on as par t of t he meani ng oft he brand. Such an anal ysi s woul d be based upon knowl edge of t he Engl i sh l anguage,i ncl udi ng t he noun "ber r i es" and i t s var i at i on as a pot ent i al past par t i ci pl e,"ber r i ed"; t he phr ase and concept of "bur i ed tr easur e, " i ncl udi ng i t s symbol i sm andconvent i onal use i n movi es and novel s; t he pi ct ur e ser vi ng as an i coni c si gn of anact ual shor t cake cover ed wi t h st r awberr i es; and so on.

I n anot her exampl e, an ad di spl ays a smal l f l ashl i ght ami dst hol i day wr appi ng,pr omi si ng "The Gi f t I dea That Leaves Everybody Beami ng. " A semi ot i c anal ysi s suggest st hat smi l es and happi ness ar e l i nked t o f l ashl i ght s i n t hi s cont ext of gi f t - gi vi ng byway of t he i mposed subst i t ut abi l i t y of t he t wo senses of t he word beami ng. A doubl ei ndexi cal r el at i onshi p i s devel oped f or t he f l ashl i ght wi t h r espect t o bot h


20 2009-11-10 11:57


4/20

l umi nescence and happi ness. Thi s i n t ur n l i nks t he f l ashl i ght t o mor e gener al i deasof l i ght and cheer i n opposi t i on to dar kness and gl oom. Mor eover , t he pl ayf ul t wi ston beami ng assi mi l at es t he f l ashl i ght t o yet ot her cul t ur al l y f or med associ at i ons,e. g. , how a gi f t br i ght ens a per son' s day.

A di st i ncti ve f eat ur e of f al se homol ogi es wi t hi n t he f ami l y of r het or i cal f i gur es i st hat t hey pr esent t he reader wi t h an i ncongr ui t y. What makes t he homol ogy ' f al se' i st hat t he chai ns of semant i c concept s bei ng f used by a f al se homol ogy ar e typi cal l ydi spar ate wi t hi n t he code envi r onment known t o t he i nt erpr eter ( Eco, 1976 p. 126 f f . )Take f or exampl e an ad t hat shows, l yi ng on a beach, an opened cap f r om a bot t l e ofPepsi , accompani ed by t he headl i ne "Thi s Year Hi t t he Beach Topl ess. " A semi ot i c t extanal ysi s woul d i ndi cat e that semant i c chai ns i nvol vi ng nudi t y, r ebel l i ousness, andr i sk- t aki ng ar e bei ng l i nked wi t h, and made avai l abl e as subst i t ut es f or , chai nsi nvol vi ng sof t dr i nks, t he r el i ef of t hi r st , and t he l i ke. Al t hough t he homol ogybet ween a bot t l e wi t hout i t s cap and a woman wi t hout a bi ki ni t op i s st r i ct l yspeaki ng f al se, i t i nvi t es t he consumer t o di scover t he under l yi ng connect i on t hatmakes t he r hetori cal f i gur e compr ehensi bl e. To r esol ve t he i ncongr ui t y t he r eadermust i nt er pr et t he t ext f ur t her .

Two ot her exampl es hel p t o i l l ust r at e t hi s cent r al char act er i st i c of r esonance. An adf or NYNEX t el ephones shows a bank l obby wi t h massi ve marbl e pi l l ars and t he headl i ne,"Chances Ar e We' r e Hol di ng Up Your Bank. " Here t he reader encounters t he i ncongrui t yt hat "hol di ng up" means support i ng as wel l as r obbi ng, and must r esol ve t hi s apparent

par adox f or a bank- r el at ed ad. Fur t her i nt er pr et at i on may assi mi l at e t he tel ephonesyst em t o t he mar bl e pi l l ar s i n t he pi cture of t he l obby, so t hat i t t akes on t hei rpr oper t i es as suppor t i ng member s of unyi el di ng st r engt h and sol i d r el i abi l i t y. I n anad f or t ea showi ng many cups vi ewed f r om above, t he headl i ne reads " Get Your sel f I nt oa Lot of Hot Water . " Resol ut i on of t he i ncongr ui t y posed by t he phr ase hot water( meani ng al so t r oubl e or di f f i cul t y) i nvokes an i nt er pr et at i on of t hi s t ea assomethi ng hot and act i ve, t hus posi t i oni ng thi s brand away f r omt he tepi d and tame.I n sum, r esonant ads, due t o t he i mposi t i on of si mi l ar i t y, cal l f or t h addi t i onali nt erpr et at i on i n or der t o make sense. By cont r ast , i t has been ar gued that met aphormay not r equi r e such ext r a i nt erpr etat i on ( Hof f man 1984) . The const r uct i on of ameani ngf ul i ncongr ui t y by t he j uxtaposi t i on of ver bal and vi sual el ement s t hus setsr esonance apar t bot h f r om ot her r het or i cal f i gur es, and f r om pl ai n speech.

Resonance: Aest het i c Per spect i ves

The semi ot i c anal ysi s of r esonance can be ext ended t o i nt egrat e i nsi ghts f r om t hest udy of aest het i cs. Resonant ads have aest het i c potent i al due t o t hei r pol ysemy,i . e. , t he mul t i pl e meani ngs engender ed by t he st r uct ur al r el at i on of si gns wi t hi n t head t ext . Recal l t hat i n t he Pepsi ad, t he word t opl ess was made t o car r y two di st i nctmeani ngs, wi t h t he ext r a or unusual meani ng cr eated as a r esul t of t he j uxt aposi t i onof headl i ne and pi ct ur e. Such pol ysemous const r uct i ons can al so be descr i bed asambi guous. Thi s use of t he t er m ambi gui t y to i ndi cat e t he possi bi l i t y of mul t i pl ei nt er pr et at i ons has a l ong hi st or y i n aest het i cs ( Ber l yne 1971; Eco 1976) and al sopsychol i ngui st i cs ( Per f et t i et al . 1987) , but di f f er s f r om usage i n consumerr esear ch, wher e ambi gui t y has been def i ned as t he absence of i nf ormat i on ( Hoch and Ha1986) or equal pr obabi l i t i es (Kahn and Sar i n 1988) . Resonant ads ar e not ambi guous i nt hese l at t er senses; t hey ar e ambi guous due to a sur pl us r at her t han a def i ci t of

meani ng. To under st and t he aest het i c val ue of r esonance, i t i s i mpor t ant t odi st i ngui sh r esonant ads f r om t hose t hat use `bl i nd' headl i nes, wher e the headl i ne i sr el at i vel y meani ngl ess on i t s own. Ambi gui t y i n the sense of bei ng opaque i s not whatr esonance i s about .

The pol ysemous ambi gui t y cr eat ed by r esonance provi des t he oppor t uni t y f or anaest het i c exper i ence. From a semi ot i c perspect i ve, " t he message assumes a poet i cf unct i on . . . when i t i s ambi guous and sel f - f ocusi ng" ( Eco 1976, p. 262) . Eco expl ai nst hat such messages cr eat e an aest het i c ef f ect by str at egi cal l y vi ol at i ng cer t ai nr ul es of t he code, so as t o act i vat e over l appi ng and i nt er t wi ni ng semant i c chai nst hat ar e nor mal l y not associ at ed. He not es t hat "Ambi gui t y . . . f unct i ons as a sor t ofi nt r o- ducti on t o t he aest het i c exper i ence . . . i nst ead of pr oduci ng pur e di sor der , i tf ocuses my at t ent i on and ur ges me t o an i nt erpr et i ve ef f ort ( whi l e at t he same t i me

suggest i ng how t o set about decodi ng) " ( Eco, p. 263) . Resonance i s a rhet or i caldevi ce f or cr eat i ng and r esol vi ng ambi gui t y, t her eby f aci l i t at i ng aest het i cexper i ence. To say that r esonance i s an aest het i c phenomenon i s t o say t hat r esonantads are si mi l ar i n some respect s t o wor ks of art ( cf . Redf ern 1982, 1985 on puns) .Si nce aest het i c r esponses need not be l i mi t ed t o f or mal l y const i t ut ed ar t obj ect s( Ber l yne 1971; cf . Hol br ook 1980) , t o experi ence an adver t i sement can i t sel f be a


20 2009-11-10 11:57


5/20

f orm of symbol i c consumpt i on ( Levy 1959; Hi r schman and Hol brook 1980; Levi t t 1970) .

Li nki ng resonance wi t h aest het i cs i s usef ul because i t suggest s t hat ambi gui t y can bea sour ce of aest het i c pl easur e, pr ovi ded t hat i t i s r esol ved. The l i nk t o aest het i csal so pr ovi des a cont ext f or under st andi ng the i ncongr ui t y pr oper t y of r esonance. Eco( 1976) di scusses t he i dea that t he aest het i c of t en i nvol ves a devi at i on f r om t henorm. The devi ce of `maki ng i t st r ange' i s somet i mes vi ewed as a di st i nct i ve f eat ur eof aest het i c t exts ( cf . Ber l yne 1971, p. 140) . Bot h ambi gui t y and i ncongr ui t y ar eamong t he pr oper t i es t hat Ber l yne ( 1971) f ound to be char act er i st i c of aest het i cst i mul i . The f act t hat r esonance ar i ses f r om a combi nat i on of t hese t wo pr oper t i essuggest s t hat i t s aest het i c pot ent i al wi l l t ypi cal l y be hi gh. Mor eover , i n r esonantads semant i c cont ent i s est abl i shed by means of t he st r uct ur al r el at i onshi p amongver bal and vi sual si gns wi t hi n t he ad t ext ( cf . Pol l ay and Mai npr i ze 1984) . Such useof f or m t o convey meani ng i s al so a char act er i st i c f eat ur e of aest het i c t exts ( Eco1979, 1984) .

HYPOTHESES

Li ki ng f or t he Ad

Semi ot i ci ans speak of "t he pl easur e of t he t ext " ( Bar t hes 1964/ 1985) . I n semi ot i cs,t he acti vi t y of decodi ng or i nt er pr et i ng t ext s, par t i cul ar l y aesthet i c text s, i svi ewed as i nt r i nsi cal l y rewar di ng. I n t he case of r esonant ads, t he exper i ence of

pl easur e achi eved t hr ough successf ul l y decodi ng t he r esonance shoul d cr eate l i ki ngf or t he ad. Ber l yne' s ( 1971) wor k on the psychol ogy of aest het i cs pr ovi des addi t i onalsuppor t f or t he pl easur abl e i mpact of st i mul us ambi gui t y and i ncongr ui t y ( cf . Redf er n1982 and Shel don 1956 on puns) . Bot h of t hese st i mul us pr opert i es are among the"col l at i ve var i abl es" f ound t o st i mul at e ar ousal . Ber l yne (1971) summar i zes evi dencet hat arousal may be r el ated t o pl easure i n t wo ways, whi ch he terms "arousal boost "and "arousal j ag" : moder at e i ncr eases i n ar ousal may be pl easurabl e i n t hemsel ves( ar ousal boost ) , or an i ncrease i n ar ousal whi ch i s t hen al l evi at ed may yi el dpl easur e (ar ousal j ag) . The l at t er sequence seems most appl i cabl e to adver t i si ngr esonance: ambi gui t y ( mul t i pl i ci t y) of meani ng i ni t i al l y causes t ensi on, whi ch i st hen resol ved once t he r eader succeeds i n decodi ng t he message. An assumpt i on t hatunder l i es t hi s appl i c- at i on of Ber l yne' s wor k i s t hat r esonance creat es onl y amoderat e degr ee of arousal . Ext r eme ar ousal , i n Ber l yne' s vi ew, ceases t o be

pl easur abl e due t o t he non- monotoni c r el at i onshi p bet ween ar ousal and pl easure.

Al t hough semi ot i ci ans do not or di nar i l y t hi nk i n t er ms of i ndi vi dual di f f er encevar i abl es, psychol ogi st s have i dent i f i ed a per sonal i t y di sposi t i on t er med t ol er ancef or ambi gui t y whi ch may i nf l uence t he enj oyment of r esonant ads. Some peopl e copewel l wi t h ambi guous st i mul i and si t uat i ons, whi l e ot her s di sl i ke and avoi d t hem( Budner 1962) . Because t he pl easur e response i s cont i ngent on the resol ut i on ofambi gui t y and i ncongrui t y, r esonant ads may be pl easurabl e f or some peopl e but notf or ot her s. That i s, conf r ont i ng ambi gui t y may l ead t o di spl easur e on t he par t oft hose who do not t ol er at e ambi gui t y wel l , whet her i t i s r esol ved or not . Hence, weexami ne t ol erance f or ambi gui t y as a cont i ngency upon whi ch t he hedoni c val ue ofr esonant ads depends.

H1a: Ther e i s gr eater l i ki ng f or r esonant ads r el at i ve t o t he same ads wi t h r esonancer emoved.

H1b: Tol erance f or ambi gui t y i nt eract s wi t h r esonance such t hat t he gr eat er aper son' s t ol er ance f or ambi gui t y, t he gr eat er t he l i ki ng f or r esonant ads r el at i ve t ot he same ads wi t h resonance r emoved.

Br and At t i t ude

Resonance may pr oduce a more posi t i ve br and at t i t ude vi a t wo rout es. Fi r st , ar esonant ad uses t aci t means t o asser t t hat t he br and has posi t i ve f eat ur es ( i . e. ,' ber r i ed t r easur e, ' as opposed t o ' Thi s i s a r i ch and t ast y desser t ' ) . Al t hough notdi r ectl y st at ed, r i ch t ast e i s i mpl i ed by ' ber r i ed t r easur e. ' Such const r ucti ons"i nvol ve t he r eci pi ent . . . [ al l owi ng hi m t o] congr at ul at e hi msel f on hi s ast ut eness"

( Redf er n 1982, p. 273) . I n consumer r esear ch, Kardes ( 1988) f ound that gi ven hi ghi nvol vement , ads char act er i zed by i mpl i ci t ver sus expl i ci t concl usi ons i nvi t ed mor esel f - gener at ed i nf er ences, whi ch l ed t o mor e f avor abl e br and at t i t udes. A si mi l arr esul t can be expect ed i n t he case of r esonance, because resonance r equi r es asel f - gener at ed r esol ut i on t o t he ambi gui t y and i ncongr ui t y i t pr esent s t o t he r eader .The second r out e t o a posi t i ve brand at t i t ude i nvol ves a ki nd of di st r act i on ef f ect


20 2009-11-10 11:57


6/20

( cf . Redf er n 1982 on puns, p. 270) . That i s, we woul d expect t o see l esscount er ar gui ng i n the case of r esonant ads, i nasmuch as ef f or t i s expended ondecodi ng t he ad, not cont est i ng i t s cl ai ms.

Posi t i ve ef f ect s on br and at t i t ude, however, may be cont i ngent upon whet her t her esonance i s uni val ent posi t i ve i n i t s meani ngs. Some r esonant ads i ncl ude negat i vemeani ngs t hat ar e not consi st ent wi t h a compl et el y posi t i ve por t r ayal of t he br and( si mi l ar aspect s of puns ar e noted by both Redf ern 1982 and Shel don 1956) . We cal lt hi s i nconsi st ent r esonance. Consi der t he t ea ad anal yzed ear l i er . One possi bl ei nt er pr et at i on i s t hat t hi s company of f er s many t ypes of t ea. A second possi bl ei nt er pr et at i on i s t hat t hi s t ea wi l l get you i nt o t r oubl e. Whi l e t hi s r eadi ng i sprobabl y not i ntended by t he sponsor , nor presumabl y accepted by t he consumer , t hepsychol i ngui st i c l i t er at ur e on t he pr ocessi ng of ambi gui t y suggest s t hat t hi si nt erpr et at i on may nonet hel ess be act i vat ed i nvol unt ari l y ( Raynor and Duf f y 1986) . Asa resul t , t he consumer produces meani ngs about t he br and that are both f avorabl e andunf avor abl e. Hence, br and at t i t ude f or i nconsi st ent r esonant ads shoul d be l essf avor abl e over al l t han f or consi st ent r esonant ads t hat ar e uni val ent posi t i ve.

H2a: Resonant ads pr oduce more f avorabl e br and at t i t udes as compar ed t o the same adswi t h t he resonance removed.

H2b: Resonant ads pr oduce l ess count erargui ng t han the same ads wi t h t he r esonancer emoved.

H2c: Br and at t i t udes wi l l be l ess f avor abl e f or i nconsi st ent r esonant ads as compar edt o t he same ads wi t h consi st ent r esonance.

Recal l

Resonance t hat i s successf ul l y decoded shoul d l ead to enhanced recal l because of t headdi t i onal semant i c chai ns i nvoked as the consumer i nterprets t he ad. As Eco ( 1976)has descr i bed, t hi s semi ot i c f or mul at i on i n ter ms of semant i c chai ns cl osel y mat chesr esear ch i n cogni t i ve psychol ogy on t he spreadi ng act i vat i on of concept s i n net workmodel s of memor y, and i t al so par al l el s an el aborat i on expl anat i on of dept h ofpr ocessi ng ( Ander son and Reder 1979) . Resonance wi l l be pr ocessed at a deeper l evel( i . e. , wi t h gr eat er el abor at i on) because of t he mul t i pl e semant i c chai ns i nvoked, and

t hi s f aci l i t at es subsequent r et r i eval due to a l ar ger number of pat hs bei ng avai l abl ef or r econst r uct i ng t he ad. Al ong si mi l ar l i nes, a body of l i t er at ur e i n consumerr esear ch has repor t ed gr eater r ecal l f or messages based on i nt er act i ve i mages( Chi l ders and Houst on 1984; Houst on, Chi l der s and Heckl er 1987; Lutz and Lut z 1977) .I n t he case of r esonance t he i nt eract i on bet ween headl i ne and pi ct ur e shoul d l ead t oa gr eat er number of associ at i ve pat hways ( el abor at i ons) bei ng f ormed ( Chi l der s andHoust on 1984) , whi ch wi l l f aci l i t at e r et r i eval of t he ad headl i ne. An i mpor t antcont r ol var i abl e i n t hi s cont ext i s l ooki ng t i me. Ambi guous ads t hat ar e mer el yopaque, and not pol ysemous i n t he manner of r esonant ads, coul d exhi bi t l ongerl ooki ng t i mes because subj ect s have t o puzzl e over t hem. Al t hough l onger l ooki ng t i memi ght t hen l ead t o gr eat er r ecal l , such an i ncr ease i n r ecal l woul d be spur i ous f r omt he st andpoi nt of demonst r at i ng the memory ef f ect s of r esonance per se. I n thi sexper i ment we use an event r ecor der t o measur e and st at i st i cal l y cont r ol f or l ooki ngt i mes.

H3: There i s great er r ecal l f or headl i nes of r esonant ads as compared t o t he same adswi t h t he resonance removed.

EXPERIMENT 1

Met hod

Devel opment al work. Cr uci al t o t he success of exper i ment al work on r esonance i s t hedevel opment of an ef f ect i ve and unconf ounded mani pul at i on. Because of t he novel t y oft he resonance concept , and i n vi ew of doubt s r ai sed about t he possi bi l i t y ofmani pul at i ng f or mal or st r uct ur al pr oper t i es of adver t i sement s ( e. g. , see Dei ght on,

Romer and McQueen 1989) , we conducted a ser i es of pretest s. St art i ng wi t h a pool ofr esonant ads and usi ng a t echni que common i n psychol i ngui st i c r esearch on ambi gui t y( Muel l er and Gi bbs 1987; Per f et t i et al . 1987) , we changed wor ds i n t he headl i ne soas t o remove the resonance but st i l l convey t he basi c brand meani ng( s) appear i ng i nt he resonant ver si on ( cf . St ernt hal and Cr ai g' s ( 1973) r ecommendat i ons f or humorr esear ch) . For i nst ance, i n t he f l ashl i ght ad t he headl i ne was changed t o read "The


20 2009-11-10 11:57


7/20

Gi f t I dea That Leaves Ever ybody Happy" ( i nst ead of beami ng) .

Sever al cri t er i a gui ded our sel ecti on of ads f or i ncl usi on i n t hi s st udy. Theor i gi nal magazi ne ads had t o di spl ay ver bal - vi sual r esonance; t he ads had t o beconst r uct ed such t hat t hei r r esonance was r emovabl e; t he ads had t o make sense basedon headl i ne and pi ct ur e al one, si nce al l body copy pr esent i n the sour ce ads wasr emoved i n the cour se of const r uct i ng the st i mul i ; t he ads had to be readi l ycompr ehensi bl e ( checked by a smal l sampl e of i nt er vi ews) ; and t he pr oduct s adver t i sedhad to be rel evant acr oss age gr oups and gender . We al so sought a range of product st hat woul d i ncl ude dur abl es and non- dur abl es and hi gh and l ow degr ees of symbol i sm.

I n a pr et est usi ng si de- by- si de compar i sons, 30 subj ect s r at ed a set of r esonant adsas havi ng more meani ngs and great er i ncongr ui t y as compar ed t o thei r non- r esonantcont r ol s. A second pr etest wi t h 47 subj ect s showed that despi t e thei r pol ysemy andi ncongr ui t y, t he r esonant ver si ons of t he ads were rated nei t her mor e nor l esspuzzl i ng than the non- r esonant ver si ons ( X i n both cases = 3. 4, on a scal e wher e ' 9'i ndi cat es puzzl i ng and ' 0' i ndi cat es cl ear at a gl ance) . I n ot her pr et est i ng t hat di dnot i nvol ve si de- by- si de compar i sons, or quest i ons about mul t i pl e meani ngs, we wereabl e to est abl i sh the unobt r usi veness of t he resonance mani pul at i on; t hat i s, whenquest i oned about t he pur pose of t he r esear ch, no subj ect made any ment i on of puns,doubl e meani ngs, wordpl ay, or any si mi l ar t erm. Fur t her - more, when shown non- r esonantads i n i sol at i on f r om t hei r r esonant count er - par t s, subj ect s appear ed t o accept t hemas val i d at t empt s at per suasi on.

I n a f i nal pr et est we devel oped t hr ee ver si ons f or each of f our sour ce ads: anon- r esonant ver si on, an i nconsi st ent r esonant ( I R) ver si on t hat mi xed posi t i ve andnegat i ve meani ngs, and a consi st ent r esonant ( CR) ver si on wi t h uni val ent posi t i vemeani ngs ( see Tabl e 2) . Fi f t y- t wo under gr aduat es saw al l t hr ee ver si ons of eachsour ce ad si de- by- si de ( or der of pr esent at i on var i ed) . Subj ect s j udged bot h t ypes ofr esonant ver si ons t o be si gni f i cant l y more i ncongr uous and pol ysemous t han t henon- r esonant ver si ons, and t hey j udged t he I R ver si ons t o be l ess posi t i ve i n meani ngt han ei t her t he CR or t he non- r esonant ver si ons. I n sum, pr et est i ng yi el ded ast i mul us set t hat i ncl uded t wo resonant ver si ons and one non- r esonant ver si on f oreach of f our ads ( f or a f l ashl i ght , a t el ephone, a di et desser t , and t ea) . The t wor esonant ver si ons of each ad wer e f ur t her di f f er ent i at ed as uni val ent posi t i ve ( CR)or mi xed i n val ence ( I R) .

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tabl e 2 about here

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Subj ect s and Pr ocedur e. For t he exper i ment i t sel f 112 under gr aduat e st udent spart i ci pated i n gr oups of one t o f our . Each subj ect r ecei ved an ad bookl et , an answerbookl et , and a but t on connect ed t o an event r ecor der . The ad bookl et cont ai ned t wel veads, wi t h f our t est ads occupyi ng t he mi ddl e f our posi t i ons. Or der of pr esent at i on ofbot h t he f i l l er and t he t est ads was var i ed ( ei ght or der s i n al l ) . Of t he f our t estads vi ewed by each subj ect , t wo were non- r esonant , one was a CR ad and one an I R ad.Subj ects were tol d t hat t hi s was a st udy of how peopl e thi nk about and r espond t oadver t i sement s, t hat t he ads t hey wer e goi ng t o see wer e i n rough f orm, and t hat t hi st ype of pretest i ng was a common pract i ce i n i ndust r y. They were encour aged t o r espondnatur al l y, as i f t hey were vi ewi ng t hese ads i n t he cour se of r eadi ng a magazi ne, andt ol d t hat t hey coul d l ook at an i ndi vi dual ad f or as l ong or shor t a t i me as t heywi shed. I mmedi atel y af t er vi ewi ng each ad, subj ect s compl et ed a measure of ad l i ki ng,a scal ed measure of degr ee of count erargui ng, and a measure of brand at t i t ude. Theyt hen compl eted a measur e of t ol er ance f or ambi gui t y, whi ch served as a f i l l er t askpr i or t o assessi ng r ecal l of ad headl i nes, t he f i nal measur e t aken. Each exper i ment alsessi on l ast ed approxi matel y 30 mi nut es.

St i mul i . Each ad i n the bookl et r ecei ved by subj ect s compr i sed a pi ct ur e, a headl i ne,and a brand name. The pi ct ur es were cl i pped f r omactual magazi ne ads. To pr oduce t hest i mul i t he pi ct ur e i n t he sour ce ad was combi ned wi t h a headl i ne and br and name

generated by a deskt op publ i shi ng pr ogr am. Fi ct i t i ous brand names were empl oyed.Af t er l ayout and past e up, 8" x 11" col or copi es were made and t he st i mul i wereassembl ed and bound i nto bookl et s.

Dependent Var i abl es. Ad l i ki ng was measur ed by t he summat i on of t hree semant i cdi f f er ent i al scal es, anchor ed by l i ke- di sl i ke, pl easant - unpl easant , and enj oyabl e- not


20 2009-11-10 11:57


8/20

enj oyabl e ( coef f i ci ent al pha = . 92) . Br and at t i t ude was al so measur ed by thesummat i on of t hr ee semant i c di f f erent i al scal es, anchor ed by good- bad pr oduct ,hi gh- l ow qual i t y, and val uabl e- wor t hl ess ( coef f i ci ent al pha = . 88) . A sel f - r epor t ofdegr ee of count er argui ng, model ed on that i n Dei ght on et al . ( 1989) , was al so t aken.Subj ect s compl et ed two seven- poi nt semant i c di f f er ent i al i t ems: "I ar gued/ agr eed wi t ht he ad, " and "I r ej ect ed/ accept ed the ad' s poi nt . " These t wo i t ems ( r = . 78) wer eal so summed.

The unai ded measur e of ad headl i ne r ecal l was t aken as f ol l ows. Af t er t he f i l l ert ask, subj ect s wer e gi ven f i ve mi nut es t o r ecal l as many headl i nes as they coul d f r omamong t he ads j ust seen. Two j udges, bl i nd to the pur pose of t he exper i ment ,i ndependent l y coded each subj ect ' s r emar ks f or accur at e recal l of t he test adheadl i nes. Accur at e r ecal l was def i ned as any appr oxi mate r epr oduct i on of t heheadl i ne t hat i ncl uded t he key phr ase t hat di f f er ent i at ed each of t he t hr ee ver si ons.Thus, f or t he f l ashl i ght set , t he presence of "beami ng, " "happy" or " l i ght up" wasscored as a hi t . The j udges agr eed on 96% of t he cases; t he remai ni ng di f f erenceswere r esol ved t hr ough di scussi on.

Looki ng Ti me. An event r ecor der s i mi l ar t o t hat used by Cel si and Ol son ( 1988) wasset up t o measur e l ooki ng t i me. Thi s i s a devi ce t hat moves a rol l of paper past aset of pens at a const ant r at e. Pressi ng a but t on causes the pen t o def l ect , and t hedi st ance between def l ect i ons measures t he dur at i on of t he event . Subj ect s hel d anevent r ecor der but t on i n one hand and were t ol d to pr ess t he but t on when they began

t o l ook at an ad, and to hol d the but t on down unt i l t hey had f i ni shed l ooki ng. Ar esearch assi st ant scor ed t he paper r ol l s t o measure i n seconds how much t i me asubj ect spent l ooki ng at each t est ad.

Tol er ance f or Ambi gui t y. A search of t he l i t er at ure produced t hree publ i shed scal esdesi gned t o measur e a per son' s t ol erance f or ambi gui t y ( Budner 1962; MacDonal d 1970;Nor t on 1975) . However , t hese scal es ei t her suf f er ed f r om l ow r el i abi l i t y, or wer emuch t oo l ong and t oo het erogenous i n cont ent f or our pur poses. We const r uct ed amodi f i ed scal e usi ng t went y i t ems t hat had appeared i n at l east one of t he earl i erscal es (e. g. , " I l i ke movi es or stori es wi t h def i ni t e endi ngs, " "I t end t o l i keobscur e or hi dden symbol i sm") . I n a separ at e pi l ot st udy 118 subj ect s i ndi cat ed thei ragr eement or di sagr eement wi t h each i t em. Coef f i ci ent al pha f or t hi s t went y- i t emscal e was . 64. Fol l owi ng a suggest i on gi ven i n Nunnal l y ( 1975, p. 285) we el i mi natedal l i t ems t hat had an i t em- t ot al cor r el at i on of l ess t han . 15. The r esul t i ng t wel vei t em measur e was admi ni st er ed dur i ng anot her pr et est , and yi el ded a coef f i ci ent al phaof . 70. I n the exper i ment t ol er ance f or ambi gui t y was measur ed as t he sum of t het wel ve i t ems.

Anal ysi s. For t he most par t , r esul t s wer e anal yzed as a wi t hi n- subj ect s desi gn wi t h asi ngl e tr eat ment havi ng t hr ee l evel s: non- r esonant , i nconsi st ent r esonant ( I R) , andconsi st ent r esonant ( CR) . For t he anal ysi s of ad l i ki ng t he t ol er ance f or ambi gui t ymeasure was spl i t at t he medi an and a 2 ( t ol erance) by 3 ( r esonance) desi gn wasanal yzed. I n vi ew of t he cat egor i cal nat ur e of t he r ecal l dat a, a l ogi st i c r egr essi onwas used.

Resul t s

Mani pul at i on Check. Fol l owi ng gui del i nes i n Per due and Summers ( 1986) , a separatesampl e of 53 under gr aduates recei ved st i mul us mater i al s and i nst r uct i ons t hat wer ei dent i cal t o those i n t he exper i ment , wi t h t he except i on t hat t he dependent var i abl esand al so l ooki ng t i me were not measured. I mmedi atel y af t er vi ewi ng an ad subj ectsr ated i t on f i ve i t ems. As shown i n Tabl e 3, t he resonant ver si ons of each ad wer er ated as si gni f - i cant l y more i ncongruous and pol ysemous t han t he non- r esonant ads,and the CR ver si ons were r at ed as mor e posi t i ve t han t he I R ver si ons ( p' s < . 001) .These f i ndi ngs hol d t r ue f or each of t he f our sour ce ads as wel l as i n t he aggr egat e.I nspect i on of t he i ndi vi dual means f or each of t he t wel ve st i mul i descr i bed i n Tabl e2 showed t hat t hi s pat t ern of f i ndi ngs hel d both f or t he r esonant headl i nes based onactual ads and f or t he resonant headl i nes we devel oped.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tabl e 3 about here

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tr eat ment Ef f ect s. As predi ct ed, t he r esonant ads wer e bet t er l i ked t han t he


20 2009-11-10 11:57


9/20

non- r esonant ads ( XRES = 5. 09, XNRES = 4. 78, F ( 1, 111) = 5. 64, p < . 01, one tai l ed;

et a2 = . 05) . However , H1b was not support ed; t he i nteract i on bet ween t ol erance f orambi gui t y and resonance was not si gni f i cant ( p > . 25) .

Br and at t i t ude was al so more posi t i ve i n t he case of r esonant ads ( XRES = 4. 99, XNRES

= 4. 78, F ( 1, 111) = 3. 39, p < . 05, one t ai l ed; eta2 = . 03) . Fi ndi ngs f or t he measureof count er ar gui ng suggest t hat br and at t i t ude i s mor e posi t i ve i n par t becausesubj ects counterargue l ess when present ed wi t h r esonant ads ( XRES = 4. 79, XNRES =

4. 22, F ( 1, 111) = 13. 2, p < . 001, one tai l ed; et a2

= . 11; hi gher numbers i ndi cat el ess counterargui ng) . However , H2c was not support ed; as can be seen i n Tabl e 4,i nconsi st ent r esonant ads t hat i ncl ude negat i ve as wel l as posi t i ve meani ngs pr oduceda br and at t i t ude r at i ng t hat i s al most i dent i cal t o t hat f or consi st ent r esonant ads.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tabl e 4 about here

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I n suppor t of H3, r ecal l f or headl i nes was hi gher i n t he case of r esonant ads( chi - squar e ( 1) = 12. 1, p < . 001; Cr amer ' s st at i st i c = . 16) . To cont r ol f or l ooki ng

t i mes, we made recal l t he dependent var i abl e i n a l ogi st i c r egr essi on and f or ced theent r y of l ooki ng t i me. The rel at i onshi p bet ween l ooki ng t i me and headl i ne recal l wasposi t i ve and si gni f i cant ( Wal d' s st at i st i c = 11. 3, p < . 001) . Usi ng a nest ed model sappr oach, we next ent ered t he r esonance t r eat ment . Thi s produced a si gni f i canti mpr ovement i n model f i t ( chi - squar e di f f er ence (2) = 14. 6, p < . 001) . Thus, t her esonant t r eat ment i mpr oved headl i ne r ecal l even af t er cont r ol l i ng f or l ooki ng t i me.I n f act , t her e was no si gni f i cant di f f er ence i n l ooki ng t i me bet ween t he r esonant andnon- r esonant ad ver si ons ( XRES = 12. 71 seconds, XNRES = 12. 75 seconds, p > . 9) .

Conf ound Checks. To accept t he resonance mani pul at i on as t he expl anat i on f or t heobser ved t r eat ment ef f ect s i t i s necessar y t o r ul e out t he possi bi l i t y t hat i t wast he subst i t ut ed words whi ch act ual l y caused t he ef f ect , per haps because t heyt hemsel ves ar e more posi t i ve and more memorabl e. To expl ore t hi s poss i bl e conf ound,we took t he twel ve wor ds or phr ases t hat di f f er ent i at ed t he twel ve st i mul i i n Tabl e 2( e. g. , f or t he f l ashl i ght ad, "beami ng, ' "happy, " and " l i ght up" ) , and embedded t hemwi t hi n a l i st t hat t ot al l ed 24 wor ds. Thi r t y- t wo under gr aduat es r at ed each wor d on at en- poi nt scal e anchor ed by "very posi t i ve wor d" and "ver y negat i ve word" ( t wocount er bal anced or der s wer e used) . Af t er a f i l l er t ask, ( unr el at ed t en mi nut ecl assr oom l ect ur e) , subj ect s wer e then asked t o recal l ( unai ded) as many of t he 24words as possi bl e. Resul t s showed t hat t he wor ds t hat di f f erent i at ed t he r esonant adswer e act ual l y j udged t o be si gni f i cant l y l ess posi t i ve t han t hose cont ai ned i n t henon- r esonant ads ( XRES = 5. 8, XNRES = 6. 5, t =- 4. 1, p


10/20

t he cr edi bi l i t y of t he resonant and non- r esonant ads: "The styl e of t he t hi s ad seemsst r ange/ i s f ami l i ar , " and "The sel l i ng appr oach used i n t hi s ad i s unusual / t ypi cal ".A compar i son of means usi ng t he sum of t hese t wo i t ems ( r = . 79) showed nosi gni f i cant di f f er ence bet ween t he r esonant and non- r esonant t r eat ment s ( XRES = 5. 52,XNRES = 5. 53) .

Di scussi on

Cont r ar y t o cr i t i ci sms t hat wor dpl ay i s t oo i ndi r ect t o be per suasi ve, t he r esul t s

show t hat r esonance l eads t o more l i ki ng f or t he ad, a more posi t i ve br and at t i t ude,and bet t er r ecal l of ad headl i nes. As suggest ed by Ber l yne ( 1971) , i t i s pl easur abl yarousi ng t o encounter an advert i sement t hat bot h demands t o be decoded, and suggest show t hi s decodi ng i s t o pr oceed. Resonance i n adver t i si ng appear s t o have i nt r i nsi cr eward val ue over and above any br and- r el evant i nf ormat i on t hat may be i mpar t ed.

We al so f ound t hat r esonant ads can produce more posi t i ve brand at t i t udes i n acont ext of at t i t ude f or mat i on. The resul t s suppor t a par t i al expl anat i on i n t er ms ofr educed count er ar gui ng under condi t i ons of r esonance. Unexpect edl y, t he val ence oft he meani ngs cont ai ned i n the resonance had no ef f ect on br and at t i t ude. That i s,both i nconsi st ent r esonant ads ( t hat i ncl ude at l east one negat i ve meani ng) andconsi st ent r esonant ads l ed t o equal l y posi t i ve br and at t i t udes. The pl easur e cr eat edby decodi ng r esonance and t he r educed count erargui ng occasi oned by r esonance seem t ocount er act or over whel m t he i mpact of any negat i ve meani ngs i n i nconsi st ent r esonantads. Thi s suggest s t hat t he exper i ence of r esonance per se may be more i mport ant t hant he val ence of t he meani ngs encompassed i n t he resonance. A si mi l ar f i ndi ng wasr eport ed by Hi t chon ( 1991) usi ng posi t i vel y and negat i vel y val enced metaphors .

We f ound t hat r esonance enhanced t he memorabi l i t y of ad headl i nes. Pretest i ng showedt hat r esonant ads used i n thi s st udy wer e not r ated as more puzzl i ng ( suggest i ng theywere not more di f f i cul t t o comprehend) , and t he exper i ment showed t hat r esonant adswere not l ooked at any l onger . Moreover, t he conf ound check showed t hat t he key wordsi n the r esonant headl i nes were not i n themsel ves more memorabl e, nor were t her esonant st i mul i any mor e vi vi d or f ami l i ar . Hence, i ncreased r ecal l f or headl i nes ofr esonant ads can be at t r i but ed t o the evocat i on of a gr eat er number of semant i cchai ns or associ at i onal pat hways. Super i or r ecal l f or r esonant ads i s consi st ent wi t ht he hypot hesi s t hat r esonance i nduces addi t i onal i nt er pr et at i on i n t he sense of

deeper pr ocessi ng ( Ander son and Reder 1979) . Thi s decodi ng pr ocess i s pl easurabl e,ser ves t o r educe count er ar gui ng, and f aci l i t at es i nf or mat i on r et r i eval . The f i ndi ngf or r ecal l i s par al l el t o t hat pr evi ousl y r epor t ed f or i nt er acti ve i mager y ( Chi l der sand Houst on 1984; Lut z and Lut z 1977) , and i t i s consi st ent wi t h pr edi ct i ons f r om t hepol ysemous and i ncongr uous charact er of r esonant ads.

Al t hough t hi s experi ment pr ovi des i mpor t ant new i nf or mat i on about adver t i si ngr esonance and suppor t f or t he pr i or semi ot i c t ext anal ysi s, sever al i ssues r emai nunr esol ved. The nul l f i ndi ng f or t ol er ance f or ambi gui t y mi ght be due to a hi ghdegr ee of homogenei t y among st udent s wi t h r espect t o t hi s i ndi vi dual di f f er encevar i abl e. Al ong si mi l ar l i nes, t he t r eat ment ef f ect s f or r esonance mi ght be anar t i f act of usi ng st udent s, who may be mor e comf or t abl e wi t h cl ever andi nt el l ectual l y sti mul at i ng mat er i al t han the gener al popul at i on. Hence, a repl i cat i onof t he experi ment wi t h a non- st udent popul at i on was i ndi cat ed.

I n devel opi ng H1a we ar gued t hat a "pl easur e of t he t ext " r esul t s f r om t he successf uldecodi ng of adver t i si ng r esonance. However , t hi s i ssue was not di r ect l y exami ned i nExperi ment 1, wher e al l t he resonant ads wer e const r uct ed to be readi l ycomprehensi bl e. I n Exper i ment 2 we i ncl ude a mani pul at i on of r esonancecompr ehensi bi l i t y to exami ne more cl osel y whet her t he posi t i ve t r eat ment ef f ect s f orr esonance di sappear when successf ul decodi ng i s i mpeded.

EXPERIMENT 2

Met hod

A commer ci al mar ket r esear ch f i r m was hi r ed t o r ecr ui t adul t par t i ci pant s f or a st udyof pr i nt ads. Recr ui t ers wer e i nst r uct ed t o seek a r ough bal ance of gender and agegr oups, and t o excl ude f ul l - t i me col l ege student s. Each par t i ci pant ( n = 107)at t ended a 30 mi nute sessi on, f or whi ch s/ he was pai d $15. 00. Usabl e f orms wereobt ai ned f r om 98 subj ect s. Fi f t y percent wer e f emal e and 49% wer e over 35 years ofage. The pr ocedur es used i n t hi s r epl i cat i on, i ncl udi ng t he st i mul i , t he sequenci ng


v 20 2009-11-10 11:57


11/20

of act i vi t i es, and t he exper i ment al desi gn wer e l ar gel y i dent i cal t o t hose descri bedi n Exper i ment 1. The except i ons were t hat t he event r ecor der was not used, subj ectspar t i ci pat ed i n l ar ger gr oups of 7 t o 12, and a t ot al of 12 r at her t han 8 or der s ofst i mul i were used. I n addi t i on, a message comprehensi on check was conduct ed asdescr i bed bel ow. Measur es of at t i t ude t oward t he ad, br and at t i t ude, count erar gui ng,and recal l were admi ni st er ed exact l y as bef ore, as was t he measur e of t ol er ance f orambi gui t y.

Resul t s

Tr eat ment Ef f ect s. Al l of t he si gni f i cant t r eat ment ef f ect s f ound i n t he st udentsampl e were r epl i cat ed i n t he adul t sampl e (Tabl e 5) . As bef or e, t he resonant adswere bet t er l i ked t han t he non- r esonant ads ( XRES = 5. 24, XNRES = 4. 82, F ( 1, 96) =

5. 75, p < . 01, one- t ai l ed; et a2 = . 06) . Thi s t i me, however , a si gni f i cant i nt er acti onbetween resonance and t ol erance f or ambi gui t y was obt ai ned ( F ( 2, 95) = 3. 24, p < . 05,

t wo- t ai l ed; et a2 = . 06) . The i nt er act i on i s l ar gel y dr i ven by r eact i ons t o t hei nconsi st ent r esonant ver sus t he non- r esonant t r eat ment s ( Tabl e 5) , pr ovi di ng par t i alsuppor t f or H1b. Subj ect s hi gh and l ow i n t ol erance f or ambi gui t y responded i nopposi t e ways t o t hese t r eat ment s.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tabl e 5 about here

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Br and at t i t ude was agai n mor e posi t i ve f or r esonant ads ( XRES = 5. 27, XNRES = 5. 04, F

( 1, 97) = 2. 03, p < . 08, one- t ai l ed; et a2 = . 02) . Fi ndi ngs f or t he measure ofcount er ar gui ng ar e consi st ent wi t h t he i dea t hat br and at t i t ude i s hi gher f orr esonant ads because count er argui ng i s l ower ( XRES = 5. 12, XNRES = 4. 53, F ( 1, 97) =

7. 11, p < . 005, one- t ai l ed; et a2 = . 06; hi gher numbers i ndi cat e l ess count er ar gui ng) .Once agai n, br and at t i t ude di d not si gni f i cant l y di f f er bet ween consi st ent andi nconsi st ent r esonant t r eatment s ( p > . 25) .

As bef ore, r ecal l f or headl i nes was hi gher f or r esonant ads as compared t o t hei rnon- r esonant cont r ol s ( chi - squar e = 7. 74, p < . 01; Cr amer ' s st at i st i c = . 14) . As hadbeen t he case i n Exper i ment 1, r ecal l f or r esonant headl i nes was appr oxi mat el y t wi ceas hi gh as f or t he non- r esonant headl i nes.

Message Comprehensi on Check. One way to check t he val i di t y of t he semi ot i cexpl anat i on of r esonance i s t o see whet her t he t r eatment ef f ect s no l onger obt ai nonce t he decodi ng pr ocess i s i nhi bi t ed. For Exper i ment 2 we added t wo new ads, f orski wear and f or mar i nade, i mmedi at el y f ol l owi ng the f our t est ads i n pl ace of t hef i l l er ads t hat had occupi ed posi t i ons #9 and #10 i n the Exper i ment 1 sequence.Pret est i nt er vi ews wi t h a conveni ence sampl e of adul t s had i ndi cat ed t hat t hese t wonew ads were comparat i vel y more di f f i cul t t o under st and. For each of t hese ads wedevel oped a non- r esonant cont r ol . I n Exper i ment 2 an i ndi vi dual subj ect saw t her esonant ver si on of one and t he non- r esonant ver si on of t he ot her . Al l f our possi bl ecombi nat i ons of pai r s and order s were used an equal number of t i mes across t he t wel vebookl et s.

A comprehensi on measure served as a mani pul at i on check t o det ermi ne whet her t hese newads ( hereaf t er, t he "suppl ement al " as opposed t o the "mai n" set of t est ads) weremor e di f f i cul t t o decode. Thi s measur e consi st ed of t wo i t ems: "I had di f f i cul t yunder st andi ng/ easi l y under st ood the ad, " and "I f ound the ad st r ai ght f or war d/conf usi ng" . These t wo i t ems ( r = . 87) were summed t o cr eat e t he comprehensi onmeasure. Resul t s showed t hat f or t he subj ect s i n Exper i ment 2 onl y t he ski wear adshowed t he expected di f f i cul t y i n compr ehensi on, compar ed t o bot h i t s non- r esonantcont rol ( XRES = 3. 33, XNRES = 5. 55, t = 5. 35, p < . 001) , and the mai n set of r esonantads ( XRES- MAI N = 5. 54, p < . 001) . Cont r ar y t o our expect at i ons, both the resonant andt he non- r esonant ver si ons of t he mar i nade ad were about equal l y comprehensi bl e (XRES= 5. 55, XNRES = 5. 49, p > . 75) .

As woul d be expect ed f r omt he semi ot i c t ext anal ysi s, i n a compari son of t he resonantand non- r esonant ver si ons of t he ski wear ad t he t r eat ment ef f ect s f or r esonancedi sappear ed or even r ever sed. The r esonant ver si on was l i ked si gni f i cant l y l ess ( p

On Resonance_ a Critical Pl..

Documents

Transcript of On Resonance_ a Critical Pl..