The History Of Incidental Advertising Exposure Psychology Essay

Following the suggestion, the effects of incidental advertising will be examined in terms of implicit memories (cognitive responses), emotions and attitudes (affective responses) and consideration set (behavioural responses). The endogenous variables consist of factors that, as consumer traits, affect the whole advertising response process. Among various factors, involvement and cognitive style were two principal psychological variables that influence consumer’s incidental ad processing, while gender was considered an important demographic variable. Comparing to the meta-analytic model, we choose to introduce two new variables that were never been tested in the context of incidental advertising: gender and cognitive style.

III.2. Incidental advertising exposure

Ferraro, Chartrand and Fitzsimons (2005) define incidental exposure as an automatic processing of visual brand information while conscious attention is directed elsewhere. Vanhuele et al. (2005) talked about focal versus non-focal attention in the case of visual perception. Focal vision is restricted to 1,5 to 5 degrees from the current point of focus. To define it, Shapiro (1999) suggests that while a person spotlights conscious attention on a primary task, other information that is not attended to can be processed. This nonconscious, incidental exposure often occurs without explicit memory for advertisement, product, or marketing stimuli and can affect persuasion. Scholars call incidental advertising by preattentive advertising (Droulers, 2004, Yoo, 2005, Adams, 2007). This preattentive processing can be distinguished from attentive processing in individual’s lack of awareness of the stimuli, deficit of a speci¬c goal for the process, inability to control the process, and attention resources not required for the process. More speci¬cally, preattentive processing occurs when an individual is preconscious exposed to stimulus in his peripheral ¬eld of vision (e.g., banner advertisements) while focusing his attention on a primary task (e.g., reading an article on the web) (Ruy and al, 2006).

In the field of advertising Shapiro, McInnis and Heckler (1997) were the first to propose the incidental exposure paradigm where they stipulate that subjects are directed to focus their attention on primary task, thus reducing the resources accessible to process secondary information bordering the primary information. In most cases, the secondary information is located to the left or the right of the primary information and is described by its distance (in degrees) from the primary information (parafoveal is 1.5-5 degrees from the attended information, peripheral is greater than 5 degrees) (Janiszewski, 1988). Attentional resources available for processing the secondary information are limited, so secondary information cannot be explicitly recognised-memory traces for this information are unlikely to be strong enough to be restored during a direct search for memory. When reading a newspaper, subjects are inable to recognise having previously seen the ads, Janiszewski (1988) has shown, however that this exposure can boost a consumer’s liking for the ads and brands. Some marketing studies have investigated conditions that facilitate processing of secondary information (Janiszewski, 1993), the effect this processing has on the comprehension of focally attended material (Janiszewski, 1990), and why this processing affects ad attitudes (Janiszewski, 1993, Shapiro and McInnis, 1992).

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Prior research has attributed incidental advertising exposure effects to perceptual fluency arising from a feature analysis that occurs during exposure (Janiszewski, 1993; Shapiro et al., 1997). It is necessary to review the process by which preattentive processing may facilitate individuals’ responses. Two underlying mechanisms have been suggested: feature and semantic analysis. Both analysis mechanisms during preattentive processing will be briefly discussed:

Feature analysis: Perceptual fluency asserts that when exposure leads to a memory trace for the perceptual features of the stimulus (e.g., shape and brightness), the features of the stimulus are more easily processed on a subsequent occasion. Without explicit memory for having just seen the stimulus, this ease in processing is misattributed as an increase in familiarity and/or preference for the stimulus (Bornstein, 1989). Perceptual fluency may be ascertained as the ease of processing the perceptual features of a stimulus (Jacoby and Kelley, 1987). Prior exposure is thought to create a feature based representation of the stimulus in memory, with the result that processing of the stimulus on subsequent encounters is facilitated and experienced as subjective ease. Shapiro, McInnis and Heckler (1997) indicate that the effects of incidental ad exposure on stimulus-based judgements (attitude judgements made in the presence of an ad or brand) are due at feature analysis that occurs during processing (Janiszewski, 1993). This processing allows secondary information to subsequently be perceived more easily and hence thought to be more familiar, evaluated more highly. When a person builds a mental representation of a distinguishing item, any ensuing processing takes place faster and, in many situations, lets the messages give the impression more appealing and accurate than they would be if they were crucial or perturbed to process (Reber and Schwarz, 1999).

Furthermore, Bornstein and D’Agostino (1994) construed the likeability of more readily accessible information conceding to a cognitive perceptual fluency/misattribution model, whereas Winkielman and Cacioppo (2001) suggest a hedonistic fluency model that ascertains constructing smoothly positive affective responses toward fluently processed stimuli. Referring to hedonistic fluency, gracious and affirmative emotional responses happen in consequence of the fact that accustomed stimuli frequently signify a harmless situation, successful. Recognition generates good feelings and comprehensible interpretation attends to positive mood. Janiszewski (1993) further leads the hemispheric approach to the branch of incidental advertising exposure and discerns that abonded verbal messages are more persuasive when they emerge on the right side of the chief area, but they convince inferior to visual cues if they are located on the left.

Rendering to Janiszewski (1993) explanations of secondary messages are actuated chiefly by feature analysis, which contains the recognition and processing of the “perceptual features of the stimulus” in the subconscious mind (Shapiro, 1999). Therefore, when both test and visual stimuli appears to the left of focal point, viewers’ brains naturally accredit more capacity to treat the visual cues, which commences in higher acquaintance and likeability for the visual messages during ensuing confrontations. However McQuarrie and Mick (2003) found that incidentally exposed with ads figures produce more favourable attitudes and improved memory, whereas Clark and Brock(1994) declare no significant effects of images in ensuing processed ad warnings, along with greater attitude alterations after the exposure to peripheral verbal warnings (Acar, 2007).

Semantic analysis: Although perceptual fluency relies on the encoding of feature information during exposure, an analogous process may occur if incidental ad exposure involves the processing of semantic information (Shapiro, 1997). A study by Whittlesea (1993) shows that fluency effects can instead beyond instances of perceptual processing by demonstrating that semantic processing can lead to feelings of conceptual (vs. perceptual) fluency. Whittlesea (1993) suggests that conceptual fluency will affect any judgement regarding a stimulus that relies on conceptually based processes, such as decisions of semantic relatedness. It was mentioned previously that perceptual enhancement may be used as a criterion for determining inclusion in a consideration set. The predominant theory accounting for this facilitation effect suggests that contextual scene information activates a schema for the theme or gist of a scene prior to object identification.

The activated schema in turn creates expectancies about what objects are likely to be present. These expectations facilitate object identification (Shapiro, 1997). Di pace et al. (1991) found incidental semantic priming effects after 200milliseconds but not after 2,000 milliseconds. This supported their notion that automatic, non intentional semantic processing of parafoveal information is very short lived (Shapiro, McInnis, Heckler, 1997). In his research, Shapiro (1999) concludes that ad information can undergo a semantic analysis during incidental exposure. Advertised products can more easily take advantage of this analysis when they are depicted in a consistent scene. When advertised products are depicted in this fashion, incidental ad exposure leads to conceptual fluency effects, exerting unconscious ad influence during consideration set formation. When a product is depicted by itself, unconscious ad influences rely on a feature analysis that occurs during exposure. This analysis creates perceptual fluency effects.

The results of experiments in Shapiro’s (1999) study showed that subjects in the context condition had greater levels of unconscious ad influence and those in the no context condition. This demonstrated that semantic relatedness between the product and other contextual ad information affects differentially the likelihood that the product’s name would be activated in memory, and, thus, the likelihood that the advertised product would be included in consideration set. This suggests that semantic processing of contextual ad information is what accounts for the context facilitations effects.

In our work, we refer to one of the major theories that explain the effects of incidental advertising which is the theory of Zajonc (1968) called «mere exposure and subconscious processing». In fact, Zajonc (1968) defines the mere exposure effect as the observation that« mere repeated exposure of individual to a stimulus is a sufficient condition for the improvement of his attitude toward it». By “mere exposure” is meant a condition which just makes the given stimulus attainable to the individual’s perception. It arises when repeated or single exposure to a stimulus, even in the absence of acquaintance, results in the formation of a positive affective reaction to the stimulus (Zajonc, 1968). In another side, Janiszewski (1993) defines mere exposure to a brand name or product package as the process that encourages a consumer to have a more favourable attitude toward the brand, even when the consumer cannot recollect the basic exposure.

This theory is interesting for our study as Zajonc (1968) found that as number of exposure increased, so too did the favourable evaluations. Bornstein, Leone and Galley (1987) have approved these effects when participants are aware as well as not of the presence of stimuli. Further, Ye and Raaij (1997) suggested another definition of mere exposure as they claim that the mere-exposure effect in the absence of awareness represents implicit memory. Mere exposure is the formation of a positive affective reaction to repeated or single exposure to a stimulus, even in the absence of awareness. Bronstein (1989) reveals that research on the influence of repeated stimulus exposures has demonstrated that preferences can be formed without an accompanying awareness of the preference formation process. Thus, there was a positive affective reaction to the previously presented stimuli (as assessed by their preference judgements) in spite of the fact that these stimuli had not been perceived consciously.

Another major theory that explains the effects of incidental advertising is the theory of hemispheric processing styles. In reality, many a myth has advanced around the brain’s asymmetry. The left cerebral hemisphere is supposed to be the calculatedly logical, verbal and governing half of the brain, while the right is the utopian side, emotional, spatially aware but suppressed (McCrone, 2000). Recording to this theory, the human visual system is organized as stimuli located within the individual’s field of foveal vision, roughly 1.5 degrees to the left or right of the current field of focus are initially sent to the right hemisphere for processing, and stimuli placed to the right hemisphere for altering, and stimuli placed to the current field of focus are originally sent to the left hemisphere. This theory suggests that summing information to support verbal claims in an advertisement may influence the subconscious processing of the claims. Janiszewski (1990) affirms that processing style refers to the procedure or process each hemisphere uses when attacking to achieve a task. Hemispheric resource theory predicts that the availability of resources to form a memory trace of the outputs of a feature analysis may be sensitive to an activation created by the feature analysis its self.

To apprehend the effects of incidental exposure to advertising, Janiszewski (1990) recommends the cooperative interaction model which is based on two hypotheses that affect directly to the problems of a dual strategy processing system. The first is that the brain is reciprocal, parallel processor-each hemisphere has its own independent bank of resources and each hemisphere is able of involving concurrently in multiple operations (Janiszewski, 1990).The second assumptions that the hemispheres collaborate cooperatively (Allen, 1983).The assumptions of the cooperative interaction model can be applied to anticipate how nonattended material might intercede with the apprehension of an unattended verbal messages (Janiszewski, 1990).The model is based on capacity theories of attention ( Broadbent 1971; Kahneman, 1973) as well as on general models of information processing, in which motivation, competence and opportunity factors affecting message processing are synthesized (MacInnis and Jaworski 1990). A key belief underlying these theories and models is that the attentional faculty (or processing capacity) that is accessible to a consumer at a distinct point in time is limited, and that the part that is designated to the stimulus studied is a function of both exogenous (opportunity) and endogenous factors (motivation and ability). The autonomy versus cognition mediation controversy has come to an impasse and has been surpassed by the rise of perceptual fluency as a popular account of the mere exposure effect.

Consistently, Wang et al. (2002) found that placing a brand name to the right of attended pictorial information should send it to the less activated left hemisphere, where it will receive a greater degree of subconscious processing than if sent to the right hemisphere. The possibility that placement influences evaluation of a peripherally placed stimulus stems from the hypothesis that the hemispheres have different processing styles. The differential competency of the left and right hemisphere for forming a mental representation of a stimulus during a preattentive processing has a direct implication for our understanding of one potential benefit from manipulating the location of the incidental ads. That’s why we adopt this theory. In fact, referring to the works of Janiszewski (1988, 1993, and 1999) we suppose that ads were more liked when placed in the left, as opposed to the right, visual field because this draft encouraged the viewer to use the holistic processing resources of the right hemisphere to initially. This theory is very ancient, many researchers adopted it and even neuroscientists have supported it. Neuroscientists affirmed, in fact, the distinction between the processing that occurs in the right hemisphere and left hemisphere. In this study we stipulate that incidental ads placed in the left were more liked.

III.3. Implicit memory

One of the important cognitive responses are memories. A large number of studies have studied memory for advertisement. Yoo (2005) revealed that “prior literature in memory research suggests that when consumers are exposed to an advertisement, multiple representations of the advertisement are encoded in memory”. In this study, we give a great importance in studying the memory. In fact, to understand how unconscious advertising affects consumer preference, it is first necessary to understand something about how consumers think. But previously marketing studies examining memory for advertisements have relied approximately wholly on examining effects contingent on explicit memory retrieval. In psychology, memory is an organism’s ability to store, retain, and recall information.

Kronlund, Whittlesea and Yoon (2001) define memory as the commander of all acquired human behaviour, containing speech, conceptual apprehension, skilled activities, social interactions, and consumer preferences. In another side, neuroscientists define memory as the retention of learned information, the acquisition, storage and retrieval of information. To achieve a true understanding of any aspect of human behaviour, it is therefore essential to have an effective theory of memory. In fact, extant literature offers strong evidence that product judgement and brand choice decisions are often influenced by information retrieved from memory (Alba and Hutchinson, and Lynch, 1992).

One type of memory that emerges from an exposure event is explicit memory (Yoo, 2005). At the time of exposure, a depiction of the information is encoded in memory and is correlated with a spatio-temporal context that attaches the information to the exposure incident. This memory depiction is attributed to as “explicit memory”, as known as ‘episodic memory’. Explicit memory is characterised by a person’s conscious recall of the event and replies what he or she remembers about the event (Lee, 2002). It’s also, characterized by a respondent’s conscious recollection of the preceding exposure. Thus measures of explicit memory make direct reference to the past exposure, and suspects are interrogated to demonstrate what they can remember about the prior event (Yoo, 2007). In fact, Bertrand and Girardi (2007) reveal that explicit memory codifies information on autobiographical events, moreover knowledge of facts. Its creation builds upon cognitive processes of the evaluation, conflicting and assuming type. Implicit memory has an unintentional and impulsive attribute, and its formation and recall are not entirely dependent on the aptitude of having or attaining knowledge of cognitive processes (Lee, 2002).

Cooper and Schacter (1992) defined implicit memory as “nonintentional”, nonconscious retrieval of previously acquired information and is demonstrated by enhanced performance on tests that do not require conscious recollection of the past”. Explicit memory: on the other hand, requires intentional, conscious recollection of the past. The difference between implicit and explicit memory in terms of nonconscious and conscious retrospection is enigmatic because these states of consciousness loss accepted defining criteria. However, the term implicit memory was formulated by Graf and Schacter (1985), with attributing to the phenomenon of remembering without awareness (Lee, 2001). Implicit memory is analyzed to be revealed by relief in tasks that use memory whereas explicit memory is affirmed by straight testing memory (Jacoby, 1991). This memory is unallied of cognitive resource, acts constantly and inevitably whether we are paying a lot or a little attention or even no attention at all, and is able of attaching emotional meaning to anything that it perceives (Heath, 2007). Our interest to study those memories comes from the fact that Shapiro, McInnis and Heckler (1997) advice that the presence of unconscious processing would be indicated by two measures: (1) implicit memory for the object brand names (2) no manifestation of explicit memory of the target ad (Yoo, 2005).

Berry and Dienes (1993) affirm that in the case of incidental advertising, contextual knowledge is acquired through implicit attaining processes which concede complicated information about the stimulus environment to be without intention or awareness. They supplementary propose that incidentally acquired contextual knowledge forms a highly robust, instance based and implicit memory for context. The favour of implicit learning is that permits more information to be acquired than is possible through consciously linked channels. The capital advantage of implicit learning is that it may allow cognitive systems to memorize “more information about stimuli than can be processed through consciously controlled channels” (Lewicki et al., 1988).

Jacoby and Dallas (1981) define the facility with which a person recognise the physical characteristics of a stimulus as “perceptual fluency” and is identified to be enhanced through preceding exposures. Especially, empirical proof from implicit memory research arrays that prior exposure to a target of ten benefits task performances such as lexical decision, word completion and anagram solving that involves the identification of the perceptual features of the target (Lee and Labroo, 2002). They reported that conceptual fluency eases consideration-set membership and memory based-choice as the result of extended accessibility of the brand in memory (Lee, 2002, Nedungadi, 1990, Shapiro, McInnis and Heckler, 1997) and they lead to the apprehending of the processing fluency model by showing that conceptual fluency influence judgements, too.

Enhanced performance has been examined even when respondents are not aware of their having been exposed to the information earlier. Enhanced performance as the termination of preceding exposure recommends that people have memory of the exposure event, even though they may not consciously remember it. This enhancement reflects implicit memory of the event and is often mentioned to as priming. According to the cue accessibility hypothesis, an emotion may effect one’s evaluations of ad stimuli because materials stored in memory that are conforming that emotion state will be more available, and consequently more likely to come to mind then they would at another time.

Current findings in the mere exposure literature show that perceptual fluency is positively valenced, thus people’s assessment of an object grows as it becomes perceptually more fluent. Extended literature has displayed that the level of attention in encoding does not affect implicit memory but actively influences explicit memory. Schacter (1987) check out numerous alternative theoretical clarifications of such dissociations. One explanation, the activation view, holds that implicit memory performance rests on concepts that are briefly activated in memory due to the antecedent exposure (Yoo, 2007).

One of the theories conducted in the field of neuroscience is the competence hemispheric theory. This theory recommends that memory traces are essential to bring the order in which material is presented. The right hemisphere has a more accurate performance of sequentially presented events because it does not commonly essay to reconfigure information as does the left hemisphere (Janiszewski, 1990). The left hemisphere sounds more able to process written or verbal ads, where as the right part of the brain triumph at visual ads. Janiszewski (1990) support Friedman and Polson’s matching activation hypothesis and suggests that the greater activation of the right (left) hemisphere during the processing of attended pictorial(verbal) information should improve processing of supplementary material represented within the left(right) hemisphere provided that the material in opposing hemisphere can be treated by that hemisphere.

During preattentive processing, if individuals bank only on perceptual fluency (feature analysis), their responses should be independant to the advertisement message, if indeed the individuals are knowledgeable only of features (e.g. size, color…) in print advertising. However, if semantic analysis is possible, cognitive responses may implicitly embody the advertisement message, such as a brand name or impressive message cues, even though individuals do not explicitly remember them. Sine this research predicted that semantic analysis is also struggled during preattentive processing, it is anticipated that individuals have implicit memories of print advertisement message as a result of preattentive processing. Processing a print advertisement in a preattentive way will notify the brand delineated within the advertisement and thus construct an implicit memory trace for the brand, even though an individual’s explicit memories for of the advertisement will be at levels no greater than those awaited by chance (Raman and Leckenby, 1998). Based on the above discussion and the results of anterior studies, the first hypothesis is suggested:

Hypothesis 1. Incidental processed advertising is more likely to generate implicit memory than that expected by chance.

III.4. Emotional responses

Until now, there is no scientific and precise definition of the term emotion. In colloquial language, the term is used to refer to feelings and moods and also refers to the way these are expressed both in behaviour and bodily answers (Kandel; Schwartz and Jess ell, 2000). The Longman Dictionary definition of emotion is strong feeling (e.g. anger, fear, joy) usually incorporating physiological change (1984). Further, according to the complete Oxford English Dictionary, in a psychological classification the term emotion refers to “a mental feeling or affection” (e.g.: of pleasure or pain, desire or aversion, surprise, hope or fear, etc.) as distinguished from cognitive or volitional states or consciousness also abstr “feeling” as distinguished from the other classes of mental phenomena (OED, 1994 version). Far from the traditional approach to the study, the cognition accentuates information processing of view that has generally excluded emotion. In contrast, the recent emergence of cognitive neuroscience as an inspiration for understanding human cognition has stressed its interaction with emotion. An understanding of human cognition requires the consideration of emotion. Research in neuroscience has resulted in a definition that is distinct from feeling. In contemporary neurological research, emotions are unconscious processes, occurring in the inner and most primitive parts of the brain.

Damasio (2003) have written that “emotions play out in the theatre of the body” so by contrast feelings play out in the theatre of the body. To understand the effects of incidental advertising on emotion we refer to the works of neuroscientists. In fact, decision neuroscience offers the commitment of deepening our understanding of emotion and decision making in a number of ways. Neuroscientists like Damasio and Le Doux have shed a great deal of light on the critical roles that emotion plays in the brain (Damasio, 1994; Le Doux, 1996). Le Doux (2002) claims “that emotion can be defined as the process by which the brain determines or computes the value of stimulus. Other aspects of emotion than duplicate from this computation” (Meyer-Dinkgräfe, 2007). In his book, Descartes’ Error, Damasio declares that the French philosopher may have blow when he came up with his famous dictum, “I think, therefore I am”. Had Descartes understood the central role that emotions play in the workings of the mind, he may well have written, “I feel, therefore I am” (Plessis, 2005).

Damasio (1994) can be trusted with initiating modern thinking about how emotions are processed. He uses the concept of a ‘limbic’ system in the mammalian brain, a construct developed by MacLean (1952) to represent the original mammalian brain, which lies beneath the more recently developed neo-cortex. He shows that activity in the proto-self always anticipated activity in core consciousness. This therefore means that emotions and feelings are always formed pre-cognitively (Heath, 2007). The role of emotion in mental processes is a matter of fervent reflection, where Damasio (1994) argues for strong, but not unique, role for emotion within an exhibited nervous system in general. In particular, the research reviewed above confirms that ads victoriously appealing to the emotions are better remember than their ‘cognitive cousins, although very little is known about the mechanisms supporting the formation of the emotional memories and their effects on consumer choices (Palessman, 2005).

It is so important to differentiate between the affective responses toward the stimulus and the global feelings. In this context, emotion represents specific feeling states at the time of incidental exposure. This goes with the definition of Batra and Holbrook (1987) who have distinguished emotional reactions from subcategories of affective responses toward the advertisement. We have also to distinguish emotion from moods. Different to moods, emotions are more stimulus particular (Cohen and Areni, 1991) and emotions may fluctuate highly in their intensity level. Thus, emotions may impact the effectiveness of print ads differently than do moods (Mherabian and Russell, 1974).

As there is a delay between the incidental advertising exposure and subsequent brand choice, memory processes ought to be important in determining the effectiveness of particular kinds of advertising. We will examine in the experimental part the critical link between emotion and memory and look how this argues strongly for a dynamic understanding of the way emotion works as we process advertising. The findings of Percy (2003) suggest that in addition to the words and visual images, we also store the emotions that are present at the time so when we recall that event, the emotions associated with it are also recalled whether we are conscious or unconscious of those feelings.

Memory in particular, has been studied in terms of its relationship to affect by a number of researchers (Batra and Holbrook, 1987). Hall et al. (2006) stipulate that emotionally arousing the scenes are better remembered than neutral one so emotion has an impact of the memory formation. Events associated with emotions were found to be more memorable. Canli et al. (2000) have found that amygdala activation reflects moment-to-moment subjective emotional experience that this activation enhances memory in relation to the emotional experience and that this activation enhances memory in relation to emotional intensity of experience. They discover also that memory for emotional stimuli and experiences varied the sexes; women seem recalling emotional autobiographical events than men, produce memory with greater emotional intensity in response to cues.

Always referring to neuroscience, it has been known for some time that the amygdala is a key brain region for the formation of emotional memories. Cognitive neuroscientists have begun recently to illuminate the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying emotional holding of past events (Percy, 2003; Plessis, 2005). Emotion-memory interactions occur at several stages of information processing. By adopting the perspective of neuroscientists, we struggle to forward our understanding of the link emotion and memory. LaBar and Cabeza (2006) reported that emotion has authoritative influences on learning and memory that comprise multiple brain systems engaged in at different stages of information processing. Further witness of the link between emotion and memory was provided by Ashby et al. (1999). They found that positive affect of individuals facilitates the reinforcement of long term memory as it systematically influences performance on many tasks; their new neuropsychological theory postulate that accounts for many of these effects by assuming that positive affect is associated with increased brain dopamine levels.

For Jacoby (1991), recognition memory is treated as dual process that includes recollection (a conscious, controlled process) and familiarity (an unconscious, automatic process). The dual process model stipulates that, for recognition, recollection acts as a discrete state and familiarity can be vi