A Rhetorical Question: What is the Impact of Non-traditional Media for Low- and High-Reputation Brands?

Abstract

Drawing upon the literature on rhetorical figures, this paper reports on two studies of the impact of non-traditional media choice (i.e., creatively choosing a medium that has traditionally not featured advertising, to implicitly communicate the message) on brands with lower and higher reputations. In a first study, ads for one high- and one low-reputation brand are placed in a non-traditional medium and compared with identical ads in a traditional medium. The results reveal that the non-traditional medium enhances ad and brand evaluations more for the low- than the high-reputation brand. The effects are mediated by an increase in net positive brand thoughts. A second study replicates the main findings with stimuli from six real campaigns.