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added to the research on ambient advertising. The study employs theoretical support on unconventional
advertising, which helped us to conduct two studies in order to make a comparative analysis (traditional
vs. non-traditional media). The results of the study show that delivering a unique message in an
unexpected place is a key element in todays advertising strategy embraced by companies. However,
ambient advertising has a greater impact on consumersprocessing of the message than consumers
response related to an actual purchase.
Keywords: ambient advertising, ad creativity, non-traditional medium
JEL classification: M37
I n tr o d u c tio n
Advertising still remains a
controversial topic among re
searchers and practitioners. It
has become increasingly diffi
cult for companies to anticipate
changes in consumers percep
tions of the ad in attem pting to
be creative, exceptional rather
than typical (Baack et al., 2008).
Today, consumers life is as
saulted by a lot of advertising
messages in front of which they
may become either sceptical
about the purpose of advertising
or even irritated by advertis
ing clutter. No doubt, consum
ers are more sensitive when it
comes to the increasing tradi
tional media, avoiding exposure
to ads and having negative a tti
tudes on their content.
The current paper examines
the research field of ads from
the standpoint th at the devel
opment of new, unconventional
advertising formats is highly ef
fective in grabbing consumers
attention and even trust.
R R M - 2/2014
A m b ien t a d v e r tis in g - th e
p e r c e p tio n o f c r e a tiv it y
There is a long tradition on
advertising creativity research.
Recently, Reinartz & Saffert
(2013: 107) have offered an in
teresting conceptual shape of
creativity: Nothing is more
efficient than creative adver
tising. Creative advertising is
more memorable, longer lasting,
works with less media spending,
and builds a fan community...
faster. Sometimes the concept
of creativity seems to be a
m ust, a reality absolutely nec
essary for the companies, but it
could also be interpreted as a
fairy tale of the world of adver
tising, a story in which magic
things happen.
Last years have shown an ex
plosion of new, non-traditional
media ranging from aerial ad
vertising (sky w ritten messages,
balloons etc.) to graffiti, ambi
ent advertising (promotional
messages on streets, airports,
46
in a non-traditional advertising
medium rather than in a tradi
tional advertising medium.
S a m p le a n d p r o c e d u r e
The adopted research m eth
od was a self-administrated
survey based on an online ques
tionnaire. 262 participants were
recruited through social net
working web sites, being them
Romanian young students from
Babes-Bolyai University. A
convenience sample of 161 par
ticipants has been chosen for
the case of non-traditional ad
vertising, where respondents
were asked to imagine th a t they
were walking in the park and
the playground for children was
Item s
The ad is unexpected/
unanticipated.
The ad is innovative/ new.
The ad is unique.
The ad is original.
Originality
The ad is memorable.
The ad is interesting.
The ad is atypical.
The ad is commonplace (recoded).
The ad is imaginative.
The ad is unusual.
The ad is ingenious.
The ad is surprising.
The ad is exciting.
R R M - 2 /2 0 1 4
S cales
R eferen ce
R e lia b ility
a=,915
47
Relevance
Attention
Attitude
Credibility
R esu lts
H aving established th e valid
ity and the reliability of the con
structs, the next step is to te st
the proposed hypotheses. To do
this, we compare th e resu lts for
traditional and non-traditional
m edium s, having in m ind the
significance of th e differences
betw een these two contexts.
Totally disagree /
Smith et al., 2007
Totally agree
(1-7)
a=.834
Totally disagree /
Smith et al., 2007
Totally agree
(1-7)
a=.843
a=.834
a=.807
Totally disagree /
Smith et al., 2007
Totally agree
(1-7)
a=.839
by th e context in which th e ad
is placed. Moreover, th e im por
tance of a well-known brand
m ight have a stronger influence
on consum ers intention to buy
th is b rand th a n th e b ran d s ex
posure itself.
Employing P allan ts (2010)
procedure, we tested th e influ
ence of th e context in which
the ad is placed. The m edium
h as the strongest influence on
attention. Testing H3 (Table
2), we compared th e m ean val
ues for attention using a nontraditional m edia (M = 4.4554)
and then, the trad itio n al m edia
th a t received a significantly
lower score (M = 3.2106). The
results suggest th a t consum ers
paid more attention to th e u n
conventional m edium in which
th e ad is placed. Moreover, a
non-traditional ad is perceived
(M = 5.5837), compared to a
traditional placement of the ad
(M = 5.1373). Based on these
findings, a mean comparison
t-test for ad credibility also
supported the hypothesis H4
(Table 2). The differences in
M ean values
C on ven tion al
U n co n v en tio n a l
m ed ia
m ed ia
O riginality
3.8400
4.6399
Relevance
4.3181
4.5640
A ttention
3.2106
4.4554
Credibility
4.7411
5.3216
A ttitude
5.1373
5.5837
Intention
4.5985
4.6080
N otes: p < 0,05*; p < 0,01**; p < 0,001***; ns = not significant
F (6,255) = 15,318, Wilks X = 0.735, p < 0.001
Source: table created by the authors
C o n c lu s io n s a n d
D is c u s s io n s
Advertising creativity is an
im portant element in the pro
cess of communication to con
sumers, helping the message to
break through clutter and leav
ing a lasting impression in the
consumers mind (Lehnert et al.,
2013). Having the ability to find
unusual and non-obvious solu
tions to a problem (Reinartz &
Saffert, 2013), companies might
have the opportunity to move
away from the commonplace
and the traditional routine that
classical ads are giving to con
sumers. Creative or not, tradi
tional advertising has become
too familiar and truly annoying
to consumers (Maniu & Zaharie,
2013).
The results of the current
paper show th a t a creative me
dia choice using an ambient ad
vertising as an unconventional
method to send a message has
a positive impact on consumers
response. To deliver a unique
R R M - 2/2014
M ean
difference
o2
0.800***
0.246 ns
1.245***
0.581***
0.447**
0.010 ns
0.116
0.009
0.181
0.050
0.029
0.000
5.842'***
1.506 ns
7.568***
3.711***
2.800**
0.050 ns
L im ita tio n s a n d
s u g g e s tio n s fo r fu tu r e
research
A sample of students could
be considered inconvenient for
generalizing the results. In or
der to break this barrier of rep
resentativeness, we suggest for
consideration a larger sample
th at may capture a better image
of the effectiveness of ambient
advertising.
Another limitation could be
related to the brand th a t was
considered for this research. On
the one hand, it is a well-known
brand and this fact could influ
ence the consumers perception
and on the other hand, the study
used ju st one ad for each medi
um - traditional and non-tradi
tional. In this context, the per
spective of other brands could be
considered for future research.
49
References
50
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