Abstract

In advertising, many targeted advertisements (ads) focus on a specific ethnic group. However, limited research exists about the effect that ads have on developing relationships between the consumer and brand, especially brand love (i.e., the deepest consumer-brand relationship). From an elaboration likelihood model (ELM) perspective, we investigate the determinants as well as the direct and indirect effects of ethnic identification on the behavioral outcomes of brand love. With three studies, we differentiate between two types of services (hedonic vs. utilitarian). According to ELM, we offer evidence that perceived similarity partially mediates the effect of strength of ethnic identification (SEI) on attitude toward the ad (Aad) for hedonic services but not utilitarian services. Additionally, ads with ethnic cues were more effective for developing brand love for hedonic services vs. utilitarian services. Our structural equation modeling (SEM) results also supports the efficacy of Hispanic-targeted ads for developing brand love and increasing brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth (WOM). As such, this research provides managers with practical tools to improve the efficacy of ethnically targeted ads.

摘要

在广告中，许多有针对性的广告（广告）都针对特定的种族群体。但是，关于广告对发展消费者与品牌之间的关系，特别是品牌热爱（即最深层次的消费者与品牌关系）的影响的研究还很有限。从精细化可能性模型（ELM）的角度，我们调查了族群识别对品牌爱行为结果的决定因素以及直接和间接影响。通过三项研究，我们区分了两种类型的服务（享乐主义与功利主义）。根据ELM，我们提供的证据表明，感知的相似性部分地介导了种族认同强度（SEI）对享乐服务而非功利服务对广告（Aad）态度的影响。此外，带有种族暗示的广告对于树立享乐服务和功利主义服务的品牌爱情更有效。我们的结构方程模型（SEM）结果还支持以西班牙裔为目标的广告在发展品牌热爱，提高品牌忠诚度和积极口碑（WOM）方面的功效。因此，这项研究为管理人员提供了实用工具，以提高针对种族的广告的效果。