| Extensive research supports the notion espoused by Schema Theory, that moderately incongruous stimuli are best remembered and most preferred than either congruous or extremely incongruous stimuli. Does incongruity always yield a more positive outcome, or is it possible that the effort involved in processing the incongruity might distract the individual from the ad content? Wouldn't distraction be even more likely when processing on-line content than off-line content? Might the novelty of the media, as well as the novelty of the stimuli, challenge the user's ability to engage in meaningful processing, rendering them confused? This dissertation makes a number of contributions including: (1) Proposing a systematic approach for testing the predictions of Schema Theory in the computer-mediated environment via mapping strategies, (2) Offering a theoretical framework for the study of the role of distraction in the processing of internet marketing communications; more specifically, a mediation model is proposed involving distraction, (3) Offering a framework for considering the effect of involvement in the process, more specifically, a moderating role of task involvement is proposed, (4) Explicitly exploring distraction as an outcome variable.; An experimental study was used to test the predicted relations, specifically the relationship between distraction and a number of variables, including congruity, memory, site attitude, brand attitude as well as purchase intention and the role of task involvement was examined. The interest in the results goes beyond just the support, or lack thereof, of various hypotheses to a number of interesting findings, not themselves the subject of any hypothesis.; Firstly the empirically observed off-line relationship between congruity and preference may not hold in the hypermedia computer-mediated environment. Secondly, distraction mediates the effect of congruity on attitude towards the site and brand as well as purchase intentions. Thirdly, distraction moderates the effect of congruity on attitude towards the site. Fourthly, site involvement has main effects on distraction, attitude towards the site and brand as well as a moderating effect on the relation between congruity and distraction. A variety of theoretical and managerial implications related to the findings are discussed as well as limitations and directions for future research. |
