When Attention‐Getting Advertising Tactics Elicit Consumer Inferences of Manipulative Intent: The Importance of Balancing Benefits and Investments

Abstract

This research examines two attention‐getting tactics commonly used in television advertising and explores how the use of these tactics might sometimes lead consumers to infer that the advertiser is attempting to manipulate the audience. The article explores how inferences of manipulative intent might arise if a consumer's perceptions of personal investments, personal benefits, advertiser's investments, and advertiser's benefits associated with the ad are not in balance. The data show that inferences of manipulative intent are related to measures of personal benefits, personal investments, and advertiser's investments as predicted and that these variables mediate the relationship between the attention‐getting tactics and inferences of manipulative intent. Inferences of manipulative intent are found to lower advertising persuasion as measured by ad attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions.

On the Dangers of Pulling a Fast One: Advertisement Disclaimer Speed, Brand Trust, and Purchase Intention

“…We suggest that consumers may believe that fast disclaimers represent a tactic used by advertisers to hide information or to deceive consumers. Just as ingratiation and flattery tactics can serve as cues for the lack of trustworthiness in salespersons (Campbell 1995;Main, Dahl, and Darke 2007), we suggest that fast disclaimers can serve as cues for the lack of trustworthiness in advertisements.…”

“…To do so, they develop knowledge structures about the motives of advertisers and the tactics used in advertising, which help them respond to advertising in a way that suits their own goals (Campbell and Kirmani 2000;Friestad and Wright 1994). In particular, consumers use their prior experience and knowledge of marketing tactics to make inferences about the manipulative intent, deceptiveness, and ulterior motives of advertisers (Campbell 1995;Darke and Ritchie 2007;Fein 1996). We suggest that consumers may believe that fast disclaimers represent a tactic used by advertisers to hide information or to deceive consumers.…”

“…Consumers, who must determine advertisers' motives and intentions if they hope to make optimal spending decisions (e.g., Campbell 1995), often rely on their prior knowledge and experience with advertising tactics to determine whether the advertised product is worth purchasing (Friestad andWright 1994, 1995). Many people believe that advertisers use deceitful tactics to manipulate consumers (e.g., Darke and Ritchie 2007;Moog 1990;Packard 1991).…”

The effectiveness of reciprocity appeals in economic booms and busts

“…As described earlier, people reciprocate less when they believe their exchange partner is trying to manipulate or persuade them (Budowski, 2010;Campbell, 1995;Campbell, Simpson, Boldry, & Rubin 2010;Marcoux, 2009). Further people reciprocate less when persuasion knowledge is explicitly activated (Morales, 2005).…”

“…And when consumers become aware of attempts to persuade, a phenomenon known as persuasion knowledge, they are less likely to reciprocate (Budowski, 2010;Campbell, 1995;Campbell, Simpson, Boldry, & Rubin, 2010;Marcoux, 2009;Morales, 2005).…”