Contextual Priming and Applicability: Implications for Ad Attitude and Brand Evaluations

Prior research has found that advertising contextual information can affect how consumers evaluate the target ad as well as the brand. This study extends the existing research by investigating how the immediate and longterm effects of contextual priming on ad attitudes and brand evaluations may differ due to the low or high applicability of the contexts to the advertised brand. Results in the first experiment revealed significant interactions between context and applicability, while results from the second experiment indicated that, after a delay, context had significant main effects on ad attitude and brand evaluations regardless of the applicability levels. These findings have both theoretical and managerial implications.