Long live creative media choice: the medium as a persistent brand cue.(Report)

The last few years have witnessed an explosion in media channels. Advertisers no longer face the traditional decision of "simply" choosing whether to expose their brands in broadcast media, print media, on the Web, or on outdoor posters and billboards. Today, they may just as well decide to advertise on sheep, in golf holes, on bananas, or on face masks. These are just a few real-life examples of what Dahlen (2005) defines as creative media choice, that is, employing a novel medium that makes a statement in itself. The creative media choice is based on an associative overlap with the brand so that the medium in itself (rather than the advertising placed in it) communicates the message.

In the only reported study to date, Dahlen (2005) found that creatively exposing the brand logo and slogan in a novel medium (placing an insurance company on an eggshell and an energy drink on an elevator panel) yielded more positive ad and brand evaluations and enhanced brand associations more than placing the same advertising in a traditional medium (a newspaper). The study extended the media source literature by showing that not only the immediate or thematic media context, but the medium in itself, may facilitate ad processing and enhance evaluations.

The present paper builds on associative learning theory and argues that a creative media choice, employing a novel medium that is a distinct and relevant cue for the brand, will produce more long-lasting and dynamic effects on brand perceptions than advertising in a traditional medium. It may even become a cue that evokes the brand in consumers' minds at future exposures, even when the brand is no longer featured in the medium. For instance, Nike's creative placement of basketball rims on waste bins may lead consumers to think of Nike and the "Just Do It" slogan whenever they toss paper balls in waste bins long after the Nike campaign was over. Furthermore, if the creative media choice were to continue working as a cue that evokes the brand, then maybe later changes in the medium could also transfer onto the brand. For example, if the waste bins that previously featured Nike advertising were decorated with environmental messages (e.g., "save the environment"), consumers may think of Nike and "just do it--recycle" when tossing their paper balls, thus associating Nike with environmental friendliness as well. These notions differ from previous research on associative learning in advertising, which has focused on how cues may be more or less easily recalled (e.g., Sengupta, Goodstein, and Boninger 1997) or effects of paired exposure of an advertising cue and a brand during recall and evaluation tasks (e.g., Keller 1987).

In a first study, we test the immediate and delayed effects of employing a creative media choice as a cue for the brand. Since the creative media choice is a more distinct cue for the brand than a traditional medium (Dahlen 2005), we expect it to produce more strongly perceived target brand associations. Furthermore, we argue that the creative media choice will strengthen consumers' associative networks to produce more persisting brand associations, and that it may become a cue that evokes the brand even when the brand is no longer featured in it. A second study replicates the main findings and tests whether changes in the creative media choice cue can transfer new associations onto the brand.

CREATIVE MEDIA CHOICE AND ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

Dahlen (2005) found that a creative media choice enhanced brand associations and ad and brand evaluations. His research employed fictitious brands. Drawing on priming theory (e.g., Herr 1989), he showed that a creative media choice relieved learning of(unfamiliar) brand associations by way of assimilation. In the case of real, familiar brands, however, consumers could not be expected to require the same amount of help in the learning of brand associations. In this case, consumers do already have stored brand representations, which enable easy identification and comprehension of the advertising message (e.g., Pieters, Warlop, and Wedel 2002).The facilitating advantage of a creative media choice at the time of exposure that Dahlen (2005) found could therefore be lost on real brands. On the other hand, the stronger link between the creative media choice and the brand could provide an advantage at retrieval.

While most research focuses on the immediate effects of advertising, consumers do not usually make brand decisions during ad exposure (Keller 1987). Because there is a delay between ad exposure and the purchase occasion, it is important that ad-evoked attitudes endure over time. Associative strength increases the likelihood of retrieval, so that the closer an advertising cue is related to the brand, the more likely it is to be retrieved when consumers think of the brand (Pham and Johar 1997). The probability thus increases that the cue will serve as input in consumers' perceptions of the brand over time. Sengupta, Goodstein, and Boninger (1997) found proof of this when they showed that the immediately positive effect of a pleasurable, unrelated cue had worn off after a week, whereas the effect of a related cue persisted.

We suggest that a creative media choice is a cue that is more closely related to the brand than a traditional medium. Traditional media are associated with advertising in general rather than specific brands. Advertising a specific brand in a traditional medium is not very likely to be either "right" or "wrong." Consumers could therefore not be expected to ponder on the match between the brand and the ad placement, which would have strengthened the link between them (Kent 2002). On exposure to a creative media choice, on the other hand, consumers would be likely to make a connection between the novel medium ("aha, the connection must be that the energy drink is uplifting like an elevator!") that strengthens the association between the two, so that exposure to the brand at a later time evokes the medium ("that energy drink--like an elevator!"). The medium serves as a memory aid in forming impressions of the brand (energy drink--elevator--uplifting), which should enhance brand associations. Dahlen (2005) found that a creative media choice facilitated learning of(unfamiliar) brand associations, which yielded more favorable immediate evaluations. Regardless of whether these positive immediate effects would occur for a familiar brand or not, a creative media choice should still provide enhanced evaluations at a delay, as it facilitates retrieval of learned associations. Therefore, we expect that a creative media choice will provide stronger target brand associations and more favorable evaluations over time than will a traditional medium (H1).

H1: A creative media choice produces more persistent target brand associations than a traditional medium.

The stronger associative link between the creative media choice and the brand need …