Journal article
When the "Charm of Three" Fades: Mental Imagery Moderates the Impact of the Number of Ad Claims on Persuasion
Journal of consumer psychology, Vol.32(3), pp.484-491
07/2022
DOI: 10.1002/jcpy.1256
Abstract
Given the prevalence of imagery appeals in today's marketplace, the current research studies the role of mental imagery in how consumers process and react to advertisements with different numbers of ad claims. Past research has proposed "three" as the magical number of ad claims that maximizes persuasion, with more than three ad claims increasing skepticism and reducing evaluation. In the current research, we replicate this so-called "charm of three" effect, but only when consumers do not engage in mental imagery; when they do, however, we find that the effect is moderated, in that more ad claims beyond three produces more favorable product evaluation. Additionally, we provide evidence that the moderating effect of mental imagery is driven by transportation and skepticism toward the ad claims, with mental imagery increasing transportation and decreasing skepticism when there are more than three ad claims. Our research contributes to a better understanding of the "charm of three" effect, its boundary conditions, and underlying mechanism.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- When the "Charm of Three" Fades: Mental Imagery Moderates the Impact of the Number of Ad Claims on Persuasion
- Creators
- Liangyan Wang - Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityEugene Y. Chan - Purdue University SystemHaipeng (Allan) Chen - University of KentuckyHan Lin - Nanjing Audit UniversityXinzhan Shi - Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of consumer psychology, Vol.32(3), pp.484-491
- Publisher
- Wiley
- DOI
- 10.1002/jcpy.1256
- ISSN
- 1057-7408
- eISSN
- 1532-7663
- Number of pages
- 8
- Grant note
- 71772120; 71771125 / National Natural Science Foundation of China; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Industry Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/2022
- Academic Unit
- Marketing
- Record Identifier
- 9984618641002771
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