Nontarget Markets and Viewer Distinctiveness: The Impact of Target Marketing on Advertising Attitudes

Abstract

This research examines the effect of target marketing on members of the advertiser's intended audience as well as members not in the target market: the nontarget market. The results of 3 experiments show that unfavorable nontarget market effects are stronger for members of nondistinctive groups (e.g., Caucasian individuals, heterosexual individuals) and favorable target market effects are stronger for members of distinctive groups (e.g., African American individuals, homosexual individuals). The results of Experiment 2 demonstrate that the psychological processes by which target and nontarget market effects occur differ by viewer group: Felt similarity with sources in an advertisement drives target market effects for distinctive viewers, whereas felt targetedness drives target market effects for nondistinctive viewers. Finally, Experiment 3 shows that these consumer feelings of similarity or targetedness are associated with underlying processes of identification and internalization. Theoretical implications regarding the impact of distinctiveness theory in consumer persuasion effects and potential social effects of target marketing are discussed.Imagine you are channel surfing and find yourself watching Black Entertainment Television, a cable channel whose programming and advertising are geared toward a predominantly African American audience. As a middle-aged White person, you are fascinated by what you see, but you do not "get" all that is going on. The show ends and a commercial for Stove Top Stuffing, just what you are about to have for dinner, appears. You are amused and interested to see this advertising appeal that is very different from any you have seen for the brand before. You are confused because they are calling it dressing, although the box clearly says stufing. What are your attitudes toward the advertisement and brand now?Requests for reprints should be sent to Jennifer L. Aaker, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business,

“Does race really matter?” Consumer identity and advertising effectiveness in post-apartheid South Africa

“…Typically, while the results are consistent with previous US studies that shows that the racial group of the model matters for social minority viewers only (i.e. black viewers, see Aaker et al, 2000), findings show that a "perfect" interaction between consumers' multiple identities is not necessary to influence advertising effectiveness. Simply put, the model does not need to be similar in terms of both race AND profession to influence advertising effectiveness.…”

“…The internal consistency reliability of this measure was respectable, with the scale attaining Nunnally's (1978) suggested Cronbach's alpha of 0,70 or higher (α = 0,807). Participants indicated the extent to which they believed that the advertisement was intended for them (Aaker et al, 2000) with three items (i.e., I feel the advertisement was intended for people like me, I do not believe I was in the target market the company created the advertisement for [reverse coded], and the advertiser made that advertisement for people like me) which were averaged into a single measure of felt targetedness (α = 0,736). Finally, respondents' racial group was measured by the emic self-report method of ethnic identification, i.e.…”

“…The second step considers whether this reaction is explained by viewers' felt targetedness, i.e. viewers' cognitive beliefs that the advertiser is attempting to reach them (Aaker, Brumbaugh & Grier, 2000).…”

“…Advertising effectiveness is operationalised as advertising attitude, which is defined as "a predisposition to respond in a favourable or unfavourable manner to a particular advertising stimulus during a particular exposure occasion" (Lutz, 1985: 53). On the other hand, felt targetedness represents viewers' belief that they are the intended audience for the advertisement (Aaker et al, 2000). This belief has been found to be a key ad cognition variable in culturally-targeted advertising processing (Aaker et al, 2000).…”

“…On the other hand, felt targetedness represents viewers' belief that they are the intended audience for the advertisement (Aaker et al, 2000). This belief has been found to be a key ad cognition variable in culturally-targeted advertising processing (Aaker et al, 2000).…”