Abstract

The influence of symbolic meanings and brand associations on consumers’ buying decisions is an important area of inquiry. In this article, we use symbolic interactionism as the theoretical framework for investigating the impact of the presence of religious signs in print advertisements on consumers’ brand evaluation (namely, brand affect and brand trust) and purchase intention. We also study the comparative impact of two different types of religious signs—religious icons versus religious symbols—on brand evaluation and purchase intention. Three experimental studies (N = 80, 161, and 452) were conducted to investigate the effect of religious signs in advertisements for secular products and to compare the results for religious icons and religious symbols. Both kinds of religious signs were found to positively impact brand evaluation and purchase intention. However, religious icons were found to have a higher positive impact than religious symbols on brand evaluation and purchase intention. The results also indicate that highly religious consumers respond more favorably to advertisements containing religious cues in comparison to less-religious consumers. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the studies in the domains of advertising, branding, and semiotics are discussed, and research limitations are also presented.

摘要

象征意义和品牌联想对消费者购买决定的影响是一个重要的研究领域。在本文中，我们以符号互动论为理论框架，研究平面广告中宗教标志的存在对消费者品牌评价（即品牌影响和品牌信任）和购买意愿的影响。我们还研究了两种不同类型的宗教标志——宗教图标与宗教符号——对品牌评价和购买意愿的比较影响。三项实验研究（N = 80、161 和 452) 以调查宗教标志在世俗产品广告中的影响，并比较宗教图标和宗教符号的结果。发现这两种宗教标志都对品牌评价和购买意愿产生积极影响。然而，与宗教符号相比，宗教图标对品牌评价和购买意愿具有更高的积极影响。结果还表明，与宗教信仰较少的消费者相比，高度宗教信仰的消费者对包含宗教暗示的广告的反应更为积极。讨论了广告、品牌和符号学领域研究的理论贡献和管理意义，并提出了研究局限性。