Negative Advertising: The Malicious Strain of Comparative Advertising

James, Karen; Hensel, Paul J.

doi:10.1080/00913367.1991.10673213

Cited by 67 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Referring to a bout of comparative advertising among business magazine publishers, Marianne Caponnetto, an associate media director at agency Needham, Harper & Steers, told Advertising Age, "To go and knock your competitor is not always a positive way to do things, but it is often a way to get noticed." 252 The author of a piece in Advertising Age about a controversial Burger King comparative campaign cited statistics: Burger King's awareness soared 15.7 percentage points in October to 24.1% of all responses to a question asking consumers to identify the fast-food advertising that first came to mind. McDonald's still led the category with 35.6% of all responses, but that was down 10 points from September and McDonald's lowest score to date.…”

Section: Direct Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…23 There are several theoretical explanations for why the kinds of negative information often found in comparative ads could enhance their effectiveness. For instance, "negativity bias" 24 predicts that negative information may have a greater effect in the decision-making process, compared with positive information. Researchers investigating political attack advertising propose this occurs because negative information is more unexpected and novel, 25 less ambiguous, 26 and more credible.…”

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confidence: 99%

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A History of Comparative Advertising in the United States

Beard

2013

Journalism & Communication Monographs

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This historical monograph addresses a gap in the extensive scholarly research literature devoted to comparative advertising-especially that which contrasts the advertised product, service, or brand with an identifiable competitor-by exploring advertisers' explanations for its appeal as a tactic throughout the previous century. Prior historical research confirms advertisers have long been aware of and greatly concerned about the unintended consequences of what they often called excessively competitive and combative advertising. Moreover, despite some thirty-five years of systematic scholarly research, two research teams recently concluded that the state of empirical knowledge regarding its effectiveness remains "equivocal." By synthesizing the extensive theoretical and empirical research literature on comparative advertising and interpreting those findings from a historical perspective, this monograph offers uniquely significant insights into modern advertising's history, theory, and practice.

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Section: Direct Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A History of Comparative Advertising in the United States

Beard

2013

Journalism & Communication Monographs

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“…Acceptability -seems highly relevant given the context and political commentary surrounding negative advertising (see James and Hensel (1991 ), who link this concept to considerations of ethical and fair play). Offensiveness-again often linked to this form of advertising (see Barnes and Dotson, 1990).…”

Section: Voter Involvement and Negative Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Perceptions of negative political advertising: meaningful or menacing? An empirical study of the 1997 British General Election Campaign

Dermody

Scullion

2000

International Journal of Advertising

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“…The comparative advertising research literature is extensive, including several reviews (e.g., Barry 1993), a meta-analysis (Grewal et al 1997), and a limited focus on negative comparative advertising (Beard 2008;James and Hensel 1991;Sorescu and Gelb 2000). Several surveys of practitioners are available (Barry and Tremblay 1975;Hisrich 1983;Muehling, Stem, and Raven 1989;Rogers and Williams 1989), although the findings are limited by samples and response rates.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Advertising Wars: An Historical Analysis of Their Causes and Consequences

Beard

2010

Journal of Macromarketing

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This historical study contributes to the extensive literature on comparative advertising by examining the causes and consequences of comparative advertising wars; that is, when one advertiser responds to a direct or implied attack by another advertiser. Primary and secondary sources consist of articles published in historic and contemporary marketing and advertising trade journals, such as Printers' Ink, Advertising & Selling, and Advertising Age. The findings reveal that well-publicized advertising wars occurred frequently between major U.S. advertisers throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, and that they most often occurred in product and service markets characterized by intense competition. Many, if not most, advertisers' principal motive for responding to a comparative advertising attack has been emotional rather than rational. The findings also reveal that advertising wars often became increasingly hostile, leading to negative consequences for all combatants, as well as a broad and negative social consequence in the form of potentially misleading advertising.

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Negative Advertising: The Malicious Strain of Comparative Advertising

Cited by 67 publications

References 54 publications

A History of Comparative Advertising in the United States

A History of Comparative Advertising in the United States

Perceptions of negative political advertising: meaningful or menacing? An empirical study of the 1997 British General Election Campaign

Comparative Advertising Wars: An Historical Analysis of Their Causes and Consequences

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