The Effect of Verbal and Visual Components of Advertisements on Brand Attitudes and Attitude Toward the Advertisement

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study designed to obtain a better understanding of the effects of using valenced visual information in advertising. In the study, subjects saw advertisements for hypothetical products that contained affect-laden photographs with different valences (Picture Type Manipulation). The results indicate that the affect-laden photographs had an effect on both attitude toward the advertisement (A_ad) and brand attitudes; however, no differences were found in the product attribute beliefs that were formed. Photographs that were evaluated positively created more favorable attitudes toward the advertisements and brand attitudes, whereas the reverse was true for photographs that were evaluated negatively. The results of an analysis of covariance indicate that the inclusion of both the predicted attitude from structured scales (ΣΣb_i,e_i) and elicited beliefs did not eliminate all the reliable Picture Type effects on brand attitudes; however, the inclusion of A_ad did eliminate these effects. In addition, A_ad was found to affect brand attitudes for advertisements that contain only copy, and evidence is presented that A_ad and brand attitudes are separate hypothetical constructs. Finally, a Dual Component model is presented to explain the effects of visual and verbal information in advertisements.