IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ininma/v34y2014i4p457-464.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The mediating role of mental imagery in mobile advertising

Author

Listed:
  • Gavilan, Diana
  • Avello, Maria
  • Abril, Carmen

Abstract

The future of communication and advertising is mobile. There is, however, little empirical evidence as to exactly how mobile advertising works. This research examines the role of mental imagery elicited by mobile advertising and its mediating effect on trust in the advertising message (ad trust) and purchase intention. Using a 2×2 factorial experimental design, we examined the influence of the type of message – SMS vs. MMS – and type of content – informational vs. transformational – on the three dimensions of mental imagery: vividness, quantity and elaboration. Results show a greater impact of MMS mobile ads and transformational ads on vividness and elaboration, while SMS mobile ads have a greater impact on the quantity dimension. The study also suggests that ad trust can be improved by enhancing the mental imagery elicited by mobile ads. Vivid and elaborate mental imagery mediates the effect of the type of ad on ad trust and exerts a positive influence on purchase intention. These findings have important implications for mobile advertisers since overcoming trust issues remains a major obstacle in the adoption of this medium. In addition, practical aspects of mobile ads’ conception and design are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Gavilan, Diana & Avello, Maria & Abril, Carmen, 2014. "The mediating role of mental imagery in mobile advertising," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 457-464.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ininma:v:34:y:2014:i:4:p:457-464
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.04.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268401214000425
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.04.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yih Hwai Lee & Cheng Qiu, 2009. "When Uncertainty Brings Pleasure: The Role of Prospect Imageability and Mental Imagery," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(4), pages 624-633, December.
    2. McGill, Ann L & Anand, Punam, 1989. "The Effect of Vivid Attributes on the Evaluation of Alternatives: The Role of Differential Attention and Cognitive Elaboration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(2), pages 188-196, September.
    3. Sultan, Fareena & Rohm, Andrew J. & Gao, Tao (Tony), 2009. "Factors Influencing Consumer Acceptance of Mobile Marketing: A Two-Country Study of Youth Markets," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 308-320.
    4. Varnali, Kaan & Toker, Ayşegül, 2010. "Mobile marketing research: The-state-of-the-art," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 144-151.
    5. Mikhailitchenko, Andrey & Javalgi, Rajshekhar (Raj) G. & Mikhailitchenko, Galina & Laroche, Michel, 2009. "Cross-cultural advertising communication: Visual imagery, brand familiarity, and brand recall," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 931-938, October.
    6. Watson, Catherine & McCarthy, Jeff & Rowley, Jennifer, 2013. "Consumer attitudes towards mobile marketing in the smart phone era," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 840-849.
    7. ., 1998. "Experimiental Economics," Chapters, in: John B. Davis & D. W. Hands & Uskali Mäki (ed.), The Handbook of Economic Methodology, chapter 36, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Lin, Hsiu-Fen, 2011. "An empirical investigation of mobile banking adoption: The effect of innovation attributes and knowledge-based trust," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 252-260.
    9. Bone, Paula Fitzgerald & Ellen, Pam Scholder, 1992. "The Generation and Consequences of Communication-Evoked Imagery," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(1), pages 93-104, June.
    10. Shankar, Venkatesh & Balasubramanian, Sridhar, 2009. "Mobile Marketing: A Synthesis and Prognosis," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 118-129.
    11. Unnava, H Rao & Agarwal, Sanjeev & Haugtvedt, Curtis P, 1996. "Interactive Effects of Presentation Modality and Message-Generated Imagery on Recall of Advertising Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 23(1), pages 81-88, June.
    12. Yang, Byunghwa & Kim, Youngchan & Yoo, Changjo, 2013. "The integrated mobile advertising model: The effects of technology- and emotion-based evaluations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1345-1352.
    13. Schlosser, Ann E, 2003. "Experiencing Products in the Virtual World: The Role of Goal and Imagery in Influencing Attitudes versus Purchase Intentions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 184-198, September.
    14. MacInnis, Deborah J & Price, Linda L, 1987. "The Role of Imagery in Information Processing: Review and Extensions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(4), pages 473-491, March.
    15. Deng, Zhaohua & Lu, Yaobin & Wei, Kwok Kee & Zhang, Jinlong, 2010. "Understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty: An empirical study of mobile instant messages in China," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 289-300.
    16. Shankar, Venkatesh & Venkatesh, Alladi & Hofacker, Charles & Naik, Prasad, 2010. "Mobile Marketing in the Retailing Environment: Current Insights and Future Research Avenues," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 111-120.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Bin & Xie, Fengyuan & Kandampully, Jay & Wang, Jin, 2022. "Increase hedonic products purchase intention through livestreaming: The mediating effects of mental imagery quality and customer trust," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Cheng, Peiyao & Zhang, Chao, 2023. "Show me insides: Investigating the influences of product exploded view on consumers’ mental imagery, comprehension, attitude, and purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. Vazquez, Erik Ernesto & Patel, Chirag & Alvidrez, Salvador & Siliceo, Lorena, 2023. "Images, reviews, and purchase intention on social commerce: The role of mental imagery vividness, cognitive and affective social presence," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Diana Gavilan & Maria Avello, 2020. "Brand-Evoked Mental Imagery: The Role of Brands in Eliciting Mental Imagery," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Diana Gavilan & Maria Avello, 2020. "Brand-Evoked Mental Imagery: The Role of Brands in Eliciting Mental Imagery," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.
    2. Kim, Minjeong & Kim, Jung-Hwan & Park, Minjung & Yoo, Jungmin, 2021. "The roles of sensory perceptions and mental imagery in consumer decision-making," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Xu, Xiaobing & Chen, Rong & Jiang, Lan, 2020. "The Influence of Payment Mechanisms on Pricing: When Mental Imagery Stimulates Desire for Money," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 178-188.
    4. Luis Fernando Hor-Meyll & Marcel Correia de Lima & Jorge Brantes Ferreira, 2014. "Why Should I Accept Ads on my Mobile Phone? Factors Affecting the Acceptance by Brazilian Teenagers," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 11(4), pages 130-150, August.
    5. Lu, Chih-Cheng & Wu, Ing-Long & Hsiao, Wei-Hung, 2019. "Developing customer product loyalty through mobile advertising: Affective and cognitive perspectives," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 101-111.
    6. Liang, Beichen & Kale, Sudhir H., 2012. "Cultural differences in imagery generation: The influence of abstract versus concrete thinking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 333-339.
    7. Lee, Woojin & Gretzel, Ulrike, 2012. "Designing persuasive destination websites: A mental imagery processing perspective," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 1270-1280.
    8. Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb & Sang Pil Han, 2013. "How Is the Mobile Internet Different? Search Costs and Local Activities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 613-631, September.
    9. Liu, Linlin & Lee, Matthew K.O. & Liu, Renjing & Chen, Jiawen, 2018. "Trust transfer in social media brand communities: The role of consumer engagement," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-13.
    10. Bacile, Todd J. & Ye, Christine & Swilley, Esther, 2014. "From Firm-Controlled to Consumer-Contributed: Consumer Co-Production of Personal Media Marketing Communication," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 117-133.
    11. Lee, Jung Eun & Shin, Eonyou, 2020. "The effects of apparel names and visual complexity of apparel design on consumers' apparel product attitudes: A mental imagery perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 407-417.
    12. Carmen Balan & Mirela-Patricia Zegreanu, 2012. "Insights into the Development of the Market of Mobile Marketing Services in Romania," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(Special N), pages 786-801, November.
    13. Yim, Mark Yi-Cheon & Baek, Tae Hyun & Sauer, Paul L., 2018. "I See Myself in Service and Product Consumptions: Measuring Self-transformative Consumption Vision (SCV) Evoked by Static and Rich Media," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 122-139.
    14. De Vries, Eline L.E. & Zhang, Sha, 2020. "The effectiveness of random discounts for migrating customers to the mobile channel," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 272-281.
    15. Ström, Roger & Vendel, Martin & Bredican, John, 2014. "Mobile marketing: A literature review on its value for consumers and retailers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1001-1012.
    16. Cheng, Peiyao & Zhang, Chao, 2023. "Show me insides: Investigating the influences of product exploded view on consumers’ mental imagery, comprehension, attitude, and purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Aydınoğlu, Nilüfer Z. & Krishna, Aradhna, 2019. "The power of consumption-imagery in communicating retail-store deals," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(4), pages 116-127.
    18. Maduku, Daniel K. & Mpinganjira, Mercy & Duh, Helen, 2016. "Understanding mobile marketing adoption intention by South African SMEs: A multi-perspective framework," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 711-723.
    19. Ha, Sejin & Huang, Ran & Park, Jee-Sun, 2019. "Persuasive brand messages in social media: A mental imagery processing perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 41-49.
    20. Gian Luca Gregori & Valerio Temperini, 2013. "Il ruolo dell?e-learning nelle strategie di comunicazione delle imprese. Il caso della iGuzzini illuminazione," ECONOMIA E DIRITTO DEL TERZIARIO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(3), pages 421-435.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ininma:v:34:y:2014:i:4:p:457-464. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-information-management .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.