Program-Ad Matching and Television Ad Effectiveness:A Reinquiry Using Facial Tracking Software

This study uses a new biometric measure, computer-coded smiling, to better understand the processes observed in a classic television-advertising context study (Kamins, Marks, and Skinner 1991 ). This conceptual replication tests the original study's program-ad matching effect on informational ads, which are more common than the sad ads the original study tested, using a cognitive outcome measure, recall. In both studies, positive ads perform equally well across positive and nonpositive program contexts, but nonpositive ads perform better in a matching nonpositive program context. These results strengthen the case for program-ad matching when using neutral informational and negative television commercials.