Academic Research
Gender and Advertising: A 50-Year Bibliometric Analysis
This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of research on gender and advertising. For this, a bibliometric review of 2,735 research articles was conducted using performance analysis and science mapping techniques to provide valuable insights into publication trends and their relevance to various topics. Visualization of the network and in-depth bibliometric analysis on publications, authors, countries, references, and keywords were performed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. The findings show that the scholarly literature on gender and advertising has grown exponentially in the last 50 years, especially since 2010, with triple-digit annual publications. The most prolific author is M. Eisend and the journals with the highest number of publications are Sex Roles, the Journal of Advertising, and the International Journal of Advertising. The topic is highly valued both within its field and across other disciplines, including psychology, education, health, and social sciences (economic, and political). A total of 91 countries have contributed to the literature, with the largest contribution from the United States. Brazil is currently experiencing a citation burst. The active keyword hotspots include mental health, social media, purchase intention, engagement, and portrayals.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2343291
Authors: Gülten Adalı, Fatma Yardibi, Şükrü Aydın, Ayşad Güdekli, Emel Aksoy, Sibel Hoştut
ABSTRACT
This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of research on gender and advertising. For this, a bibliometric review of 2,735 research articles was conducted using performance analysis and science mapping techniques to provide valuable insights into publication trends and their relevance to various topics. Visualization of the network and in-depth bibliometric analysis on publications, authors, countries, references, and keywords were performed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. The findings show that the scholarly literature on gender and advertising has grown exponentially in the last 50 years, especially since 2010, with triple-digit annual publications. The most prolific author is M. Eisend and the journals with the highest number of publications are Sex Roles, the Journal of Advertising, and the International Journal of Advertising. The topic is highly valued both within its field and across other disciplines, including psychology, education, health, and social sciences (economic, and political). A total of 91 countries have contributed to the literature, with the largest contribution from the United States. Brazil is currently experiencing a citation burst. The active keyword hotspots include mental health, social media, purchase intention, engagement, and portrayals.
Virtual Influencers Versus Real Connections: Exploring the Phenomenon of Virtual Influencers
While growing is interest in the use of social media influencers in digital marketing campaigns, little is known about virtual influencers and their impact on consumers and brands. Virtual influencers are becoming efficient advertising tools. Instead of being simple promoters, however, customers develop complex relationships with virtual influencers. This study seeks to uncover how social comparisons and parasocial relationships manifest within the virtual influencer phenomenon through the lived experiences of their followers. The findings indicate that perceiving virtual influencers’ human-like traits induces some form of social comparison among followers that triggers several responses, such as jealousy, scorn, motivation/determination, and gratitude. Resutls also show that anthropomorphism plays a crucial role in the development of strong relationships between virtual influencers and their followers. Followers experience a paradoxical multidirectionality of parasocial relationships, whereby a co-occurrence of actual multidimensionality (community-based interactions between followers) and a strengthened perceived, but not actual, multidimensional interaction with virtual influencers has been observed. Drawing on followers’ experiences, this study extends Husserl’s lifeworld concept to digital lifeworlds, in which virtual influencers are embedded. This study contributes to influencer marketing by conceptualizing comparisons between humans and virtual influencers and how humans develop parasocial relationships with them.
Paper Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00913367.2024.2393711?af=R
Authors: Mona Mrad, Zahy Ramadan, Zsófia Tóth, Lina Nasr, Sahar Karimi
ABSTRACT
While growing is interest in the use of social media influencers in digital marketing campaigns, little is known about virtual influencers and their impact on consumers and brands. Virtual influencers are becoming efficient advertising tools. Instead of being simple promoters, however, customers develop complex relationships with virtual influencers. This study seeks to uncover how social comparisons and parasocial relationships manifest within the virtual influencer phenomenon through the lived experiences of their followers. The findings indicate that perceiving virtual influencers’ human-like traits induces some form of social comparison among followers that triggers several responses, such as jealousy, scorn, motivation/determination, and gratitude. Resutls also show that anthropomorphism plays a crucial role in the development of strong relationships between virtual influencers and their followers. Followers experience a paradoxical multidirectionality of parasocial relationships, whereby a co-occurrence of actual multidimensionality (community-based interactions between followers) and a strengthened perceived, but not actual, multidimensional interaction with virtual influencers has been observed. Drawing on followers’ experiences, this study extends Husserl’s lifeworld concept to digital lifeworlds, in which virtual influencers are embedded. This study contributes to influencer marketing by conceptualizing comparisons between humans and virtual influencers and how humans develop parasocial relationships with them.
Self-Discrepancy as a Motive for Non-Fungible Token (NFT) Acquisition: A Psychological Ownership Perspective
Brands are increasingly integrating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into their marketing tactics, aiming to bolster brand awareness and expand their influence in the metaverse. However, there is limited understanding of the factors that motivate consumers to purchase NFT products and the effective advertising strategies in this context. This paper addresses this gap by examining the influence of self-discrepancy on consumer reactions to NFT advertisements. Results from three experiments demonstrate that individuals with a pronounced self-discrepancy are more inclined to purchase NFTs than non-NFTs. The types of self-discrepancy and NFTs play a role: individuals with a gap between their actual and ideal selves favor virtual-only NFTs, whereas those with a discrepancy between their actual and ought selves favor hybrid NFTs, available in both real and virtual realms. This trend is especially evident for luxury brands. The core mechanism driving these findings is psychological ownership, which shapes consumer purchase intentions toward NFTs.
Paper Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00913367.2024.2441310?af=R
Authors: Minjeong Kim, Yuhosua Ryoo, Eunjin (Anna) Kim
ABSTRACT
Brands are increasingly integrating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into their marketing tactics, aiming to bolster brand awareness and expand their influence in the metaverse. However, there is limited understanding of the factors that motivate consumers to purchase NFT products and the effective advertising strategies in this context. This paper addresses this gap by examining the influence of self-discrepancy on consumer reactions to NFT advertisements. Results from three experiments demonstrate that individuals with a pronounced self-discrepancy are more inclined to purchase NFTs than non-NFTs. The types of self-discrepancy and NFTs play a role: individuals with a gap between their actual and ideal selves favor virtual-only NFTs, whereas those with a discrepancy between their actual and ought selves favor hybrid NFTs, available in both real and virtual realms. This trend is especially evident for luxury brands. The core mechanism driving these findings is psychological ownership, which shapes consumer purchase intentions toward NFTs.
Infusing Affective Computing Models into Advertising Research on Emotions
This article discusses promising avenues for integrating affective computational approaches into advertising research on emotion. We review affective computing methods for different modalities—text, visual, and audio—and present advertising research examples and computational tools for each modality. We discuss different state-of-the-art multimodal tools for emotion recognition and propose an evaluation framework for advertising researchers to compare and select appropriate affective computing models. Finally, we discuss how affective computing approaches may fill some research gaps to advance emotion-based advertising research and theory building. This paper contributes theoretical insights, ethical considerations, and practical guidelines essential for the methodological advancement of the emerging field of computational advertising research.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2409254
Authors: Taylor Jing Wen, Ching-Hua Chuan, George Anghelcev, Sela Sar,Joseph T. Yu, Yanzhen Xu
ABSTRACT
This article discusses promising avenues for integrating affective computational approaches into advertising research on emotion. We review affective computing methods for different modalities—text, visual, and audio—and present advertising research examples and computational tools for each modality. We discuss different state-of-the-art multimodal tools for emotion recognition and propose an evaluation framework for advertising researchers to compare and select appropriate affective computing models. Finally, we discuss how affective computing approaches may fill some research gaps to advance emotion-based advertising research and theory building. This paper contributes theoretical insights, ethical considerations, and practical guidelines essential for the methodological advancement of the emerging field of computational advertising research.
Computer Vision Models for Image Analysis in Advertising Research
This study introduces computer vision models for image analysis in advertising research. It reviews the literature in social science and computer science and identifies three categories and nine types of image analysis. The study uses these categories and types as a framework to select 12 computer vision models and compare them on their capability, accuracy, availability, and usability. Nine models are single-functional models, and three are multi-functional models; all 12 have been used in advertising research. The study also demonstrates how two models are used to classify a sample of image ads and assess the aesthetic scores of these ads to answer the research question about the relationship between content categories and aesthetic scores in image ads. It outlines several key steps for the use of computer vision models in advertising research and proposes future research directions. The study can serve as a guide to advertising researchers.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2407644
Authors: Hairong Li, Nan Zhang
ABSTRACT
This study introduces computer vision models for image analysis in advertising research. It reviews the literature in social science and computer science and identifies three categories and nine types of image analysis. The study uses these categories and types as a framework to select 12 computer vision models and compare them on their capability, accuracy, availability, and usability. Nine models are single-functional models, and three are multi-functional models; all 12 have been used in advertising research. The study also demonstrates how two models are used to classify a sample of image ads and assess the aesthetic scores of these ads to answer the research question about the relationship between content categories and aesthetic scores in image ads. It outlines several key steps for the use of computer vision models in advertising research and proposes future research directions. The study can serve as a guide to advertising researchers.
The Role of Psychological Distance in Enhancing Identity-Relevant Brand Awareness
Advertisers are increasingly prioritizing brand awareness, as it has become a top marketing objective, yet market trends suggest that much of consumers’ brand knowledge is not easily retrieved from memory. To inform advertising strategies designed to address this issue, we examine how self-identity–driven psychological distance affects the type of brand information that consumers are more readily able to retrieve from memory. Study 1 demonstrates that the psychological distance associated with a self-identity influences consumers’ ability to recall concrete (vs. abstract) identity-relevant brand knowledge. For identity-congruent brands related to a current (future) self-identity, consumers elaborate on and process more concrete (abstract) brand information, resulting in stronger brand associations that are more easily recalled from memory. Study 2 leverages this effect to enhance the recall of brand knowledge by matching the psychological distance of a self-identity with a construal mindset. Study 3 demonstrates that retrieval of newly learned brand information can be enhanced by matching the psychological distance of a self-identity with the concreteness of advertising messaging and identifies consumers for whom this effect may not occur (i.e., those with high product involvement). The research makes important theoretical contributions and suggests actionable advertising strategies for enhancing the retrieval of brand knowledge.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2343287
Authors: Scott Connors, Katie Spangenberg
ABSTRACT
Advertisers are increasingly prioritizing brand awareness, as it has become a top marketing objective, yet market trends suggest that much of consumers’ brand knowledge is not easily retrieved from memory. To inform advertising strategies designed to address this issue, we examine how self-identity–driven psychological distance affects the type of brand information that consumers are more readily able to retrieve from memory. Study 1 demonstrates that the psychological distance associated with a self-identity influences consumers’ ability to recall concrete (vs. abstract) identity-relevant brand knowledge. For identity-congruent brands related to a current (future) self-identity, consumers elaborate on and process more concrete (abstract) brand information, resulting in stronger brand associations that are more easily recalled from memory. Study 2 leverages this effect to enhance the recall of brand knowledge by matching the psychological distance of a self-identity with a construal mindset. Study 3 demonstrates that retrieval of newly learned brand information can be enhanced by matching the psychological distance of a self-identity with the concreteness of advertising messaging and identifies consumers for whom this effect may not occur (i.e., those with high product involvement). The research makes important theoretical contributions and suggests actionable advertising strategies for enhancing the retrieval of brand knowledge.
When Social Media Gets Political: How Message–Platform Match Affects Consumer Responses to Brand Activism Advertising
Social media has sparked a surge in online activism and sociopolitical movements. Numerous companies have also launched brand activism advertising campaigns to voice their stances on sociopolitical causes. However, it remains unclear how and why consumer reactions to brand activism ads vary across different social media platforms. To bridge this gap, we introduced a novel characteristic of social media—level of politicization—and examined how message–platform congruence in terms of level of politicization affects consumer responses to brand activism ads. In Study 1, we found that on a less politicized platform, a less politicized message (vs. a more politicized message) reduced ad intrusiveness, which in turn positively affected consumers’ ad attitudes and purchase intentions toward the brand. On a more politicized platform, consumers exhibited equivalent levels of responses regardless of the message type. In Study 2, we further identified consumers’ level of issue support as a boundary condition of the message–platform congruence effect, such that the congruence effect was larger when issue support was low.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2347271
Authors: Xuan Zhou, Chen Lou, Xun (Irene) Huang
ABSTRACT
Social media has sparked a surge in online activism and sociopolitical movements. Numerous companies have also launched brand activism advertising campaigns to voice their stances on sociopolitical causes. However, it remains unclear how and why consumer reactions to brand activism ads vary across different social media platforms. To bridge this gap, we introduced a novel characteristic of social media—level of politicization—and examined how message–platform congruence in terms of level of politicization affects consumer responses to brand activism ads. In Study 1, we found that on a less politicized platform, a less politicized message (vs. a more politicized message) reduced ad intrusiveness, which in turn positively affected consumers’ ad attitudes and purchase intentions toward the brand. On a more politicized platform, consumers exhibited equivalent levels of responses regardless of the message type. In Study 2, we further identified consumers’ level of issue support as a boundary condition of the message–platform congruence effect, such that the congruence effect was larger when issue support was low.