The impact of unexpected advertising tactics on source versus product evaluations: A conceptual model and empirical test

Drawing on existing work in cognitive structures, schema theory, attribution research, subjective construal, and cognitive models of persuasion, this research develops an Advertising Tactic Detection and Evaluation Model showing four alternative persuasive processes mediated by persuasion knowledge. The model predicts that unexpected advertising tactics will trigger an evaluation of the source of the message as a primary processing goal, while expected advertising tactics will influence product evaluations in a manner consistent with current findings in consumer research. The Advertising Tactic Detection and Evaluation Model shows the conditions under which each type of evaluation takes place and identifies three alternative explanations of the cognitive processes mediating the source evaluation triggered by unexpected advertising tactics.; Two experiments were conducted to test the model. The first experiment was an empirical test of the different persuasive processes predicted by the model. Using "truth in advertising" as the unexpected tactic, the experiment developed evidence for a consumer having both product and source evaluations as processing goals in a persuasive situation. When the advertising tactic is expected, product evaluation is the primary processing goal. When the advertising tactic is unexpected, source evaluation is the primary processing goal. Participants were more likely to attribute the unexpected advertising tactic to the ad agency than to the manufacturer. This suggests the consumer perceives the ad agency rather than the manufacturer of the product to be the source of unexpected tactics.; The second experiment compared three theoretical perspectives (schema theory, pragmatic implication and consistency theory) thought to mediate the relationship between unexpectedness and the source evaluation. The relationship or structural path underlying each perspective was significant on its own. When the three perspectives were compared simultaneously, the path for consistency theory became non-significant. Schema theory mediated the relationship between unexpectedness and the source evaluation. Pragmatic implication required an intervening variable as a "trigger" for pragmatic inferences.