| Chapter 2: | Literature Review |
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The preceding discussion on the frequency models provides two important implications on the effects of ad variation. First, one commonality of these models is that there will be a point at which advertising effectiveness eventually begins to decline due to tedium. Second, and more importantly, existing frequency models suggest that the decrease in advertising effectiveness after tedium point varies depending upon the dependent variables. For example, both the inverted-U curve response proposed by Berlyne (1970) and Zajonc (1972) and the S-shaped response proposed by Krugman (1970) seem to apply primarily to affective measures such as attitude toward the ad (Aad) and attitude toward the brand (Abrand) while the concave response model seems to be a more viable explanation for the impact of frequency on memory. Indeed, in previous advertising research, measures of attitudes have been shown to decline after the tedium point while measures of memory tend to be maintained with additional exposure (Cacioppo & Petty, 1979).
Given the discussion thus far, the role of ad variation may differ depending upon the level of frequency. Specifically, it is predicted that when the level of frequency is low and below the tedium point, repeating the same ad results in higher memory than that experienced under conditions of ad variation as suggested by the encoding specificity and transfer-appropriate processing theories. For example, when consumers are exposed to an ad for the first time, it may take a certain number of exposures before consumers gain familiarity with the ad information. If consumers are exposed to varied ads in the initial exposures, the information in each ad will be processed as new information which may result in lower levels of memory. However, when frequency exceeds the tedium point, ad variation may counter tedium and result in higher levels of memory.
In the case of a non-varied ad strategy, the level of frequency may not make much difference. Research has suggested that in the web advertising context, the first few exposures make the strongest impact (Pagendarm, & Schaumburg, 2001) in contrast to the case with traditional