| Chapter 2: | Literature Review |
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while substantive variation can be defined as “a change in message content, i.e., arguments, attributes” (Schumann, Petty and Clemons, 1990, p. 193).
Essentially, these definitions draw a distinction between cosmetic and substantive variations in terms of design versus copy. That is, changes in design of the ad, i.e., color, layout, illustration, are “cosmetic” while changes in advertising copy are “substantive.” These definitions, however, are somewhat vague for several reasons. First of all, changes in color or design could be viewed as substantive changes while changes in body copy could be viewed as minor (“cosmetic”) changes. For example, from the consumers’ point of view, changing the background color of a fashion product ad from white to red can be viewed as a substantive change. Or, changing the model from a male to a female in an ad can be perceived as a substantive change. On the other hand, changing the headline of an ad, while leaving others intact, can be viewed as a minor change for consumers of some products.
Second, variation in advertising can be a continuous variable. For example, there could be numerous changes in color, layout, illustration, or copy, which, depending upon the particular combination of these factors, can be perceived by consumers as cosmetic or substantive.
Finally, categorizing ad variation in terms of design versus copy can be problematic in some media such as radio where the concept of design is not visual. In fact, existing definitions of ad variation tend to ignore multimedia aspects of advertising where textual, audio and visual factors of the advertising creative may often interact to produce effects.
In this study, ad variation is defined as presenting different ad versions for a single product within an advertising campaign period, instead of presenting a single ad version for a product multiple times. Although somewhat broad, this definition can be applied to a variety of media and reflect the continuous nature of ad variation.