Consumer response to different advertising appeals for new products: The moderating influence of branding strategy and product category involvement

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate interaction effects between branding strategy (new brand versus established brand), advertising execution strategies (informational, positive emotional and negative emotional) and product category involvement (low and high) on consumers' attitudes towards the product, purchase intention and the (parent) brand. Two analyses are performed in which involvement is manipulated at product category and at individual level. The results show that in general, line extensions of established brands are preferred over new brands. Furthermore, advertising strategy has little impact on consumer responses to line extensions of familiar brands. The type of advertising strategy used does have a significant impact on product and brand attitude and purchase intention for new brands, where negative emotional appeals lead to significantly more negative responses. The results are further moderated by product category involvement. Informational appeals score especially well in high-involvement situations, whereas positive emotional appeals perform better in low-involvement situations. Interestingly, the differences between advertising appeals in both low- and high-involvement conditions are greater for new brands than for extensions.