The Impact of Message Sidedness on Online Ads Effectivenss: The Moderating Role of Involvement

Abstract

This study considers the moderating effect of involvement on consumers' response to one-sided vs. two-sided online advertising. Results obtained from an experimental study confirm that involved consumers' responses to two-sided online ads are more favorable than that of one-sided online ad, but only for involved consumers. Two-sided ad is no more persuasive for uninvolved consumers except for those who recognize the twosided nature of the communication. The routes to persuasion of two-sided ads are also different for involved and uninvolved consumers. These findings provide a new economical way for enterprises to improve their online advertising effectiveness in the absence of trust nowadays.

Message Sidedness Effects in Advertising: The Role of Yin-Yang Balancing Theory

“…Due to the inconsistent results observed in the literature regarding two-sided message effectiveness, a whole stream of research has started investigating the specific conditions under which two-sidedness yields superior results to one-sidedness. We complement this stream which showed that two-sided messages are more effective for individuals with a high need for cognition (NFC) (Qi et al 2010a(Qi et al , 2010bKao 2011) and high self-confidence (Huertas and Hanna 2020) for search goods as compared to experience goods (Chen 2016;Li et al 2020), or when the source of the message is perceived to be an expert (Chen 2016), by further showing that two-sided messages are more effective for individuals with a higher tolerance for contradiction. According to YYB, that characteristic squarely fits with Easterners who show a higher tolerance for contradiction, and by extrapolation, two-sided messages are more effective for Easterners, and Chinese in particular, than for Westerners and Americans in particular.…”

“…The overarching contribution resides in an improved understanding of international consumer behavior by proposing a Yin Yang perspective to inquire about the effectiveness of two-sided advertising messages in cross-cultural settings. More specifically, we answer the previous call in the literature (e.g., Qi et al 2010aQi et al , 2010b to assess contextual factors, such as culture, in the study of two-sided messages. Second, although past research has used the NFC-Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to explain cultural differences in twosided message persuasiveness (Qi et al 2010a(Qi et al , 2010b, the findings have been inconsistent (Kao 2011).…”

“…More specifically, we answer the previous call in the literature (e.g., Qi et al 2010aQi et al , 2010b to assess contextual factors, such as culture, in the study of two-sided messages. Second, although past research has used the NFC-Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to explain cultural differences in twosided message persuasiveness (Qi et al 2010a(Qi et al , 2010b, the findings have been inconsistent (Kao 2011). Instead, we draw on the Yin-Yang Balancing Theory and the tolerance for contradiction construct, which is deeply rooted in core cultural differences, to explain why different reactions to two-sided messages might occur.…”

“…We propose that the YYB theory (Li 1998(Li , 2012Nisbett et al 2001;Peng and Nisbett 1999;Zolfani et al 2013) is an essential framework for understanding the effectiveness of two-sided messages, and its inclusion enables us to comprehend the mechanism underlying two-sided message persuasiveness. In contrast to previous research, which used, among others, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Kao 2011;Qi et al 2010aQi et al , 2010b, we use the YYB (Yin-Yang Balancing) framework to focus on explaining Eastern consumers' preference for two-sided messages over Westerners'. Overall, this study showed that the tolerance for contradiction from the East Asian philosophical framework YYB theory infuses a critical perspective to understand the persuasiveness of two-sided ads.…”

The influence of humor in advertising: Explaining the effects of humor in two‐sided messsages

“…Chen, 2016; Uribe et al, 2016), or when the message is accompanied by disclosures (Veirman & Hudders, 2020). Regarding consumer characteristics that moderate the effect of two‐sided advertising on attitudes, research supports more persuasive effects of two‐sided compared to one‐sided advertising on high‐involvement consumers (e.g., Cornelis et al, 2014b; Eisend, 2013), consumers for whom the topic is highly relevant (Cornelis et al, 2014a; Pham et al, 2016), consumers with a prevention focus (Kao, 2012), consumers with a high need for cognition (Qi, Liang, Zhongpeng, Jianlin, 2010), and consumers with high self‐confidence (Huertas & Hanna, 2020).…”