Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology

294 Pages·2011·1.07 MB·English

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
BETWEEN CREATIVE ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING
EFFECTIVENESS IN PAKISTAN

By
WISAL AHMAD

Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology
(SZABIST), Islamabad
November, 2010
An Empirical Investigation of the Association between
Creative Advertising and Advertising Effectiveness in Pakistan

By
WISAL AHMAD

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
In Management Sciences
To
Department of Management Sciences

Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology
(SZABIST), Islamabad

November, 2010
©Wisal Ahmad, 2010
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness ii

DISSERTATION AND DEFENSE APPROVAL FORM
The undersigned certify that they have read the following dissertation, examined the
defense, are satisfied with the overall exam performance, and recommend the thesis
to the Department of Management Sciences SZABIST for acceptance:

Dissertation Title: An Empirical Investigation of the Association between Creative
Advertising and Advertising Effectiveness in Pakistan________________________

Submitted By: Wisal Ahmad____ Registration #: 053101

Doctor of Philosophy___________

Management Sciences__________

Prof. Dr. Zahid Mahmood_______ __________________________
Name of Research Supervisor Signature of Research Supervisor

Prof. Dr. Shamim A. Sahibzada___ __________________________
Name of Dean (MS) Signature of Dean (MS)

Mr. Syed Asad Hussain___ __________________________
Name of Director Signature of Director

November, 2010
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness iii

CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM

I Mr. Wisal Ahmad Son of Mr. Muhammad Ishaq, Registration No.053101, a candidate of
Doctor of Philosophy (Management Sciences) at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of
Science and Technology, Islamabad do hereby declare that the dissertation An Empirical
Investigation of the Association between Creative Advertising and Advertising Effectiveness
in Pakistan submitted by me in partial fulfillment of PhD degree is my original work, and this
work contains no material which has been previously accepted for the award of any degree or
qualification in any institution and, to best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material
published by another party, except where due reference is made in the text.

November, 2010
Date Signature

Wisal Ahmad
Name
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness iv

DEDICATION

To My Parents
Who gave me a meaningful world and struggled a lot for bringing me to this stage.

To My Brothers
Who helped me during the toughest moments of my Doctoral Program.

To My Wife
For her patience and support during this entire period and,

To My Sweet Owais, Faiza and Aizaz
Whom I could not provide the love and proper care they deserved during this period
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I am indebted to Almighty Allah who always helped me when I faced
problems. Certainly, the completion of this thesis is the special blessing of Allah.
The completion of this thesis benefited from the time and expert advices of many
people. First of all, I express my heartfelt thanks to my Supervisor, Dr. Zahid Mahmood
for his all time encouragement, guidance and confidence in me. His support particularly
during some of the toughest moments of my dissertation sets an unparallel example as an
academician that I can only desire to follow one day.
I am cordially indebted to Dr. Kashif-ur-Rehman who indeed laid the foundation
stone in my career to grow as a mature researcher. My heartiest gratitude also goes to Dr.
Shamim A. Sahibzada and Dr. Rashid Salaria who always strengthened me with their
encouragement and expert guidance. I am also heartily thankful to Dr. Usman Ghani and
Mr. Muhammad Imran who have consistently supported me during this entire period.
I am grateful to Mr. Najmul Hassan, Secretary Pakistan Advertising Association,
for providing me access to creative advertisements and all other immediate support.
The support of faculty members, administration and staff of SZABIST during the
entire period of my Doctoral Program was exemplary. I express my gratitude to all the
faculty members and staff of SZABIST particularly Mr. Fahim-ur-Rehman, Academic
Support Officer who always felt my needs and made my work so simple and easy.
Finally, I pay my heartiest thanks to Dr Sajid Hussain Awan and Dr Bakhtiar who
always welcomed me with smiling faces during editing and formatting of the thesis.
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness vi

ABSTRACT

The importance of creativity in advertising as one of the primary factor for
advertising effectiveness has been much advocated by advertising professionals and
academicians particularly in a cluttered media. Industry experts argue that advertisements
have to be more creative to break through the greater media clutter and develop an
impression for the brand. This study examines the potential effectiveness of award-
winning television advertisements in Pakistan in both single and three advertising
exposures. Both creative and control advertisements were embedded in a television
program which were shown to two separate groups of research subjects with single and
three advertising exposures respectively. After watching the advertisements, Subjects’
tapped their responses about brand and advertisement recall, attitude and lastly purchase
intent. Contrary to expectations, the finding of this study in single exposure does not
verify the superior performance of creative advertising in terms of recall, brand and
advertisement attitude and purchase intent. However, in three exposures, creative
advertisements developed significantly more favorable brand and advertisement attitude
and greater unaided brand recall than control advertisements. Creative advertisements
developed greater mean purchase intent for the advertised brands than control group of
advertisements; however, it just slipped from attaining significance. Being an optimum
and more mature response of research participants in three exposures as compared to
single exposure, the results of this study in three exposures conclude that creative
advertisements are really more effective than conventional advertisements and bestow
value to the advertised brands.
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................v
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... vi

CHAPTER 1 :INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD OF ENQUIRY

1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................2
1.2 Background of the Study .................................................................................................2
1.2.1 An Over view of Creative Advertising and Advertising Effectiveness ................5
1.2.2 A Comprehensive Approach of Creative Advertising and Advertising
Effectiveness ..................................................................................................................8
1.2.3 An Overview of Advertising and Media Situation in Pakistan...........................11
1.3 Research Problem ..........................................................................................................16
1.4 The Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................................17
1.5 Research Questions ........................................................................................................19
1.6 Theoretical Framework of the Study .............................................................................20
1.7 Significance of the Study ...............................................................................................21
1.8 The Structure of the Study .............................................................................................23

CHAPTER 2 :LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................25
2.2 The Role of Advertising in Organizational Performance ..............................................25
2.3 Streams of Research on Advertising Effectiveness .......................................................26
2.3.1 Market Response Approach of Advertising Effectiveness .................................26
2.3.2 Behavioral Perspective of Advertising Effectiveness .........................................28
2.3.2.1 Advertising Recall .......................................................................................30
2.3.2.2 Advertising and Brand Attitude ...................................................................33
2.3.2.2(a) Relationship Between Consumers’ Advertisement and Brand Attitude .33
2.4 Creativity and its Different Approaches ........................................................................38
2.4.1 Creativity in Advertising.....................................................................................41
2.4.1.1 Novelty .........................................................................................................43
2.4.1.2 Meaningfulness ............................................................................................44
2.4.1.3 Connectivity .................................................................................................45
2.5 Relationship between Creative Advertising And Advertising Effectiveness ................48
2.5.1 Previous Studies on the Relationship between Creative Advertising and
Advertising Effectiveness ............................................................................................48
2.5.2 Components of Creative Advertising and Advertising Effectiveness ................53
2.5.2.1 Effects of Creative Advertising Components on Recall ..............................53
2.5.2.2 Effects of Creative Advertising Components on Consumers’ Attitude .......58
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness viii
2.5.2.3 Effects of Creative Advertising Components on Consumers’ Purchase
Intent ........................................................................................................................61
2.5.2.3 (a) Sources of Consumers’ Brand Knowledge .............................................62
2.5.2.3 (b) Effects of Creative Advertising on Consumers’ Brand Knowledge and
Purchase Intention ....................................................................................................64
2.6 Creative Advertising and Advertising Effectiveness- A Broader Perspective .............65
2.6.1 Effects of Brand Familiarity on Viewers’ Memory and Attitude .......................66
2.6.2 Effects of Advertising Exposures on Viewers’ Response ..................................69
2.6.2.1 Contextual View of Advertising Exposures ................................................73
2.6.3 Measuring Creativity in Advertising ..................................................................76
2.7 Chapter Summary ..........................................................................................................79

CHAPTER 3 :THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................81
3.2 Theoretical Framework of the Relationship between Creative Advertising and
Advertising Effectiveness ....................................................................................................82
3.2.1 Association between Creative Advertising and Recall .......................................84
3.2.2 Association between Creative Advertising and Attitude ....................................93
3.2.2.1 Link between Consumers’ Advertisement and Brand Attitude ...................96
3.2.3 Association between Creative Advertising and Consumers’ Purchase Intent ....98
3.3 Moderating influence of advertising exposures on Advertising viewers’ response ....101
3.3.1 Moderating Effects of Advertising Exposures on Viewers' Assessment of
Advertisements ..........................................................................................................102
3.3.2 Contextual View of Advertising Exposure .......................................................105
3.4 Summary ......................................................................................................................109

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................111
4.2 Overview of the Research Objectives ..........................................................................112
4.3 Research Methodology and Justification .....................................................................113
4.3.1 Qualitative Research .........................................................................................114
4.3.2 Quantitative Approach ......................................................................................114
4.4 Operational Definitions of Key Variables ...................................................................118
4.4.1 Operational Definition of Creative Advertising ...............................................119
4.4.2 Operational Definition of Attitude towards the Advertisement ........................121
4.4.3 Operational Definition of Attitude towards the Brand .....................................123
4.4.4 Operational Definition of Recall .......................................................................124
4.4.5 Operational Definition of Purchase Intent ........................................................125
4.5 Sampling Process .........................................................................................................127
4.5.1 Sample Population ............................................................................................127
4.5.2 Unit of Analysis ................................................................................................129
4.5.3 Sampling Method ..............................................................................................129
4.5.4 Sample Size .......................................................................................................130
4.6 Data Collection ............................................................................................................131
4.6.1 Subjects .............................................................................................................132
Creative Advertising and its Effectiveness ix
4.6.2 Experimental Research Design .........................................................................132
4.6.3 Commercials Sample Pool ................................................................................133
4.6.4 Stimuli Development ........................................................................................135
4.6.4.1 Control Variables .......................................................................................136
4.6.4.2 Consensual Assessment of Creativity in Advertising ................................138
4.6.4.3 Adjusting the ‘Order Effects’ of Experimental Advertisements ....................140
4.6.5 Survey Questionnaire ........................................................................................143
4.6.5.1 Pilot Test ....................................................................................................144
4.6.5.2 Reliability of the Measure ..........................................................................146
4.6.6 Data Collection Procedure ................................................................................148
4.6.7 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................151
4.6.7.1 Appropriate Data Analysis Technique .......................................................151
4.6.7.2 Data Analysis Procedure ............................................................................152
4.7 Summary ......................................................................................................................155

CHAPTER 5: RESULTS

5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................157
5.2 Sample of the Study .....................................................................................................157
5.3 Research Questions and Associated Hypotheses .........................................................158
5.4 Testing for the Assumptions of Multivariate Analysis of Variance ............................159
5.4.1 Independence of the Experimental Groups .......................................................161
5.4.2 Homogeneity of Variances ...............................................................................161
5.4.3 Normality of Data .............................................................................................162
5.5 Results of Hypotheses Testing .....................................................................................163
5.5.1 Relationship between Creative Advertising and Advertising Effectiveness-
Single Advertising Exposure .....................................................................................165
5.5.2. Relationship between Creative Advertising and Advertising ..........................178
Effectiveness: Moderating Influence of Ad-Exposure Levels ...................................178
5.5.3 Summary of Hypotheses Testing ......................................................................197
5.6 Summary ......................................................................................................................202

CHAPTER 6 :DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................205
6.2 Discussion of Findings .................................................................................................205
6.2.1 Recall Potential of Creative advertisements .....................................................207
6.2.1.1 Creative advertisements and Unaided Recall ............................................208
6.2.1.2 Creative advertisements and Aided Recall ................................................212
6.2.2 Consumers’ Attitude towards Creative Advertisements ...................................214
6.2.3 Creative Advertising and Consumers’ Brand Attitude .....................................217
6.2.4 Creative Advertising and Consumers’ Purchase Intent ....................................220
6.3 Contributions of the Study ...........................................................................................224
6.4 Implications for Practitioners .......................................................................................227
6.5 Limitations and Future Research Directions ................................................................228
6.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................231
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................235