Success in thematic incongruence : an examination of award winning advertisements with regards to emotional appeals, media vehicle, and product category

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S U C C E S S I N T H E M A T I C

I N C O N G R U E N C E

:

A N E X AM I N A T I O N O F A W A R D W I N N I N G A D V E R T I S E M E N T S W I T H R E G A R D S T O E M O T I O N A L AP P E A L S , M E D I A V E H I C L E , A N D P R O D U C T C A T E G O R Y Leslie Gowdy-Ferguson #10234039 Master’s Thesis

Graduate School of Communication

Master’s Programme Communication Science, Persuasive Communication Advisor: Arie den Boon

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Abstract:

Thematic incongruence is one strategy of advertising differentiation that has become increasingly commonplace. The present study reviewed winners of the top two creative awards programs, The One Show and The Cannes Lions, as a measure of success in the use of thematic incongruence. Though past research has measured thematic incongruence against advertisements in association with brands,

memorability, and recall; the current content analysis investigates thematic incongruence to broader influential variables such as emotional appeals, media vehicles, and product categories. Results indicate that product category has the greatest effect on the success in the use of thematic incongruence, though the direction of effect in relation to high or low involvement categories varied. Notably, the effect of product category was strong and significant. Future research would benefit from taking a deeper dive into the variable of product category. Finally, the present study uses the working definition of thematic incongruence in advertising as when the theme of the message does not match nor detail the benefits of the product. Future research would benefit from further development and testing of this definition.

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INTRODUCTION

By looking at how advertising has evolved over the decades one can only notice that it has through a necessity for differentiation become increasingly clever and creative. There is a growing necessity to break from the clutter and increase differentiation, a practice that has been observed across both traditional and new media vehicles. However, creative advertising is not always a winning strategy and there are clear times when it has failed.

Creative advertising can be thought of in many ways; whether an unexpected element is visual or auditory, or if the media placement or ad theme is incongruent, these are all areas of creative advertising and use of media that have recently been observed via academic study. This study specifically examines thematic incongruence in

advertising across six media vehicles: print, TV, online, branded content, out of home, and radio. This group of media vehicles covers both traditional and new media so as to touch upon the spectrum of options that advertisers, marketers, and media professionals face when creating and placing marketing plans. Furthermore, the use of thematic incongruence is analyzed among eleven product categories and in relation to three different emotional appeals: humor, love, and fear.

Though the concept of thematic incongruence is not a recent phenomenon, there seems to be little research in the area that specifically examines the success of an ad based on its visibility via winning a top creative advertising award. The majority of past studies have focused on brand image incongruity (Sjödin & Törn, 2006), brand or line extension incongruity (Dens & De Pelsmacker, 2010), or have been in the realm of consumer psychology circling around incongruity as it challenges thematic thinking (Estes, Golonka, & Jones, 2011). The current study contributes to future

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work as a starting point in analyzing award winning advertisements with successful use of thematic incongruence in relation to the media vehicle used, emotional appeal, and product category.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWOR K AND LITERATURE

REVIEW

THEMATIC THINKING & INVOLVEMENT WITHIN DIFFERENT PRODUCT CATEGORIES

The idea of two or more items having congruence is seen most commonly in research under the titles of ‘fit’ (Meyers-Levy & Tybout, 1989), ‘alignment’ (Gibbert & Mazursky, 2009), ‘match’ (MacInnis, Moorman, & Jaworski, 1991), or even ‘fuzzy sets’ (Feldman, 1981). Regardless of conflicting semantics, congruent items are items that can be affiliated according to the matching of similar characteristics. Thematic associations are characteristic associations that begin in early childhood. The desire for individuals to place one item in a category with another through time becomes automatic and associations are eventually unintentional (Estes, et al., 2011). It is through this associative process that individuals come to understand the world and create a personalized definition of normalcy.

In regards to thematic thinking, categorization via similarity can be developed in one of two ways. First, the most simplistic of similarity categorization processes is the thematic approach. This approach calls for low cognition allowing for items to be placed in their simple category (i.e. a saw is a tool). When more cognition is applied,

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the categorization process becomes taxonomic. The taxonomic approach calls for a cognitive process that incorporates not only the simple category (i.e. a saw is a tool), but then even more so as it is affiliated to a complimentary item (i.e. a saw and wood) (Estes, et al., 2011). This study uses the working definition of thematic incongruence in advertising as when the theme of the message in the advertisement does not match nor detail the benefits of the product, therefore using the lower cognitive approach of thematic categorization within thematic thinking as a baseline. This falls in line with past definitions of thematic congruence that are specifically in reference to media placement. In reference to thematic congruence in media placement, researchers defined thematic congruence as an advertisement placed in a media vehicle that thematically matched the advertised brand (Dahlén, Rosengren, Törn, & Öhman, 2005). However, due to the method of data collection in the present study, it was not possible to examine the use of thematic incongruence within the media placement and therefore the definition was adjusted so as to be applicable to not only to the current study, but also to subsequent future research.

The focus therefore of the working definition is on the simple categorization thematic level. This allows for categorization at both the low involvement thematic level and the high involvement taxonomic level. Such a necessity is in large part due to findings from past studies, which have shown that complex concepts with fewer

commonalities may then have more opportunities to compliment each other. Therefore the concepts do not thematically match and thus can be measured as successful in utilizing incongruence (Alden & Hoyer, 1993; De Pelsmacker, Geuens, & Anckaert, 2002; Estes, et al., 2011; MacInnis, et al., 1991). Additionally, past research has measured involvement by way of specific individuals, such as with the

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personal involvement inventory (PII) (Zaichkowsky, 1986, 1994). Although the PII has relevance for similar studies in the fields of advertising and consumer behavior, such details are out of scope for the current research. Instead the present study uses a broader more simplistic view of involvement, and measures high and low

involvement according to the typical investment of time, money, and cognitive energy required during the purchasing process (MacInnis, et al., 1991; Zaichkowsky, 1986).

Here past findings are further examined by way of measuring high and low

involvement product categories against the successful use of thematic incongruence, while also considering the possible effects of emotional appeal and media type in relation to the successful use of thematic incongruence.

Additionally, one cannot speak of thematic categorization without discussing theories around associative learning and associative memory, both of which have shown to have an effect on consumer’s perception of thematic affiliations and therefore congruence. In terms of thematic congruence and for the purpose of this study,

Human Associative Memory (HAM) Theory can be applied at the Node Level, Group Level, and Network Level. At the Node Level, consumer’s categorization processes are salient and short term, therefore most prominent with low involvement items. At the Group Level, consumers begin to look at deeper dimensions and categorization characteristics when processing cognitively. Finally, at the Network Level full cognitive processing creates the greatest amount of network connections between paired stimuli (Teichert & Schöntag, 2010). In accordance with the present study, the Network Level processing would best be applied to high involvement products leading to a higher need for cognition. As mentioned previously, past research has indicated that high involvement product categories rely heavily on categorization, one can thus conclude that high involvement product categories would allow for deeper

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cognitive processes that would be more willing to make high involvement network level associations with thematically incongruent advertisements. Thus it is

questioned:

RQ1: Are high involvement product categories more successful in the use of thematic incongruence in advertising?

Accordingly, the current study proposes that high involvement categories will be more successful in the use of thematic incongruence (H1).

THE EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL APPEALS ON THEMATIC INCONGRUENCE

A vast amount of research has been done on the use of emotional appeals in advertising. In the present study three categories of emotional appeals are used by which to analyze the current data set. Firstly, the category for fear appeals was necessary as it is a common message strategy technique, whose main purpose is to motivate by evoking a negative emotion. Past research has shown that negative emotion message strategies attract attention and influence persuasion (De Pelsmacker & Geuens, 1999). Secondly, the category of humor appeals was included. Past

research on humor appeals have found that they have a positive effect on ad

memorability. To explain this effect said past research has used Trace Consolidation Theory and the Dual Process Model. Regarding the Trace Consolidation Theory researchers measured the humor appeal for which the time of exposure and the time

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of data collection were elongated, thus producing the positive finding of enhanced cognitive process (Lammers, Leibowitz, Seymour, & Hennessey, 1983). When applying the Dual Process Model to humor appeals, past findings indicate that using a strong humor appeal and thematic congruence will lead to the greatest ad

memorability (Cline & Kellaris, 2007). Finally, this study analyzed a third emotional appeal that included emotions of love, passion, empathy, and fandom. This final appeal encompasses emotions that create attachment and loyalty, in which the current study follows suit from past research and remarks as a positive emotional appeal (Vlachos, Theotokis, Pramatari & Vrechopoulos, 2009). In accordance to theories surrounding emotional appeals it is predicted that incongruent messaging will be most successful with ads that use positive (humor or love) emotional appeals (H2).

Additionally, in line with the previous hypothetical proposition made in H1, this study also predicts that high involvement categories will be most successful in the use of thematic incongruence when paired with a positive emotional (Love, Humor) appeal (H3).

THE EFFECT OF MEDIA VEHICLE ON THEMATIC INCONGRUENCE

Past research has examined incongruence within individual media types in several ways. Studies on incongruence in branded content sponsorships (Dardis, 2009), context/ad similarity in television and print (De Pelsmacker, Geuens, & Anckaert, 2002), and ad/brand incongruence using print (Dahlén, Lange, Sjödin, & Törn, 2005) have begun to examine ideas around advertising incongruence across different media types. However, no study yet has covered and compared six of the most common forms of advertising media while examining the frequency and success of using

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thematic incongruence. Nor has past research covered the possible interaction effects in successfully utilized incongruent advertising measuring media vehicle and product category or media vehicle and emotional appeal. Thus the following research

questions are explored:

RQ2: Of the six most common media vehicles (radio, print, TV, branded content, online, and out of home), which vehicle(s) will be most successful in the use of incongruent messaging?

RQ3: Of the six most common media vehicles (radio, print, TV, branded content, online, and out of home), which vehicle(s) will be most successful in the use of incongruent messaging that reflects a specific emotion (fear, humor, or love)?

To which it is hypothesized that in accordance with past research (De Pelsmacker, et al., 2002) it is hypothesized that television and print media will be most successful for thematic incongruence (H4).

METHOD

A content analysis of the top selections from two of the most prominent creative advertising awards programs, The One Show (n = 90) and The Cannes Lions (n =

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259), were coded into 312 items. Only the top two levels of winners from the past two years 2012-2013) were measured. These included winners of The One Show Best in Show (n = 1) and The One Show Gold Pencil (n = 89), along with, The Cannes Lions Grand Prix (n = 17) and The Cannes Lions Gold Lion (n = 242). Of the total items (N = 312) several won multiple awards across both platforms and thus the variable of Awards Won was not used for further analysis. Ultimately, the selected winners were then classified and analyzed among four main categories: media vehicle, emotional appeal, thematic incongruence, and product category.

Firstly, the media vehicle was coded into six categories. The media vehicle categories were decided according to the advertising award programs categories. The choices of media vehicle were radio (n = 24), print (n = 69), television (n = 32), digital (n = 71), branded content (n = 35), and out of home (n = 81). Secondly, items were coded according to one of three emotional appeal options. The categories for emotional appeals were derived from a summation of the most common forms of emotional appeal message strategy found in the current data set and via the literature review. The options for emotional appeal were fear (n = 50), humor/fun (n = 155), and love/passion/fandom/sympathy (n = 106). Next items were determined to be either thematically congruent (n = 142) or thematically incongruent (n = 170). Finally, product category was coded into one of eleven classifications. The product categories were determined to be Automotive (n = 28), Tech: Digital & Mobile (n = 32), Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) (n = 43), Travel & Accessories (n = 17), Food & Beverage (n = 33), Safety: Health, Environment, Government, & Non-profit (n = 63), Entertainment: Art, Music, Fashion, & Gambling (n = 75), Home & Garden (n = 1), Finance (n = 11), Machinery & Mechanical Engineering (n = 6), and Education (n =

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3). Outside of the initial coding two unaffiliated parties confirmed coder reliability by coding and comparing the subsequent results of ten items each.

Thirteen items were compared among three coders for inter-coder reliability measured by Cohen’s κ to analyze agreement among coders regarding whether an advertisement was or was not thematically incongruent. Coder training was essential in ensuring a proper understanding of the working definition. A moderate to substantial agreement was found among the three coders’ judgments. The inter-coder agreement was additionally found to be significant, κ = .541 (95% CI, .322 to .760), p < .05.

RESULTS

A One-way ANOVA was run to determine the strongest relationships between the independent variable of thematic incongruity to the independent variables of media type, product category, and emotional appeal. A One-way ANOVA yielded no significant differences between groups with regard to thematic incongruence and media type F(1, 310) = .295, ns. Additionally, no significant differences were found between groups in regard to thematic incongruence and emotional appeal F(1, 309) = 1.35, ns. However, there was a significant effect of thematic incongruence on product category F(1, 310) = 11.9, p < .001. The effect of product category on a whole was not expected, a result of which is further discussed later. Results of the One-way ANOVA test are presented in Table 1.

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TABLE 1: ANOVA Between Group Results of Media Type, Emotional Appeal, and

Product Category in relation to Thematic Incongruence

Variable SS df F MS p

Media Type .742 1 .295 .742 .587 Emotional Appeal 63.9 1 1.35 63.9 .246 Product Category 1.10 1 11.90 1.10 .001 *Product Category is the only variable to have a significant relationship to the successful use of thematic incongruence.

A chi-square test was performed to analyze the relationship strength between thematic incongruence and the individual product categories. According to Cramers-V a weak relationship exists between media type and thematic incongruence, .140. Emotional appeal and thematic incongruence also produced a very weak relationship, .111. However, product category and thematic incongruence produced a strong

relationship, .316. These results are inline with the initial findings of the ANOVA.

This study examined product categories as high and low involvement considering the cognitive effort required for the purchasing decision. The first hypothesis predicted that high involvement product categories would be the most successful in the use of thematic incongruence. Table 2 illustrates that while this is true of the Automotive (71.4%) category, results also indicate that an almost equally strong relationship occurred between thematic incongruence and Food & Beverage (78.8%), a product category comprised of low involvement products. Furthermore, there was a moderate relationship with the FMCG (62.8%) and Machinery (66.7%) categories; yet again showing equivalent relationships for both high and low involvement categories. Finally, a negative relationship with the category of Finance (81.8%), which is known

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to follow the high involvement and rational line of consumer purchase behavior, was found. Due to conflicting findings and evidence of success in both high and low involvement product categories H1 is rejected.

TABLE 2: Frequency of Successful Thematic Incongruence according to Product

DISCUSSION/LIMITATIONS

The present study explores thematic incongruence in reference to award winning advertisements. Though past research has examined thematic incongruence in advertising, the method employed by the current study in measuring success of thematically incongruent advertisements is unique to this line of questioning. The main purpose of the present study is to create practical implications for media, advertising, and marketing professionals for when the use of a thematically incongruent advertisement is an option. Unexpectedly, the strongest predictor of success in using thematic incongruence came by way of the variable ‘product

category’. Product category also had a strong effect when combined with media type and emotional appeal, though individually the latter two variables were not significant on their own. In examining the results of the effect of product category, the highest frequencies of successful use of thematic incongruence did not fall into either the high or low involvement categories. Instead, results indicated that thematic incongruence can be quite successful in both high and low involvement product categories, indicating that further research is necessary to highlight the specific cause of

successful use of thematic incongruence in these extremes of the product categories. Seemingly, involvement is not the best indicator of why thematic incongruence is successful in some product categories, but not others. However, the present study does highlight the product categories that most frequently used thematic incongruence successfully and such results should be considered in the creation of marketing plans in which the visual creative or message strategy has gone the route of thematic incongruence.

Although the present study measures success in advertising through highly reputable creative advertising award programs as content sources, it was not possible to view

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each advertisement in its natural setting, nor to include naturally occurring variables in exposure, such as frequency and repetition. Past research has shown that repetition can have a positive effect on improving the acceptance and therefore success of a thematically incongruent pairing of a brand and sponsor (Dardis, 2009). In reference to the current study, there was a significantly higher frequency of success in

thematically incongruent placements for advertisements in the out of home media category. Typically out of home placements are seen frequently and regularly as consumers partake in their day-to-day commutes and routines (King & Tinkham, 1990). Though not measureable in the present study, there seems to be evidence that thematically incongruent advertisements have previously shown success in the out of home category and the present study contributes further evidence to that effect. Future research would benefit from further examining and defining this effect.

In utilizing a content analysis to measure the successful use of thematic incongruence among winners of the top creative advertising awards it was discovered that the working definition of thematic incongruence must presented to coders in a clear manner. The present research reviewed thematic incongruence as when the

advertisement did not match nor explicitly state the benefit(s) of the product. Though ultimately in the present study, the coder’s agreement was substantial and significant; it should be noted that difficulty arose in coding an ad that appeared as highly creative as to also be thematically congruent. This effect could be in part due to the necessity to fine-tune the present studies working definition of thematic incongruence.

Additionally, a thematically incongruent advertisement may have had high alignment with the product, though according to the working definition of thematic

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alignment, congruence, and creative advertising should be considered for further research and deeper differentiation.

CONCLUSION

Advertising is ever evolving. To combat ad clutter and to differentiate from

competitors, advertisers, marketers, and media professionals must explore new and novel ways of reaching consumers. Thematic incongruence has been shown via past research as a way of attracting greater attention to an advertisement, though it is not always a successful strategy.

As the present research examined what factors might contribute to the successful use of thematic incongruence either via media vehicle, emotional appeal, or product category, some surprising and unexpected results were produced.

Firstly, the media vehicle type of OOH showed the greatest frequency of successful use of thematic incongruence. This was unexpected, though can be explained when considering the high frequency levels of repetition known to exist in the media placement of and exposure to most OOH placements (King & Tinkham, 1990). Continuances of the present study with the inclusion of exposure to advertisements in a real life setting and with the variables of frequency and repetition would provide further benefit to advertisers, marketers, and media professionals.

Secondly, though positive emotional appeals (n = 261) appeared far more frequently than negative emotional appeals (n = 51) in reference to the use of successful thematic

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incongruence, the present study yielded no significant effects of this variable in determining the success of thematically incongruent advertisement.

Finally, the overriding effect of product category was unexpected. Though high involvement product categories were predicted to be more successful in the use of thematic incongruence, it was in fact found that some low involvement categories also showed a very high frequency of success in the use of thematically incongruence creative. Therefore, the present prediction was not proven. However, it is inarguable when reviewing the results of the ANOVA that the overall variable of product category had a significant effect on the successful use of thematic incongruence.

Overall the current study provides a useful base for advertisers, marketers, and media professionals to reference when the use of thematic incongruence is proposed in a media or marketing plan. Though most of the initial predictions were not validated, consistent findings have been found in the frequency of successful use of thematic incongruence among individual items in the grouped variables. Specifically, certain product categories, such as, Food & Beverage and Automotive displayed frequent use of thematic incongruence. However, the product category of Finance showed frequent use of thematic congruence. Further research would greatly benefit from a deep dive into these individual product category items. More specifically, by examining which external factors contributed to findings in the present study and therefore further developing a framework for success in the use of thematic incongruence, which may then be applied by advertisers, marketers, and media professionals when creating creative marketing plans.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, to my loving and supportive partner in crime, Tobias van Hoogen. Thank you for your continued encouragement. To my Son, Maxwell, you’re adorable and a great sense of inspiration.

To my Mother, Carla Gowdy, and my Father, Bill Ferguson, for instilling the

importance of education. Thank you to the van Hoogen Family, for support, kindness, and for Grandson-sitting so that I had invaluable extra time for studies.

To my advisor, Arie den Boon, who trusted me and guided me through this daunting process. It was made to feel less daunting with his positive feedback and availability. To the University of Amsterdam, the Graduate School of Communication, and

ASCOR for providing the base knowledge for which this study occurred, and specifically to Hilde Voorveld and Dr. Peeter Verlegh for helping guide the focus of this study.

To Megan Harris and Jillian Student, my colleagues and friends, for constant check-in’s, motivational talks, panic-attack-talk-downs, and lunches.

Finally, thank you to Emily Grotheer and The One Club for your enthusiasm, support, and knowledge base. Your contribution and dedication is invaluable.

Success in thematic incongruence : an examination of award winning advertisements with regards to emotional appeals, media vehicle, and product category