The Operation of Visual Imagery as a Mediator of Advertising Effects

Abstract

Advertising strategists should be interested in visual imagery because it may represent a useful way to shape consumers' impressions. A framework is tested which casts visual imagery as a mediating factor and individual differences, such as style ofprocessing, as potential moderators of certain advertising strategies which elicit attitude and intentions differences in consumers. Results indicate that the vividness of visual imagery does operate as a latent cognitive construct when concrete wording is used in advertising copy. Instructions to imagine, however, are not found to induce visual imagery. It is concluded that visual imagery vividness has the potential to trace consumers' mental reactions to certain advertising strategies and to explain attitudinal and intentions consequences. Finally, suggestions for future research are discussed.

Designing persuasive destination websites: A mental imagery processing perspective

“…Paivio, 1971;Rossiter, 1978;Babin, Burns & Biswas, 1992;Burns, Biswas & Babin, 1993;Babin & Burns, 1997), little empirical research exists that deals with the effects of text formats on mental imagery processing. Brewer (1988) claims that text genre can indeed be an important factor in encouraging mental imagery processing and Lee et al (2010) also found textual qualities of destination Web sites to matter.…”

“…According to Burns, Biswas and Babin (1993), this mental imagery can be experienced in different sensory modalities and can vary in terms of vividness and quantity. Research on imagery has provided strong evidence that elaborate imagery processing may positively influence decision outcomes (Babin & Burns, 1997;Bone & Ellen, 1990).…”

“…Mental imagery plays a significant role in mediating ad-evoked feelings and attitudes (Bone & Allen, 1990Burns et al, 1993;Mitchell, 1986;Mitchell & Olsen, 1981). Since mental imagery is self-generated cognitive processing, it can be expected to be more personally relevant (Escalas, 2007).…”

The mediating role of mental imagery in mobile advertising

“…These hypotheses were 7 tested by running a MANOVA (Table 1) with summed and averaged index scales for the three 8 imagery dimensions (Babin et al 1993) and it showed a significant effect of for the type of 9 messages (Wilks lambda = .799, F = 13.996, p < .000). The ANOVA results indicated that 10 visual mobile ads boosted the imagery process, increasing vividness and elaboration in a 11 significant way; however, and despite the fact that it is also significant, the difference in 12 quantity suggests that SMSs are better at boosting a great number of mental images (Table 2).…”

Evoking the Imagination as a Strategy of Influence

“…Th e existing fi ndings converge across a variety of products, such as automobiles (Burns, Biswas, & Babin, 1993;McGill & Anand, 1989), beer (Rossiter & Percy, 1978), apartments (Keller & McGill, 1994;McGill & Anand, 1989), restaurants (Petrova & Cialdini, 2005), cameras (Schlosser, 2003), and vacations (Adval & Wyer, 1998;Krisnamurty & Sujan, 1999;Petrova & Cialdini, 2005). However, all of these product categories have an experiential component, and the product use has been associated with positive aff ect.…”