Word-of-Mouth Endorsements and Goal Type in Service Advertising
Published: 2023
Author(s) Name: Tilottama Ghosh Chowdhury, Petru Dorin Micu, Mahfuj Munshi, Camelia C. Micu |
Author(s) Affiliation: Professor of Marketing, School of Business, Quinnipiac University, United States.
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Abstract
This paper investigates the effectiveness of advertising messages that highlight abstract versus concrete goals and of consumer
endorsements varying in strength in the context of services with various levels of risk. The results show that, for services of low
risk, consumers exposed to concrete goal-oriented messages in advertisements have a more positive ad attitude and purchase
intention towards the service if the ad message is accompanied by strong-tie word-of-mouth (e.g., family or friends) versus
weak-tie word-of-mouth (e.g., reviews from typical consumers). No such difference is observed if consumers see advertisements
with abstract goals. In the case of high-risk services, abstract goals in advertising are more effective when ad messages are
accompanied by weak (versus strong)-tie word-of-mouth. By priming consumers to think of low-risk services as having relatively
higher risk (and vice versa), we show that the results are not merely driven by the type of service but by the level of perceived risk
that consumers associate with the service. We conclude with implications for academics and practitioners.
Keywords: Word-of-Mouth, Abstract and Concrete Claims, Advertising
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