Leveraging News and Advertising to Introduce New Brands on the Web

ABSTRACT

Previous studies using the integrated marketing communications framework have examined the increased effectiveness of combining either multiple media or different tactics when promoting a brand. This study considers integrating advertising and publicity to promote an unknown brand on the Internet. Experiment results indicate that when exposure to advertising combines with exposure to objective news about a new brand, effectiveness increases in terms of both brand attitudes and behavioral intentions. For sequencing exposures for technical brands, the news-then-advertising condition offers more effectiveness than the reverse sequence. When introducing non-technical brands on the Web though, using advertising first is more effective in terms of brand attitudes.

Keywords::

• Integrated marketing communications
• Internet advertising
• news

Additional information

About the Authors

Anca Cristina Micu (Ph.D., Missouri School of Journalism) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Sacred Heart University. Her research interests lie in the areas of marketing mix modeling, permission-based marketing, and consumer attitude formation and change in the digital environment. She authored a book chapter on theories used in Internet advertising research in Internet Advertising: Theory and Research published by Lawrence Erlbaum. E-mail: [email protected].

Esther Thorson (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is acting dean of the Missouri School of Journalism where she continues to serve as a professor of strategic communication. Prior to being named acting dean, Thorson was the associate dean for graduate studies and research and served as the director of research for the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Thorson has published more than 100 scholarly pieces on news effects, advertising, media economics, and health communication, and she has edited six books. She serves on eight journal editorial boards. E-mail: [email protected].