| Is any exposure good exposure? The answer is of interest, of course, to advertisers, marketers and those who run political campaigns. However, the question is really about memory. As such, understanding how memory for exposure, particularly negative exposure, can work to form (public) opinion is of interest to researchers and practitioners alike. One domain in which this question is most pertinent is that of comparative advertising , an advertising strategy in which one brand is compared to its competitors. A significant literature exists on comparative advertising, but methodological limitations have curtailed a thorough understanding of how memory for repeated exposure to comparative advertising drives subsequent consumptive behavior. Across five experiments, a novel approach is taken that investigates comparative advertising from a dual process perspective. In the proposed dual process model, repetitive exposure in positive and negative contexts affects accessibility bias, an unintended influence of memory, but not recollection, a more controlled process. However, accessibility bias influences responding only when recollection fails. This work provides insight for understanding claims in advertising, such as the claim that "any exposure is good exposure."... |
