TITLE:
Gender Differences in Adolescent Advertising Response: The Role of Involvement and Message Claim
AUTHORS:
Karlijn Massar, Abraham P. Buunk
KEYWORDS:
Gender Differences; Advertising Response; Product Involvement; Message Claims
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.7,
July
8,
2013
ABSTRACT: This study investigates whether gender
differences in adolescents’ advertising judgments and purchase intentions are
due to their level of involvement with the advertised product, and with the
claim made in the ad, i.e. whether evaluative versus factual message claims are
used. Male (n = 115) and female adolescents (n = 127) were randomly assigned to
a mixed design. They read either factual or evaluative ads (between-subjects
variable) about a product within and about a product outside their area of
interests (within-subjects variable). Results show that when an ad contained a
description of a high involvement product (i.e. the youth magazine), adolescent
females were persuaded most by factual information, whereas when the ad
contained a description of a low involvement product (the sports magazine),
they were persuaded more by evaluative information. Adolescent males overall
indicated a more positive attitude towards a high involvement product, but were
equally persuaded by evaluative and factual information. We conclude that
gendered advertising responses do exist, and that the level of involvement with
the product advertised determines which type of message claim—factual versus
evaluative—is most effective for each gender. Discussion focuses on theoretical
and practical implications of these results.