User-generated advertising

469 Pages·2015·8.06 MB·English

User-Generated Advertising: The effects of consumer-created brand videos
and self-construal on brand attitudes

By
Paulo César Mora Avila

A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Marketing
Birmingham Business
School
The University of
Birmingham
September 2014
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ABSTRACT

The impact of consumer-generated brand communications on attitudes and behaviour
have been widely studied by academic and marking practitioners; technological advances
and social media allow consumers to conduct marketing functions traditionally carried out by
firms, especially user-generated advertising (UGA). From the receiver’s perspective, psycho-
social characteristics like self-construal are also considered to affect attitudes and
behaviours in response to advertising.
Despite the importance of these constructs, there is little research examining the
impact of user-generated advertising and self-construal on attitudes and behaviour; this
thesis attempts to fill this gap and contribute to the literature by evaluating these constructs
from a consumer’s perspective by expanding existing knowledge on the effects of UGA on
consumers’ brand attitudes and behavioural intentions.
Literature in the fields of consumer psychology, advertising and social media was
reviewed to frame UGA in the context of existing theoretical persuasive communication
knowledge. The study included three stages. First, a content analysis of 230 UGA from
YouTube was conducted to determine the characteristics of this type of brand communication.
Second, 25 videos were selected, and a panel of expert judges validated their valence as
positive, negative or neutral before specific UGA were selected as stimuli. Finally, an Internet
self-completion questionnaire was sent to the University of Birmingham’s Business School
students, and 208 usable questionnaires were obtained.
The results were analysed through a mixed within-between-subjects ANOVA to test the
research hypotheses; overall, the findings suggest that when compared to firm-generated
advertising, exposure to UGA has more impact on attitudes towards the brand and
behavioural intentions and that individuals with dominant interdependent self-construal are
more affected by UGA. Also, different types of UGA have different impacts: in particular,
negatively valenced UGA has more impact than positive and neutral.
The theoretical and practical implications of this study may serve academics and
practitioners in the understanding of the UGA phenomenon and its attitudinal-behavioural
effects on consumers and potential impact on brand equity. Furthermore, the results sustain
the managerial necessity to develop and maintain strategies to monitor and respond to
negative UGA in social media.
I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere and most heartfelt gratitude to all the people that
helped me throughout my research journey…
First, to my supervisors, Dr. Sheena Leek and Professor Douglas West for their
invaluable guidance and support. Douglas, thank you so much for being there and for
believing in me; you have been a mentor and a friend, and I would not have been able to
achieve this without your guidance. Sheena, although you joined my supervision team in the
later stages, thank you for all of your help and support and for being available and always
willing to help. Also, to Dr. George Christodoulides for his invaluable guidance during the
first stages of my research: George, your expertise in the topic and your advice helped me
immensely to find my way in the research maze.
To the administrative staff, especially Marleen and Beverly, for always being helpful
and supportive.
To my friends and colleagues for all of their support and for all those interminable
sessions of emotional coaching when the strength to complete the task was vanishing.
To my parents for their constant preoccupation and prayers to keep me going.
and to George... I have no words to express my gratitude for everything you have done
for me and all the help to complete this task.

Thank you all.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Background to the research problem ............................................................................... 1
1.2. Justification for the research ............................................................................................ 2
1.3. Research aim and objectives ............................................................................................ 4
Research aim: ...................................................................................................................... 4
Research objectives: ............................................................................................................ 4
1.4. Methodology and data analysis ........................................................................................ 5
1.5. Summary of Findings ....................................................................................................... 5
1.6. Main research contributions ............................................................................................. 6
1.7. Thesis outline ................................................................................................................... 7
2. LITERATURE REVIEW (I) ............................................................................................... 9
2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 9
2.2. The foundations of advertising ...................................................................................... 10
2.3. The objectives of advertising communications ............................................................. 12
2.4. The advertising communication process ....................................................................... 13
2.5. An understanding how advertising communications might work ................................ 14
2.6. The advertising message ............................................................................................... 25
2.6.1. Types of advertising messages ............................................................................... 26
2.6.2. The message content ............................................................................................... 27
2.6.3. Television advertising messages ............................................................................. 30
2.6.4. Creative elements of audio-visual advertising messages ........................................ 32
2.7. The role of Self-Construal in advertising effectiveness ................................................. 35
2.7.1. Dimensionality of the Self-Construal construct ...................................................... 37
2.7.2. Effects of Self-Construal in Cognitions, emotions and behaviour .......................... 39
2.7.2.1. Effects of self-construal on cognitions ............................................................. 39
2.7.2.2. Effects of self-construal on emotions ............................................................... 41
2.7.2.3. Effects of self-construal on behaviour .............................................................. 41
2.8. A psychological approach of advertising effectiveness: The importance of attitudes and
attitude change ...................................................................................................................... 44
III
2.8.1. The structure of Attitudes ........................................................................................ 47
2.8.1.1. The tripartite orientation of attitude dimensions .............................................. 48
2.8.1.2. The unidimensional orientation of attitude dimensions ................................... 50
2.8.2. The attitude-behaviour relationship ........................................................................ 51
2.8.2.1. Theory of Reasoned Action .............................................................................. 52
2.8.2.2. Theory of Planned Behaviour ........................................................................... 54
2.8.3. Attitudes and information processing ..................................................................... 60
2.8.4. The effects of persuasive message on attitude change ............................................ 61
2.8.5. The effects of attitudes towards the ad on attitudes towards the brand................... 65
2.9. The role of advertising in brand building .................................................................. 66
2.9.1. Brand interpretation from a firm’s perspective ....................................................... 68
2.9.2. Brand interpretation from a consumer’s perspective .............................................. 72
2.9.3. Brands interpretation as evolving entities ............................................................... 75
2.10. The importance of brands for stakeholders .................................................................. 78
2.10.1. Firm-Based Brand Equity ..................................................................................... 80
2.10.2. Consumer-Based Brand Equity ............................................................................. 81
2.11. The role of advertising in consumer-based brand equity ............................................. 82
2.12. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 84
3. LITERATURE REVIEW (II) ........................................................................................... 86
3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 86
3.2. User Generated Advertising ........................................................................................... 86
3.3. User-Generated Content ................................................................................................ 88
3.3.1. User’s motivations for creating user-generated content .......................................... 93
3.3.2. User-generated advertising valence ........................................................................ 95
3.3.3. User’s motivations for consumption of user-generated advertising........................ 97
3.4. User-generated advertising: a creative form of electronic-word-of-mouth ................. 100
3.5. The World Wide Web and the Internet ........................................................................ 103
3.5.1. Internet usage and UGC in the UK ....................................................................... 107
3.6. Social Media ................................................................................................................ 112
3.6.1. Social Media Classification ................................................................................... 113
IV
3.6.2. Social media: a new paradigm for brand communications ................................... 116
3.6.3. YouTube: a socio-technical content community ................................................... 118
3.7. User-Generated advertising effectiveness ................................................................... 125
3.7.1. The study understands audiences’ responses to UGA: an attribution theory
perspective ....................................................................................................................... 126
3.7.1.1. Source: User-Generated Advertising compared to Firm-Generated Advertising
..................................................................................................................................... 129
3.7.1.2. Content: UGA valence.................................................................................... 130
3.7.1.3. Context: Social Media .................................................................................... 132
3.7.1.4. Self-Construal ................................................................................................. 133
3.8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 134
4. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................... 136
4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 136
4.2. The theoretical foundations of the study ...................................................................... 136
4.3. The advertising message: Firm-generated advertising compared to user-generated
advertising ........................................................................................................................... 138
4.4. The role of self-construal in advertising effectiveness ............................................ 140
4.5. The effects of advertising communications: Attitudes towards the ad ........................ 142
4.5.1. The influence of attitudes towards the ad on attitudes towards the brand ............ 143
4.6. The effects of advertising communications: Attitudes towards the brand ................... 144
4.7. The effects of advertising communications: Behavioural intentions ........................... 145
4.7.1. Intention to purchase and consume the product or brand...................................... 146
4.7.2. Intention to switch product within brand or switch brands ................................... 147
4.7.3. Intention to engage in word-of-mouth activities ................................................... 148
4.7.4. Intention to engage in electronic word-of-mouth activities. ................................. 149
4.7.5. Intention to engage in user-generated activities .................................................... 150
4.8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 151
5. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 154
5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 154
5.2. The foundations of the research study ......................................................................... 154
5.2.1. Ontological considerations of the study ................................................................ 156
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5.2.2. Epistemological considerations of the study ......................................................... 157
5.2.3. The philosophical position of the study: Objective positivism ............................. 159
5.3. General ethical considerations of the study ................................................................. 159
5.4. Methodological considerations of the study ................................................................ 163
5.4.1. The Research Design ............................................................................................. 163
5.4.2. The Research Methods .......................................................................................... 164
5.4.2.1. Stage 1: Content analysis of the YouTube video population ......................... 165
5.4.2.2. Stage 2: Stimuli Selection and validation through a panel of judges ............. 182
5.4.2.3. Stage 3: Internet-based questionnaire ............................................................. 187
5.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 205
6. RESEARCH FINDINGS ................................................................................................ 206
6.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 206
6.2. Video content analysis ............................................................................................. 207
6.2.1. Video metrics ........................................................................................................ 207
6.2.1. Advertising techniques used in UGA ................................................................... 209
6.2.2. UGA valence ........................................................................................................ 211
6.3. Data preparation: coding, screening and manipulation................................................ 212
6.3.1. Response rate, completion rate and non-response bias .................................... 213
6.3.2. Data manipulation ................................................................................................. 215
6.4. Data analysis ................................................................................................................ 216
6.4.1. Sample Demographics........................................................................................... 216
6.4.2. Descriptive statistics: sample’s self-construal characteristics ............................... 217
6.4.3. Test of Normality .................................................................................................. 218
6.4.4. Reliability of the measures .................................................................................... 222
6.4.5. Inferential statistics: comparison of changes on ‘brand attitude’ as a result of
exposure to firm-generated and different types of user-generated advertising for different
types of self-construal groups ......................................................................................... 225
6.4.6. Inferential statistics: comparison of changes on ‘ad attitudes’ as a result of
exposure to firm-generated advertising and different types’ user-generated advertising for
different types of self-construal groups ........................................................................... 230
6.4.7. Inferential statistics: examination of associations between attitudes towards the ad
and attitudes towards the brand ....................................................................................... 235
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6.4.8. Inferential statistics: comparison of changes on behavioural intentions as a result of
exposure to firm-generated advertising and different types of user-generated advertising
for different types of self-construal groups ..................................................................... 237
6.4.8.1. Purchase intention of Coca-Cola .................................................................... 240
6.4.8.2. Intention to switch product within Coca-Cola brand or switch brands .......... 247
6.4.8.3. Intention to engage in word-of-mouth activities ............................................ 250
6.4.8.4. Intention to engage in e-word-of-mouth activities ......................................... 266
6.4.8.5. Intention to engage in user-generated activities ............................................. 278
6.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 284
7. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 285
7.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 285
7.2. The user-generated advertising (UGA) communication effects model ....................... 286
7.3. Self-construal typology ............................................................................................ 288
7.4. Self-construal impact on advertising effectiveness.................................................. 289
7.5. Comparison of the effectiveness of firm-generated vs user-generated advertising . 290
7.6. The effects of different types of user-generated advertising ................................... 292
7.7. Attitudes towards the ad .......................................................................................... 293
7.8. The effects of attitudes towards the ad on attitudes towards the brand ................... 294
7.9. Attitudes towards the brand ..................................................................................... 295
7.10. Behavioural Intentions ......................................................................................... 296
7.10.1. Purchase intention ......................................................................................... 297
7.10.2. Switching intentions ..................................................................................... 298
7.10.3. Word-of-mouth intentions ............................................................................ 298
7.10.4. User-generated content creation intentions ................................................... 300
7.11. The user-generated advertising (UGA) communication effects model ..................... 301
7.12. Theoretical and empirical contributions .................................................................... 305
7.13. Managerial implications............................................................................................. 308
7.14. Research limitations ................................................................................................... 311
7.15. Recommendations for future research ....................................................................... 313
8. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 316
9. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 319
VII
10. APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 369
Appendix 1 .......................................................................................................................... 370
Appendix 2 .......................................................................................................................... 371
Appendix 3 .......................................................................................................................... 372
Appendix 4 .......................................................................................................................... 373
Appendix 5 .......................................................................................................................... 378
Appendix 6 .......................................................................................................................... 387
Appendix 7 .......................................................................................................................... 398
Appendix 8 .......................................................................................................................... 406
Appendix 9 .......................................................................................................................... 436
Appendix 10 ........................................................................................................................ 446
Appendix 11 ........................................................................................................................ 447
Appendix 12 ........................................................................................................................ 448
Appendix 13 ........................................................................................................................ 449
Appendix 14 ........................................................................................................................ 450
Appendix 15 ........................................................................................................................ 451

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