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

instructions) to different kinds of messages, this research helps identify additional ways tooptimize blending of linguistic and non-linguistic advertising elements.Further, this research also provides important managerial insights into how temporal orientationinteracts with message concreteness on message effectiveness. For example, healthcarecampaigns targeting a population segment known to have shorter-term orientations (e.g.,adolescences) are more likely to succeed if concrete messages are employed. Further, the resultpoints to the importance of timing the appearance of healthcare messages on various mediachannels. For instance, abstract messages are likely to be more effective when introduced afterstimuli (e.g. news report, cover story etc.) that help prime long-term orientation. Finally, astemporal orientation mirrors an important culture dimension - time orientation (Hofstede 1991),the positive congruency effects should assist marketers in answering important strategic questionsrelated to international strategy. For example, abstract (concrete )messages might work better inlong-term(short term) oriented cultures (e.g., China / U.S).Limitations and Future ResearchOne limitation of the three studies is the use of a fictitious anti-smoking webpage as the stimuli.While this approach avoids possible confounding effects of prior knowledge and experience,future research should apply more realistic stimuli. A second limitation is that the findings arebased on laboratory experiments of non-smoking college students, further replications of theseresults findings among other populations are needed . It might be partially due to the selectedpopulation that the effects on cigarette trial intention were not supported in study 2. As such,further replications may consider recruiting participants from smokers to examine the effects oncigarette trail intention. A third limitation is that the congruency effects on attitude toward thewebpage and cigarette trial intention were not supported in the low-imagery instructionscondition in study 2. One explanation may be related to the nature of low- versus high-imageryprocessing. According to Miller (1979), one distinction between low- and high-imageryprocessing is that low-imagery processing is selective, while high-imagery processing isconstructive. It seems plausible to argue that low-imagery processing may be associated withhigher level of cognitive flexibility and better tolerance for incongruency than high-imageryprocessing. However, further empirical research is needed to examine these relationships.In addition, this research may offer preliminary insights into possible culture-based moderatingeffects. For example, in cultures with stronger long-term orientations, abstract messages may begenerally more persuasive than in cultures with weaker long-term orientations. Thus, futureexploration should examine the relative effectiveness of concreteness of messages across culturalgroups of individual consumers Regarding the imagery instructions. Further research may applymessage executional cues to elicit an individual‘s processing mode or temporal orientation (e.g.,Thompson and Hamilton 2006). In sum, congruency effect between message concreteness andother communication tactics (e.g., temporal orientation priming and imagery instructions) areeffective marketing strategies for researchers and marketers attempting to identify measures thatpromote preventative or proactive actions toward a healthy lifestyle.REFERENCESAaker, Jennifer L. and Angela Y. Lee (2006), ―Understanding Regulatory Fit,‖ Journal ofMarketing Research, 43 (1), 15-19.Andrews, J. Craig, Richard G. Netemeyer, Scot Burton, D. Paul Moberg, and Ann Christiansen(2004), ―Understanding Adolescent Intentions to Smoke: An Examination of RelationshipsAmong Social Influence, Prior Trial Behavior, and Antitobacco Campaign Advertising,‖ Journalof Marketing, 68 (3), 110-23.Baron, Reuben M. and David A. Kenny (1986), ―The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction inSocial Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations,‖ Journal ofPersonality & Social Psychology, 51 (6), 1173-82.