Exploring the Effect of Synced Brand versus Competitor Brand on Brand Attitudes and Purchase Intentions

Abstract

With exponential technology advancement and innovation, consumers can now receive synchronized advertising across media simultaneously. However, programmatic advertising technologies allow many brands, including competing brands, to be synchronized across media. Based on the concept of repetition from the multilayered concept of relatedness, this research investigated the effects of synced brand versus competitor brand with an online scenario–based experiment (Study 1; N = 122) and an online task experiment (Study 2; N = 227). The results showed a positive effect of synced brand on brand attitude and purchase intentions but only in the scenario-based studies. This research is, to our knowledge, the first to show empirically that synced advertising with the same brand versus a competitor brand may lead to favorable consumer responses. The findings contribute to academic thinking toward the effects of personalized advertising frameworks and provide insights to advertising practitioners regarding the impact of cross-media personalization strategies.

Keywords:

• Brand attitude
• competitor brand
• personalization
• purchase intentions
• repetition
• synced advertising

Acknowledgments

We thank Katie Kim and Bugil Chang for their input in Study 1. We thank Abbey Hammell, Robert Wozniak, and LATIS for their help in the Web questionnaire development and data collection of Study 2. Finally, we thank the associate editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback to improve the manuscript.

Notes

1 https://osf.io/fc5dh/?view_only=2ebfce71e5ef4eabb5d9d97b8c969818b3

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Design Graduate Program Research and Creative Scholarship Grant and Kriss Research Support Grants at the University of Minnesota.

Notes on contributors

Garim Lee

Garim Lee (MS, University of Minnesota) is a PhD candidate, Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel, University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Asma Sifaoui

Asma Sifaoui (MA, University of Minnesota) is a PhD student, Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, Moody College of Communication, University of Texas–Austin.

Claire M. Segijn

Claire M. Segijn (PhD, University of Amsterdam) is an assistant professor of advertising, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota.