| dc.description.abstract | In this study, we investigate what conditions cause subjects to make comparisons and the comparison patterns that influence effective advertising. People make social or temporal-past or temporal-future comparisons, or may not make any comparisons when facing a choice of purchase situation. Unlike past research, we investigate four comparison patterns, and propose a general comparison model that leads to greater advertising effectiveness. The unconscious thought process is also discussed to incorporate into the comparative model.
Student subjects were recruited to pursue the experiment. For making sure the results are robust, non-student subjects were also recruited to repeat the study. The major findings are as followed:
1. The Conditions causing Each Comparative Patterns:
For student and non-student subjects, the conditions of ability, uncertainty, negative events and self-relevance will cause social comparison and those of health and self-irrelevance will cause non-comparison. The self-irrelevant, uncertain and negative events conditions cause student subjects’ temporal-past comparisons, while the conditions of positive events and self-irrelevance result in the non-student subjects’ temporal-past comparisons. Besides, the certain and positive events conditions lead to the student subjects’ temporal-future comparison, while the uncertain and negative events conditions lead to the non-student subjects’ temporal-future comparison.
2. Social Comparison
Subjects both make lateral comparison for self-evaluation, make downward comparison for altruism and self-enhancement, and make upward comparison for self-improvement and self-destruction. The motive of common bond does not affect comparison direction for the student respondents, while it cause upward comparison for the non-student ones.
For both the sample, the comparison direction has a significant effect on self-perception. A downward comparison will raise self-perception, and an upward comparison will lower it. Self-perception has a significantly positive effect on the positive affect and a significantly negative effect on negative affect. The positive affect has a significantly positive influence on product attitude. The consumers’ attitude toward the product affects their purchase intention significantly positively. As for the negative affect, it does not have a significant effect on the product attitude for the student respondents, but has a significantly negative effect on the product attitude for the non-student ones.
3. Temporal-past Comparison
Both subjects make lateral comparison, but not upward comparison for self-enhancement. The motive of self-destruction will cause upward comparison for the non-student sample, while it won’t affect comparison direction significantly for the student sample. In the remaining results, temporal-past comparison and social comparison are similar.
4. Temporal-future Comparison
Both respondents make upward comparison, not downward comparison for self-enhancement, and don’t make upward comparison for self-destruction. Comparison direction has a significant effect on self-perception. A downward comparison will lower self-perception, but an upward comparison will raise it. The other results of temporal-future comparison are similar with those of temporal-past and social comparison.
5. Non-comparison
It’s similar with the previous comparative patterns in all results. | en_US |