Cross-media advertising strategies and brand attitude: the role of cognitive load

Abstract

In recent years, cross-media advertising has received widespread attention from researchers and practitioners seeking effective ways to communicate with their audience. Building on Kahneman’s dual-system theory, the present article proposes a model of the impact of cross-media advertising on brand attitude (Abr). An eye-tracking experiment with 60 participants indicates that simultaneous (vs. sequential) exposure to ads for the same brand on TV and the Internet increases cognitive load and, through subjective comprehension, decreases brand attitude. Two online experiments with 395 and 198 participants in a low- and high-involvement product category, respectively, validate the proposed model. Experiment 2 reveals that in sequential exposure to TV and the internet, the fit between campaign ads further decreases the cognitive load leading to improved brand attitude. Experiment 3 strongly suggests that in simultaneous exposure, synchronous (vs. asynchronous) ads reduce cognitive demands and, through subjective comprehension and TV ad engagement, improve brand attitude.

Keywords:

• Cross-media advertising
• synced advertising
• fit between campaign ads
• cognitive load
• subjective comprehension
• TV advertising engagement
• brand attitude

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Leonidas Hatzithomas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Business Administration at the University of Macedonia, Greece. His research interests include humor, visual metaphors, gender issues in advertising, cross-media advertising, and social media communications. He has published in several journals, including the International Journal of Advertising, International Marketing Review, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Journal of Product & Brand Management, British Food Journal, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, and Journal of Marketing Communications.

Fotini Theodorakioglou is a PhD candidate in the Department of Business Administration at the University of Macedonia, Greece. Her research interests include cross-media advertising, media multitasking, and marketing communications. She has published papers in journals such as the British Food Journal, Journal of Marketing Communications, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, and Sustainability.

Kostoula Margariti is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Business Administration at the University of Macedonia, Greece. She received her BSc in Economics, an MSc in Business Administration (MBA), an MSc in Finance and Accounting and an Ph.D. in advertising. Her academic interests include advertising design, minimal design in advertising, visual metaphors, and cross cultural advertising. Her academic interests also lie on luxury branding. She has published her work in the International Journal of Advertising, Food Research International, Journal of Promotion, and Journal of Global Fashion Marketing. She has also presented her work in international conferences in Marketing and Advertising (EMAC, ICORIA).

Christina Boutsouki is a Professor of Marketing at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her research interests lie in the areas of humorous advertising, visual metaphors, social media, neuromarketing and political communication. She has published her work in the International Journal of Advertising, International Marketing Review, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Food Research International, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Communication Research Reports, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, and the International Journal of Internet Marketing & Advertising among others.

Notes

1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCNQKbMxiCU&t=154s

2 https://foni.marketinghub.gr/topgym/ (the website without banner ads)

3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P4vp9Ka34M

4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTt-MfCMXEI

5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR6a91RLsUM (the target commercial before editing)

6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMI7esY3p04 (the TV programme before editing)

7 https://foni.marketinghub.gr/edu-zone-7/ (the website without banner ads)