The effects of culture and individual differences on the persuasiveness of comparative ads

Most comparative advertising studies are conducted within the U.S. Little is, thus, known regarding its persuasiveness in a cross-cultural setting. Even within the US, the impacts of comparative versus noncomparative (NC) ads are mixed. The inconsistencies in research findings suggest the need for further study regarding constructs that may influence the persuasiveness of these two types of ads. In this dissertation, an individual level culture factor: independent self-construal (INDSC) and an individual level personality factor: need for cognition (NFC) are hypothesized as two such constructs. Because INDSC emphasizes competition and confrontation, it is expected that comparative ads (NC ads) will be more persuasive for consumers high (low) in INDSC. However the persuasiveness of INDSC-congruent ad type is expected only for low NFC consumers because these consumers are likely to regard this consistency as a peripheral cue and thus form an ad evaluation based on this match. High NFC consumers, however, are not expected to be influenced by this congruity because they have a higher intrinsic motivation to process information. As a consequence, for high NFC consumers, comparative ads, which provide more factual information, will be more persuasive than NC ads, regardless of INDSC. An experiment employing a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design was conducted. Ad formats (comparative vs. NC), INDSC (high vs. low) and NFC (high vs. low) were the three independent factors. Results indicate that NFC and INDSC influenced the persuasiveness of comparative vs. NC ads for utilitarian products. Hypotheses concerning high NFC consumers were supported. For high NFC consumers, comparative ads were more persuasive than NC ads regardless of consumers' INDSC. Hypotheses regarding low NFC consumers, however, were not supported. Comparative ads (vs. NC ads) were more persuasive for low NFC consumers with low INDSC while NC ads (vs. comparative ads) were more persuasive for low NFC consumers with high INDSC. The underlying premise that culture matters for this group of consumers was, however, supported. Higher involvement elicited by incongruity between INDSC and ad format appeared to be the psychological mediator underlying these effects for low NFC consumers.