Consumer-perceived signals of 'creative' versus 'efficient' advertising: investigating the roles of expense and effort

The paper investigates the effects that consumer-perceived sender expense and effort might have on brand perceptions.

Consumer-perceived signals of ‘creative’ versus ‘efficient’ advertising: investigating the roles of expense and effort

Erik Modig, Micael Dahlén and Jonas Colliander

Stockholm School of Economics

Introduction

This paper takes a broader perspective on advertising by examining whether consumers make inferences about brands not only on the basis of what is explicitly communicated but also on the basis of howthe message is communicated. In its extension of the marketing signal literature (e.g. Kirmani & Rao 2000; Whysall 2005) to advertising, this paper hypothesises that high (low) perceived advertising expense and effort signal positive...

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