Index of Paper Presentations for the Parallel Sessions - Academy of ...

temporal orientation priming was significant on processing fluency (β = .40; t[109] = 4.55, p .33), indicating full mediation. The effect of processing fluency, meanwhile,remained significant (p < .02). As such, H3 was supported.DiscussionStudy 1 demonstrates that congruency between message concreteness and primed temporalorientation matters. Priming short-term orientation enhances (reduces) persuasiveness whenconcrete (abstract) message is featured. The results uncover different mediating pathways throughwhich congruency effects occur. In particular, processing fluency was found to mediate thecongruency effects on intention to avoid secondhand smoke, whereas processing fluency and theflow were chain-mediators of congruency effect on attitude toward the webpage. These findingsraise the question of how generalizable the congruency effect is. And, it is important to determinewhether the underlying processing mechanisms are consistent when the congruency isoperationalized differently. So study 2 examines congruency between message concreteness and aprimed processing mode. The primed mode of interest in this case is high versus low imageryprocessing due to its relevance to health-related theory and behavior (Keller and Lehmann 2008)and because of its linkages to broader bodies of advertising theory (Chowdhury et al. 2008; Bollsand Muehling 2007).STUDY 2: CONGRUENCY EFFECTS BETWEEN MESSAGE CONCRETENESS ANDIMAGERY PROCESSING MODEPrior theory suggests that processing fluency may be induced by a variety of stimuli ranging fromrepeated exposure (e.g., Janiszewski and Meyvis 2001; Lee 2001), to enhanced contextual clarity(Reber, Winkielman, and Schwarz 1998), and to message framing (Lee and Aaker 2004).Processing fluency appears likely to be increased due to congruency between 1) the informationand organization of information, and 2) the type of processing being done (Thompson andHamilton 2006). Advertising researchers have conceptualized low and high imagery informationprocessing mode (MacInnis and Price 1987). Low-imagery processing involves processingsymbols through mental activities such as encoding (retrieving) information into (from) aknowledge schema. High-imagery processing is activated as a mental sensory experienceinvolving a concrete representation of ideas and feelings that facilitates direct recovery of pastexperiences from memory (MacInnis and Price 1987). Prior research has repeated demonstratedthat concrete (abstract) messages are more congruent with high (low) imagery processing (e.g.,Petrova and Claldini 2005). In sum, the extant literature suggests that higher levels of processingfluency when message concreteness and processing mode are congruent (incongruent) will lead tomore (less) favorable attitude and enhanced (reduced) persuasion. Bearing these thoughts inmind, we formally hypothesize that:H4: Congruency (versus incongruency) between imagery processing mode (high/low) andmessage concreteness (concrete/abstract) will lead to more positive attitude toward the webpageand lower cigarette trial intention.H5: Processing fluency and flow will jointly mediate the effects of congruency between messageconcreteness and imagery processing mode on attitude toward the webpage.H6: Processing fluency alone will mediate the effects of congruency between messageconcreteness and imagery processing mode on cigarette trial intention.MethodStudy 2 employed a 2 (concrete versus abstract message) X 2 (high versus low imageryprocessing mode) between-subjects factorial design. One-hundred and seventeen undergraduatebusiness students from a major American university participated. As in study 1, participants werescreened to exclude regular smokers. This resulted in a sample of 96 participants (male = 52%;nonsmokers = 95%; occasional smokers = 5%).