How does political orientation moderate the effectiveness of authority-based advertising in print advertising?
Till Lagemann Till C. Lagemann S2444577 June, 2018 +31 6 2204 8862 ticolagemann@gmail.com Blekerstraat 11, 9718EA Groningen Master Thesis AlBalooshi, S. Jager, W.
Till Lagemann
Abstract:
Appeal to authority is often used in advertising as a persuasive technique to increase compliance. About a fourth of US ads for example use celebrities to endorse their brand or product. Consumers, however, differ in their many aspects such as personality, cognitive process styles, and ideological preferences. Such individual differences could result in variations in the effectiveness of authority-based persuasion in advertising. The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of political orientation on the effectiveness of authority based advertising. Using a print advertising for an (invented) anti-dandruff shampoo including both text and visuals, an experiment was conducted using data from Amazon MTurk database using a 2-level (authority/no-authority) between-subject design. The results indicate that the effectiveness of appeal to authority as not as straightforward as putting a badge on a individual. Advertising effectiveness results from the interplay that authority and perceived credibility has on the perceiver in his context.
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Contents:
Abstract: 3
Contents: 4
1. Introduction 6
2. Literature and Conceptual Background 7
2.1 The Authority Principle 7
The Authority Principle: 8
Soft vs Hard: 8
2.2 Conditions to the Authority Principle 9
2.3 Ideology and The Authority Principle 10
2.4 Spokesperson’s Credibility: 11
2.5 The Conceptual Model 11
3. Empirical Analysis 12 3.1 Overview 12 3.2 Participants 12 3.3 Stimuli 12 3.4 Advertising Effectiveness 13 3.5 Ideology 15 3.6 Spokesperson’s credibility (H3) 15 3.7 Demographics 16 3.8 Procedure 16 4. Results 16 4.1 Descriptives 16 4.2 Statistical Tests 16
4.3 The Authority principle 17
4.4 Political Orientation 18
4.5 Spokesperson’s Credibility 18
4.6 The Controls 19
5. Discussion and Conclusion 19
5.1 Discussion 19
5.2. Summary 20
5.3 Implications 20
5.4 Limitations: 21
Vagueness of The Authority Effect: 21
Product Categories: 21
Validity of using self-reported data 21
Assumptions of the Scale 22
5.5 Future Research: 22
6. References 23
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Appendix B – Stimuli Authority Condition: 27
Appendix C: No Authority Condition: 28
Appendix D: Factor Loadings and Reliability Analysis of Averaged and Aggregated Scales 29
Appendix E: Descriptives and ANOVA 31
Appendix F: Results of the ANCOVA Analysis 33
Appendix G: Personality Dimensions Liberal/Conservatives 34
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1. Introduction
Different persuasive techniques work for different people (Jung & Kellaris 2006; Amos, Holmes, & Strutton 2015; Aaker & Maheswaran, 1997; and Jost, 2017). Various research has shown the importance that socio-cultural and personal factors have in shaping the responsiveness to particular persuasive techniques used in advertising.
As such, one could deduct that the use of authority in advertising would render more effective in social settings where there is a higher acceptance of differences between those in power and those not (i.e. power distance from Hofstede, 1980). The value congruity theory backs this possibility, stating that ad-effectiveness is determined by the advertisement’s congruity between the used persuasion technique and the cultural values in which the advertisement is ingrained (Albers-Miller & Gelb, 1996). Jung, Polyorat, and Kellaris (2009) conducted two experiments using data from South Korea, a country traditionally known with high power distance, and the US, a country with general low power distance, to study the relationship between value contiguity and the use of authority-based advertisements. They found that authority-driven advertising proved more effective when power distance is high in the given culture. Grant McCracken (1989) similarly highlighted that the effectiveness of product endorsements stems from the socio-cultural settings and meanings in which they are endowed. This suggests that the authority-appeal in advertising is more effective in certain cultural-settings than others. But what about political-orientation? Is there a possibility that ideology as well influences authority-appeal in advertising?
In the last decade, political psychology has seen a tremendous rise in academic research, establishing links between political orientation and personality characteristics, neurological structures, cognitive processing styles, motivational concerns, personal values, and physiological functions (Jost 2006; 2017). Some papers even go so far to state that there is a link between preferences for social rules, order, and conduct–what we label ideology–and genetics (Watkins, Aitken, & Mather, 2016). If ideological stances are so deeply ingrained that they can even be found in human DNA, it seems reasonable to deduct that they could have a moderating role in the effectiveness of authority-based advertising strategies—especially when considering the variability of advertising effectiveness across socio-cultural domains.
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To test these hypotheses, I conducted an experiment with a 2-level (authoritarian endorsement: yes/no) between-subject study design. A utilitarian product, namely an anti-dandruff shampoo, was used to enhance external validity and minimize external moderating effects (Fam and Grohs, 2007). The subject was exposed to the print advertisement of either condition and asked to evaluate them. Advertisement effectiveness was used a three scale framework (brand recall, evaluations, purchase intentions) and was recorded using a seven-scale questionnaire. Political orientation served as the moderating variable and was measured using a combination of multiscale ideological self-report and the well-known RWA-scale by Bob Altemeyer (2006). Based on these scores, ideology was then reported along a seven-point scale semantically anchored at 1 for left i.e. high score on liberalism and 7 for right i.e. high score on conservatism. Additionally, demographics including occupation, sex, education, and comprehension and understanding questions were collected to serve as controls. The paper begins with the conceptual background, which dives in authority-based persuasion, advertising effectiveness, and political orientation, and then moves into the empirical analysis, results, discussion and conclusions.
2. Literature and Conceptual Background
This paper looks at influence strategies in marketing, and in specific at authority-driven marketing. The effectiveness of authority-driven persuasion strategies are highly shaped by the embedded culture and values of the target audience (Jung, Polyorat, Kellaris, 2009). As such, they are a interesting principle to study as it exhibits high variations in effectiveness dependent on the context. Research has shown that the effectiveness of authority-driven advertising is moderated by various cultural, personal, and societal dimensions including “youthfulness” (e.g. Kassarjian, 1971; Jung & Kellaris, 2006). Although political orientation has been shown to align with personality dimensions and consumer behavior, no research has investigated the effectiveness of authority-appeals in advertising and moderating influence of political orientation. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the authority-principle and looks at the moderating influence of ideology using the left-right dimension used in political psychology (Jost 2017) i.e. liberal and conservatives diverge.
2.1 The Authority Principle
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The Authority Principle:
As the name itself says, the authority principle takes advantage of the fact that individuals tend to comply with the recommendations and orders of authority figures. It is a fundamental social principle influence principle coined by Cialdini (2001). For this technique, persuaders aim to convey credibility, competence, respectability, and power to prove their point. Examples of authority figures can be parents, politicians, experts, anyone regarded as respectable and powerful in a given society. High ranking public officials are often regarded as authority figures. Perhaps the classic example is the controversial Milgram (1963) study, which demonstrated the shocking extremes to which individuals will go to obey authority. According to the Oxford dictionary, an authority is a person with “the power to influence others” due to one’s “commanding matter”, expertise, or social recognition. Expertise, legitimacy, and social proof are central to authority (French and Raven, 1959). Central to an authoritarian figure is that the cultural setting recognizes its social position. Authority is therefore context dependent.
Soft vs Hard:
Research generally segregate the authority principle into two subcategories. One, as a soft tactic i.e. the figure in the ad is relevant to the product or brand and therefore seen as credible as they the authority derives from an internal source. A example of this is a dentist recommending a toothpaste brand. Two, as a harsh tactic i.e. the figure is not relevant to the product and her authority derives from existing social structures. An example of this would be a celebrity actor like George Clooney recommending a coffee brand. In this his authority derives from existing social structures. Whereas soft strategies rely on attributes internal to authorities, such as credibility, harsh strategies rely on attributes external to authorities, such as legitimate power vested by a hierarchy of a social structure.
Although authority figures may vary across cultures, there are certain factors that lead to authority. In advertising, an authority person can stimulate product evaluations and sales in four ways, (1) acting as a spokesperson, (2) actor, (3) endorser, or as (4) testimonial. Advertisers often use authority figures in advertising by including them as spokespersons or endorsers (Cialdini, 1993). Examples are dentist recommendations for toothbrush advertisements.
There have been several papers researching how endorsement can be an effective marketing technique. In general, authority-driven marketing is widely used and generally effective (Cialdini, 1993). Dated research by Aktin and Block (1983) looked at the effectiveness of endorsers in alcohol advertising. In the endorsement condition, product evaluations were rated more pleasant, enjoyable, and superior by both younger and older audiences. This method may improve financial returns for companies that employ them in their advertising campaigns (Farrel et al. 2000; Erdogan et al. 2001).
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anyone “who uses their public recognition” in behalf of appearing or promoting a consumer good or brand in an advertisement (McCracken, 1989). According to Shimp (2000) about a fourth of US advertisements employ celebrity endorsers. It has been shown to produce more favorable advertisement ratings (e.g. Goldsmith et al. 2000), increase purchase intentions and brand evaluations (e.g. Dean and Biswas, 2001) and increase firm’s sales (e.g. Erdogan, 2001). Whereas authority-based advertising makes use of power to influence people, celebrity endorsement often additionally uses liking. However, due to the existing research and high similarity between celebrities and figures of authority, the paper proposes the following hypothesis:
H1: Employing the authority-principle in print advertisement positively influences consumers’ cognitive receptions, ad evaluations, product evaluations, and purchase intentions.
2.2 Conditions to the Authority Principle
However, this paper proposes that the effectiveness of the authority principle is conditional. Different persuasive techniques work for different people (Jung & Kellaris 2006; Amos, Holmes, & Strutton 2015; Aaker & Maheswaran, 1997; Jost 2017; Albers-Miller & Gelb, 1996). Research generally has shown that the effectiveness of the authority principle can be moderated by (1) within contextual factors i.e. national and cultural dimensions such as Hofstede’s framework (2) the “youthfulness” of the audience (Jung & Kellaris, 2006) and (3) various dimensions of personality (e.g. Kassarjian, 1971).
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authority effect as they often resent authority figures. Thirdly, Personality moderates receptiveness to certain persuasive messages. For example, more expressive and open personalities might be less receptive to authority messages than rigid and orderly individuals.
Consequently it can be noted that the effectiveness of the authority-principle is highly dependent of the various customer–, culture–, and psychology–related aspects. Although political orientation has been shown to align with personality dimensions and consumer behavior, no research has investigated the potential role ideology might have in the the effectiveness of authority-appeals in advertising.
2.3 Ideology and The Authority Principle
If ad-effectiveness varies amongst cultures, it seems logical to assume that personal political views also shape persuasion reception. Political ideology is, according to Jost of NYU (2006: 653) “an interrelated set of moral
and political attitudes that possess cognitive, affective, and motivational components. [it] helps to explain why people do what they do; it organizes their values and beliefs and leads to political behavior”. Political ideology has mostly been described using the left-right distincion, tracing back to the 18th century seating arrangement in the French parliament. Although the distinction has serious limitations (as discussed later), it is, according to Jost (2006: 654) the single “most useful and parsimonious” way to classify ideology, and that for more than two centuries.
A popular moderator of advertising effectiveness is the socio-cultural setting and motivations of the consumers. Several researcher have established a link between political orientation and personality, consumer behavior, and general psycho-behavior indicators. An abundance of research in political psychology demonstrates that leftists and rightists (or liberals and conservatives) diverge from one another in terms of: (a) personality characteristics; (b) cognitive processing styles; (c) motivational interests and concerns; (d) the prioritization of personal values; and (e) neurological structures and physiological functions.
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Additionally, Carney, Jost, Gosling, and Potter (2008: 816) conducted a wide-ranging research on the personality differences of liberals and conservatives ( see appendix G). Conservatives generally tend to be more obedient, orderly, suspicious, and conventional, all suggesting a preference for authority-appeals. For that reason, this paper suggest that conservatives, opposed to liberals, are more welcoming of the authority-appeal.
H2: Ideology moderates this relationship such that individuals scoring high on liberalism are less susceptible to the authority principle than individuals scoring high on conservatism.
2.4 Spokesperson’s Credibility:
For authority figures to exert power, they must have credibility (Cialdini & Rhoads, 2001). This paper therefore proposes that spokesperson’s credibility plays an trivial role in the effectiveness of the authority principle. Some papers deem credibility so important, that credibility is seen as a condition for authority to work. Consequently, this paper hypothesizes that spokesperson’s credibility will have a mediating role on the influence of authority on advertising effectiveness. Consistent with previous source credibility research (e.g., Grewal et al., 1994), credibility is defined as “expertise” and “trustworthiness.”
H3: Spokesperson’s credibility serves as a mediator between Authority and Advertising effectiveness.
2.5 The Conceptual Model
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3. Empirical Analysis
3.1 Overview
To test the previously mentioned hypotheses, an experiment with a 2-level (authority/no authority) between-subject study design was conducted on the evening of May 3, 2018 using Amazon MTurk human intelligence marketplace, a global on-demand workforce database. All respondents received a small financial compensation for the participation in the survey.
Advertisement effectiveness was measured using a three-item framework (brand recall, evaluations, purchase intentions) and was recorded using a online questionnaire. Political orientation served as the moderating variable and was measured along a seven-point scale semantically anchored at 1 for left i.e. high score on liberalism and 7 for right i.e. high score on conservatism, based on multiscale self-reported ideological preferences. Demographics were additionally obtained for control.
3.2 Participants
The participants of the study were 132 US citizens. 67% of the participants was male, 32% was female, and 1% was other. Most respondents were American (N= 80; 61%). A high majority (N=120; 90%) identified as being employed (87 were paid employees and 33 were self-employed). The remainder stated to be looking for work. No students participated. The median education level was a bachelor’s degree in college (63% attained at least this level). The median income was $40,000 to $49,999.
3.3 Stimuli
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portrayed as still having to prove their skills. No title, attire, or trappings will be featured (see Appendix C for stimuli).
3.4 Advertising Effectiveness
Advertising effectiveness is measured in literature in various ways. One way is determine what the advertisement is supposed to do and then choose the best measurement. Increasing sales is the most obvious function of advertising, but cannot be directly measured. As such, Lavidge and Steiner (2000) propose the three major functions of advertising:
1. The cognitive component
a. fostering awareness and knowledge of the brand or product. A rational state. 2. The affective component
a. fostering (positive) attitudes and feelings towards the brand or product. A feeling state. 3. The motivational component
a. fostering convictions and purchase of the brand or product. A striving state.
As such, advertising effectiveness must be formulated as such, that all three points are regarded. Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann (1983) managed to address all three points by measuring (1) brand recall and recognition (the cognitive component) (2) the consumer thoughts and attitudes towards the product (the affective component) (3) and the purchase likelihood (the motivation component). Moreover, to control for experimental manipulations, attributes were asked. For that reason, this paper will define advertising-effectiveness as the sum-evaluation on the cognitive, affective, and motivation component of the product’s functions, with a higher sum meaning more effective advertising. As such, ad effectiveness will be measured using three variables as follows:
Cognition
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Evaluations
1. Attitudes toward the ad: Attitude toward the ad was measured on a seven-point scale. The respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which you agree with the following descriptions: I felt the previously shown ad to be [...] The items, taken from Madden et al. (1988), were labeled pleasant/unpleasant, likeable/unlikable, interesting/boring, and good/bad.. The four items had a alpha of 0,93, with no increase if item was deleted. All four items were kept and aggregated to form the composite scale attitude toward the ad. The factor loadings and reliability scores can be seen in
Appendix D.
2. Attitudes toward the brand: Attitude toward the brand was measured using the same four items, preceded by instructions stating “The following questions concern the product represented in the ad” and by a prompt “The product in the ad I imagined was [...]”. The scale items of attitude towards the
brand were pleasant/unpleasant, likeable/unlikable, interesting/not interesting, good/bad. All items had
high factor loadings, and therefore aggregated to form composite scale attitudes toward the brand. Aab resulted in a four item alpha of 0,94. No increase if item was deleted. The factor loadings and reliability scores can be seen in Appendix D.
Motivational function
1. Purchase intentions:Purchase-intention is the tendency that the consumer will purchase the advertised product (Wang et al. 2004). Purchase intentions was measured via seven-item, labeled extremely likely/extremely unlikely, preceded by the prompts, “If it were available in your market, what is the likelihood that you might purchase the advertised productwithin (a) 3 months, (b) 6 months, (c) 7 - 12 months, (d) after a year, (e) if I would be affected by dandruff, (f) if it would be prescribed by a profession, (g) if it would be advised by an acquaintance. To provide more accurate individual level purchase predictions, multiple levels of purchase decisions rather than the simple purchase / no-purchase decision were measured; following the advice of Sun and Morwitz (2005). One item ( if it
would be prescribed by a profession ) was deleted to increase reliability, resulting in a six item group with alpha 0,93. The remaining items were aggregated to form composite scale purchase intention. The factor loadings and reliability scores can be seen in Appendix D.
2. Willingness to pay: Willingness to pay was measured using an numeric self-entry following the question: “What amount in US-dollars would you be willing to pay for this product?” This type of measure has been commonly used in various marketing-related studies (Homburg, Koschate, & Hoyer, 2005; Krishna, 1991).
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3.5 Ideology
Academics, social researchers, businesses have used an array of methods to measure ideologic preferences. 1. Using publicly available voter registration records (Brown, 2015).
2. Based on neighborhoods and electoral districts (aggregate-level statistics).
3. Based on the politicians and news sources they follow on for example social media (e.g., Barberá, Jost, Nagler, Tucker, & Bonneau, 2015).
4. Utilizing party manifest data.
Although, these methods make it more practical than ever to incorporate ideological variables in targeting, they are not reliable methods in survey data. For that reason, political ideology is operationalized using a multidimensional self-assessment survey. A multidimensional measure can be more appropriate than self-assessed left-right ideology (Laméris, 2015). The multidimensional measure consist of (1) self-placement on a 7-point slider arranged from extremely liberal (left) to extremely conservative (right). (2) self-reporting using a multiple-choice question arrangement following questions like “ generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or something else?” (3) the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale i.e. a measuring method of right-wing authoritarianism developed by Bob Altemeyer (2006). The scores on each of the three aspects of the multidimensional self-assessment were averaged resulting in a value in a seven-point scale semantically anchored at 1 (left/liberal) and 7 (right/conservative). Self-placement on a slider arranger from liberal to conservative is a conventional method to measure ideology and has been used by a variety of academics.
The Right-Wing Authoritarianism (see Appendix A) is defined by three attitudinal/behavioral aspects:
1. Authoritarian submission — a high degree of submissiveness to the authorities who are perceived to be established and legitimate in the society in which one lives.
2. Authoritarian aggression — a general aggressiveness directed against deviants, outgroups and other people that are perceived to be targets according to established authorities.
3. Conventionalism — a high degree of adherence to the traditions and social norms that are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities and a belief that others in one's society should also be required to adhere to these norms.
The items were aggregated and resulted in a mean of mean of 4.17 (min 1: liberal; max 7: conservative; N=132; alpha=0.94). (See Appendix D).
3.6 Spokesperson’s credibility (H3)
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spokesperson in the ad was __?” The items were labeled/anchored at trustworthy/not trustworthy, open-minded/not open-minded, good/bad, expert/not expert, experienced/not experienced, trained/untrained. Additionally, cultural/demographic aspects might confound authority-based advertising effectiveness (Jung, Polyorat, & Kellaris 2009). The four item group resulted in an alpha of 0,90. (mean = 2,90). The items were averaged and aggregate to form Cred. The factor loadings and reliability scores can be seen in Appendix D.
3.7 Demographics
Gender, location, and occupation were measured using self-reporting to control for possible discrepancies. Since prior research links ideology to socio-economic status (Ghitza & Gelman 2014; McCarty, Poole, & Rosenthal 2006) income and education were captured as well. Education items were less than high school degree, high
school graduate, some college but no degree, associate degree in college (2-year), bachelor's degree in college , master's degree, doctoral degree, professional degree (JD, MD); scoring from 1 to 8.
3.8 Procedure
The stimuli categories authority (AUTH) and no-authority (NO-AUTH) were randomly distributed to the respondents. Consequently, each saw only one set of stimulus ads representing no or high authority. The participants firstly were exposed to the shampoo advertisement, followed by the advertising + credibility evaluations and the control questions. This was followed by demographic questions.
4. Results
4.1 Descriptives
The results of the reliability analysis of all previously mentioned variables are summarized in Appendix D. The reliability analysis successfully inspected the internal validity of all items and formed reliable groups. The aggregated composite scales were, attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand, spokesperson’s
credibility, and purchase intention.
The correlations and descriptive statistics of the variables are shown in Appendix E. Here, it can be seen that, as expected, brand and ad evaluations are highly correlated (p>.01). Additionally, higher ad and brand evaluations correlated with higher purchase intentions and spokesperson credibility scores. Political orientation is negatively correlated with cognition. Higher credibility also renders higher purchase intentions (p>0.01).
4.2 Statistical Tests
In order to analyse the extracted data, both an one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a univariate analysis (ANCOVA) were conducted. One-way ANOVA provides a useful test to compare the different group means of
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shows the descriptives of the variables and the significance levels of the ANOVA conducted. Next, a univariate analysis was conducted using one-way ANCOVA to determine the statistically significant difference between the use of authority appeal on advertising effectiveness controlling for political orientation, spokesperson's credibility, education, and income. For dependent variables, the variables attitude towards the ad, attitude
towards the brand, cognition, purchase intention, willingness to pay, and an Aggregated Advertising Effectiveness was used. For independent variables, I included Authority, Political Orientation, Spokesperson's
credibility, Education, and Income. The interaction variable AuthxPO was also included in order to research the moderating effect of political orientation on the relationship between authority and advertising effectiveness. The results of the ancova analysis are revealed in Appendix F.
4.3 The Authority principle
Ad evaluation was subjected to a one-way ANOVA and results revealed that ad evaluation of participants exposed to the authority ad (M = 2.75, SD = 00) did not significantly differ from the evaluation of participants exposed to the no-authority ad (M = 2.91, SD = 00; F (1,130) = .45, p = .25, η2p = .00). Similarly, brand evaluation results revealed that the evaluation of participants exposed to the authority ad (M = 2.87, SD = 00) did not significantly differ from the evaluation of participants exposed to the no-authority ad (M = 3.10, SD = 00; F (1,130) = .89, p = .17, η2p = .01). Although the insignificance, the higher ad and brand evaluations with the authority treatment are in line of what was expected. Brand recall, category recall, and spokesperson recall of the authority ad did not significantly differ from to the no-authority ad (F (1,130) = .54, p = .47, η2p = .00; F (1,130) = .12, p = .37, η2p = .00; F (1,130) = .25, p = .31, η2p = .00). Similarly, willingness to pay (willingness to pay) and purchase intentions (PI) did not significantly differ between the two conditions (F (1,130) = .05, p = .41, η2p = .00; F (1,126) = .24, p = .31, η2p = .00). All results are displayed in Appendix
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4.4 Political Orientation
Political orientation did not influence advertising effectiveness. The interaction term AuthxPO reveals it is not significant for all aspects of advertising effectiveness. The following graphs reveal the advertising effectiveness of the authority principle by ideology. For this graph, the individual ideology scores were segregated with a score from 1 until 3 being liberal, 4 being unidentified, and 5 until 7 being conservative. The graph reveals that conservatives generally had a higher evaluation of the ads but lower recall of the brand (closer to 1 means more correct recalls). Contrary to the beliefs, liberals were more affected by the authority principle, however, being statistically insignificant.
4.5 Spokesperson’s Credibility
The ANOVA analysis revealed that participants rated spokesperson's credibility in the authority condition (M = 3.18, SD = 00) significantly higher than evaluation of participants exposed to the no-authority ad (M = 2.54, SD = 1.27; F (1,130) = 8.62, p = .00, η2p = .06). The ANCOVA analysis revealed that spokesperson's credibility did have a significant positive main effect on all aspects of Advertising Effectiveness (p=0.00 for all), except
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In order to test for mediation, a PROCESS analysis was conducted for SUM Advertising Effectiveness. Authority has a significant effect on credibility (a=-.64; p=.00). Credibility had a significant effect on advertising effectiveness (b=0.6;1 p=.00). The total effect, authority on advertising effectiveness, is insignificant (c=-.15; p=0.39). Following the existing consensus among researchers that the total effect (c) is not a prerequisite for mediation (see ‘causal steps approach’ e.g., Hayes, 2009; Shrout & Bolger, 2002), the analysis shows that there is a significant indirect effect of authority on advertising effectiveness through Spokesperson’s credibility (c’=-.39; p=.00). The mediator accounts for more than half of the total effect. The results of this analysis are displayed in Appendix H.
Figure 2: Mediation Model
4.6 The Controls
The variableincome had a significant positive effect on purchase intention (p=0.02). Education had a significant positive effect on Willingness to Pay (p=0.04). All other controls were not significant.
5. Discussion and Conclusion
5.1 Discussion
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scoring high on conservatism is also rejected as no significant effect was found. The results, however, indicate high statistical evidence that spokesperson's credibility serves as a mediating variable between the relationship of the authority principle and advertising effectiveness. Lastly, certain population demographics indeed influence this relationship. Respondents with a higher education indicated higher willingness to pay. Additionally, higher income levels lead to higher purchase intentions.
5.2. Summary
Authority is a popular tool used in advertising and politics to increase persuasion. It is generally an accepted belief that authority-driven marketing is effective. Various research (e.g. Aktin & Block, 1983; Cialdini, 1993) and experiments like the Stanford Prison Experiments strongly support this notion. Research has shown that the effectiveness of the technique is highly shaped by context, culture, personal values, and society (e.g. Kassarjian, 1971; Jung & Kellaris, 2006). Although political orientation has been shown to align with personality dimensions and consumer behavior, no research has investigated the effectiveness of authority-appeals in advertising and moderating influence of political orientation. This paper aimed to address this by examining the moderating effect of political orientation on the effectiveness of authority based advertising. Using an invented anti-dandruff shampoo, this paper conducted a online experiment using a 2-level (authority/no-authority) between-subject design. Firstly, the paper found the importance of perceived credibility on the effectiveness of the authority principle in advertising, namely serving as a mediator between the variables. This is deducted from the lack of a direct effect of authority on advertising effectiveness and the significant mediating role of credibility that accounts for considerably more than half of the total effect. Whereas other papers vaguely portray authority as a universally-homogenous concept in visual terms, this paper highlights the importance of perceived credibility in the effectiveness of the principle. In that sense, this paper stressed that the authority principle is highly subjective and dependent on the perceived credibility of the authority source. Secondly, the paper found no significant influence of ideology on the effectiveness of the authority principle. Respondents who identified themselves as more conservative, did not appeal more to the authority principle. Moreover, income and education play an influential role in some aspects of willingness to pay. This seems intuational, as individuals with higher income or education, could have higher disposable incomes.
5.3 Implications
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The most important implication this paper makes is that spokesperson's credibility is an important factor for advertising effectiveness, and using the authority principle can result in higher credibility. Spokesperson’s Credibility therefore serves as a mediator in the relationship between authority and effectiveness. Thus, this paper highlights the importance that managers and marketers critically assess and employ credibility in their marketing content in order to obtain desired results.
5.4 Limitations:
Vagueness of The Authority Effect:
The major weakness of this study was the manner in which the authority appeal is displayed in the ads. Individuals could have been influenced by other factors, such as looks, gender, or the spokesperson’s youthfulness. The respondents might have been influenced by the good looks of the young female student in the portrayed advertisement resulting in higher advertisement effectiveness scores.
Product Categories:
Whereas some papers have used more than one product category, this paper only used one. Using several product categories can be useful to increase external validity and decrease its moderating role on effectiveness (Fam and Grohs, 2007). The lack of several product categories in this research can be a limitation.
Validity of using self-reported data
Survey measures, regardless of what they aim to capture, suffer from several, potentially influential, drawbacks, which are inherent to these measures due to the way they are quantified. Examples of these drawbacks include biases caused by self-serving behaviour, strategic motives or inattention (Camerer & Hogharth 1999; Dohmen et al. 2011). One argument often used is that since the respondents’ choices have no consequences, the respondents are not incentives to show their true preferences and rather pick the options that enhance self-perception and are socially seen desirable or strategic. Camerer and Hogarth (1999) coin three biases that, in their view, possibly result from surveys: (1) self-serving bias i.e. the respondent choosing the option that enhances their self-concept (2) strategic motives i.e. the respondent choosing the option that is strategic (3) inattention i.e. the respondent not taking the survey seriously. Additionally, surveys based on self-reporting are influenced by the typical psychometric limitations (Khan et al., 2013; Carney et al., 2008). These include limitations in the objective measurement of attitudes and personality traits of individuals using questionnaires and tests.
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Assumptions of the Scale
Using this, several assumptions are made.
1. I assume that the left-right ideological spectrum is a valid and relative representation of political orientation. The left-right spectrum is the conventional method to measure political ideology and is used in a wide range of cultural settings (e.g. republicans and democrats in the US, liberal and conservatives in the UK, reformative-liberals and christian-conservative parties in Germany). It has been shown that it is both “parsimonious” and “exhibits strong predictive validity” in relation to attitudes surrounding social issues (Khan et al., 2013).
2. I assume that the left-right ideological spectrum is applicable in most democracies. Research by Inglehart and Klingemann (1976) has demonstrated that the majority of western voters conceive politics in such a manner and are able to place themselves somewhere upon that scale.
3. I assume that the left-right spectrum is comparable across cultures. Although little evidence exists to back this claim, there is reason enough to assume the possibility of this. (look at Kim & Fording 1998)
Assuming this, i.e. thecomparability, continuity, and relevance of the left-right spectrum, “then possible to develop a measure of the ideological position of a particular electorate that is comparable across countries and across time.” (Kim & Fording 1998)
5.5 Future Research:
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6. References
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Appendix A – The RWA Scale as adopted from
The Authoritarians
by Bob Altemeyer (2006)
1. The established authorities generally turn out to be right about things, while the radicals and protestors are usually just “loud mouths” showing off their ignorance.
2. Women should have to promise to obey their husbands when they get married.
3. Our country desperately needs a mighty leader who will do what has to be done to destroy the radical new ways and sinfulness that are ruining us.
4. Gays and lesbians are just as healthy and moral as anybody else.
5. It is always better to trust the judgment of the proper authorities in government and religion than to listen to the noisy rabble-rousers in our society who are trying to create doubt in people’s minds. 6. Atheists and others who have rebelled against the established religions are no doubt every bit as good
and virtuous as those who attend church regularly.
7. The only way our country can get through the crisis ahead is to get back to our traditional values, put some tough leaders in power, and silence the troublemakers spreading bad ideas.
8. There is absolutely nothing wrong with nudist camps.
9. Our country needs free thinkers who have the courage to defy traditional ways, even if this upsets many people.
10. Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs.
11. Everyone should have their own lifestyle, religious beliefs, and sexual preferences, even if it makes them different from everyone else.
12. The “old-fashioned ways” and the “old-fashioned values” still show the best way to live.
13. You have to admire those who challenged the law and the majority’s view by protesting for women’s abortion rights, for animal rights, or to abolish school prayer.
14. What our country really needs is a strong, determined leader who will crush evil, and take us back to our true path.
15. Some of the best people in our country are those who are challenging our government, criticizing religion, and ignoring the “normal way things are supposed to be done.”
16. God’s laws about abortion, pornography and marriage must be strictly followed before it is too late, and those who break them must be strongly punished.
17. There are many radical, immoral people in our country today, who are trying to ruin it for their own godless purposes, whom the authorities should put out of action.
18. A “woman’s place” should be wherever she wants to be. The days when women are submissive to their husbands and social conventions belong strictly in the past.
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20. There is no “one right way” to live life; everybody has to create their own way.
21. Homosexuals and feminists should be praised for being brave enough to defy “traditional family values.”
22. This country would work a lot better if certain groups of troublemakers would just shut up and accept their group’s traditional place in society.
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Appendix D: Factor Loadings and Reliability Analysis of Averaged
and Aggregated Scales
Scale item Communality Loading
Cognition Brand Recall 0.24 0.49
Product Category Recall 0.58 0.76
Spokeperson’s Occupation Recall 0.71 0.84
KMO 0.5 Cronbach’s Alpha 0.60 Attitude towards the ad pleasant 0.85 0.92 likeable 0.81 0.90 interesting 0.76 0.87 good 0.87 0.93 KMO 0.852* Cronbach’s alpha 0.93 Attitude towards the brand pleasant 0.86 0.93 likeable 0.89 0.94 interesting 0.81 0.90 good 0.88 0.94 KMO 0.863*
Cronbach’s alpha SUM_Abr 0.94
Purchase intention within 3 months 0.81 .90 within 6 months 0.85 .92 within 7 - 12 months 0.86 .93 after a year 0.81 .90
if I would be affected by dandruff 0.49 .70
if I would be advised 0.68 .83
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Appendix E: Descriptives and ANOVA
Table 1: Correlations and descriptive statistics of the combined (AUTH/NO AUTH) data set
attitu de towar ds the ad Ab Cog PI willingn ess to pay
Cred AUTH PO Edu
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Table 2: ANOVA
dF Condition Mean Mean
Difference (Sig. 1-tailed)
F η2
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Appendix F:
Results of the ANCOVA Analysis
Dependent Variable Sum of Squares F-ratio Significance
Attitude towards the ad Intercept Authority Political Orientation AuthxPO Spokesperson's Credibility Education Income 131.32 0.51 3.00 0.14 1.14 120.50 0.00 0.48 21.98 .60 3.51 0.16 1.33 141.20 0.00 0.56 .00 .44 .06 .69 .25 .00 .95 .46 Attitude towards the brand
Intercept Authority Political Orientation AuthxPO Spokeperson’s Credibility Education Income 125.55 7.08 0.20 3.16 0.03 106.11 0.49 1.55 17.88 7.06 0.20 3.14 0.03 105.75 0.49 1.55 .00 .00 .66 .08 .87 .00 .49 .22 Purchase Intention Intercept Authority Political Orientation AuthxPO Spokeperson’s Credibility Education Income 53.30 5.47 0.04 0.33 0.37 26.67 0.48 3.43 12.40 8.91 0.07 0.54 0.60 40.17 0.75 5.59 .00 .00 .79 .47 .44 .00 .39 .02 Willingness to pay Intercept Authority Political Orientation AuthxPO Spokesperson's Credibility Education Income 20.10 1.48 0.00 4.04 0.00 0.83 3.90 0.14 3.21 1.65 0.00 4.52 0.00 0.92 4.40 0.16 .00 .20 .97 .04 .97 .34 .04 .69 SUM_AdEff Intercept Authority Political Orientation AuthxPO Spokeperson’s Credibility Education Income 77.04 9.37 0.30 0.28 0.00 63.66 0.16 1.52 26.44 22.51 0.71 0.66 0.00 152.91 0.39 3.65 .00 .00 .40 .42 .96 .00 .53 .06
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Appendix G: Personality Dimensions Liberal/Conservatives
This table is adapted from Carney, Jost, Gosling, and Potter (2008, p. 816; see also Edsall, 2012, p. 60).
Liberal/Leftist Conservatives/rightist
Slovenly, ambiguous, indifferent (C −) Eccentric, sensitive, individualistic (O +) Open, tolerant, flexible (O +) Life-loving, free, unpredictable
Creative, imaginative, curious (O +) Expressive, enthusiastic (O +, E +) Excited, sensation-seeking (O +, E +) Desire for novelty, diversity (O +) Uncontrolled, impulsive (C −, E +) Complex, nuanced (O +)
Open-minded (O +)
Definite, persistent, tenacious (C +) Tough, masculine, firm (C +, A −) Reliable, trustworthy, loyal (C +, A +) Stable, consistent (C +, N −) Rigid, intolerant (O −, A −) Conventional, ordinary (O −, C +) Obedient, conformist (O −, C +, A +) Fearful, threatened (N +) Orderly, organized (C +) Obstinate, stubborn (O −, C +, A −) Aggressive, angry, vengeful (A−) Careful, practical, methodical (O −, C +) Withdrawn, reserved (E −)
Stern, cold, mechanical (O−, E−, A−) Anxious, suspicious, obsessive (N+) Self-controlled (C+)
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Appendix H: Mediation Analysis
Run MATRIX procedure:
************** PROCESS Procedure for SPSS Release 2.15 *******************
Written by Andrew F. Hayes, Ph.D. www.afhayes.com Documentation available in Hayes (2013). www.guilford.com/p/hayes3 ************************************************************************** Model = 4 Y = FAC1_1 X = AUTH M = SUM_SPO Sample size 128 ************************************************************************** Outcome: SUM_SPO Model Summary R R-sq MSE F df1 df2 p .26 .07 1.49 8.81 1.00 126.00 .00 Model
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coeff se t p LLCI ULCI constant -1.86 .18 -10.47 .00 -2.21 -1.51 SUM_SPO .61 .05 12.36 .00 .51 .70 AUTH .24 .12 1.92 .06 -.01 .48
************************** TOTAL EFFECT MODEL **************************** Outcome: FAC1_1 Model Summary R R-sq MSE F df1 df2 p .08 .01 1.00 .74 1.00 126.00 .39 Model
coeff se t p LLCI ULCI constant .07 .12 .60 .55 -.17 .32 AUTH -.15 .18 -.86 .39 -.50 .20
***************** TOTAL, DIRECT, AND INDIRECT EFFECTS ********************
Total effect of X on Y
Effect SE t p LLCI ULCI -.15 .18 -.86 .39 -.50 .20
Direct effect of X on Y
Effect SE t p LLCI ULCI .24 .12 1.92 .06 -.01 .48
Indirect effect of X on Y
Effect Boot SE BootLLCI BootULCI SUM_SPO -.39 .14 -.66 -.14
******************** ANALYSIS NOTES AND WARNINGS *************************
Number of bootstrap samples for bias corrected bootstrap confidence intervals: 1000
