Effects of Advertising Likeability: A 10-Year Perspective (original) (raw)

In the early 1990s various studies showed the importance of advertising likeability for advertising effectiveness. Has the role of advertising likeability changed since then? We analyzed audience reactions to 3,000 commercials broadcast on Dutch TV in the period 1992-2001-a period in which the amount of media and advertising boomed. Over time, commercials were perceived as less likeable and less effective. The predictive value of different advertising likeability dimensions, however, remained stable over time. We also found that the influence of advertising likeability differed for different types of products. INTRODUCTION Likeability has always been important for advertisers, but in 1990 the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) in the United States put it prominently on the research agenda by conducting the ARF Copy Research Validity Project (Haley and Baldinger, 1991). The ARF showed that advertising liking was the strongest factor linked to persuasion and sales. In the early 1990s several other studies showed the positive effects of advertising likeability (e.g., Aaker