What Does Familiarity Breed? Complexity As A Moderator Of R

A study examined how consumers' attitudes toward advertisements are affected by their previous exposure to them; specifically, the purpose was to determine if the effect of ad exposure on ad liking is moderated by the complexity of the ad. Two hundred ninety-eight students were given questionnaires, with 240 usable responses; these subjects participated in 2 sessions during which they were exposed to ads for a fictional new soft drink. Results suggested that the effects of exposure on ad attitudes may be moderated by the complexity of the ad. Evaluations of the complex ads become more positive with exposure, while those of simple ads do not. Results also indicated that brand liking improves with exposure, perhaps because some of the increase in ad liking transferred to the brand depicted in the ad. These findings perhaps help to explain why previous studies of ad exposure have had mixed results.