What is a theory?
A theory is a way of organizing our thoughts about how something works. It's a premise, a guide, or a foundation for why we think about things the way we do. (For a more in-depth look at theories of communication, click here.)Take for instance, advertising. Theories of advertising abound. Countless books on 'how advertising works' line the shelves of libraries across the country, probably around the world.
There is an old saying that everyone is an expert in two things: their own line of work, and advertising. If that were true, you wouldn't be reading this page, now would you?
Why am I reading this page?
This page offers one theory of advertising for you to consider, that of Mere Exposure and Attitude Formation. I make no contention that this theory (Mere Exposure, remember?) is correct, or incorrect. That, my friends, is for you to decide after reading about this particular theory. My job is to give you the premise of the theory, it's historical origins and it's applied use in the field of advertising.From there, you can take it and run. Or take it to the trash. Either way, I hope you enjoy your Web Ride down Mere Exposure Lane!
Beginnings
In the late 1960s, social psychologist R.B. Zajonc offered the world a theory of mere exposure in forming a preference (attitude). Based on his experiments, he concluded that "preference is created simply from repeated exposure, with no associated cognitive activity." (Batra, Myers and Aaker)To put it another way, a preference for something can be created through repetition - showing it repeatedly. No thought process is involved.
Now, I see my electric bill every month, but I have not developed a preference for it. But I don't think that's what he meant.
Zajonc's work came from lab experiments where he showed subjects a series of single polygons. He then showed them two polygons, one of which they had not seen before. Zajonc asked people to indicate if they had 1) seen any of the polygons before and 2) if they preferred one over the other. His results showed people preferred the polygons they had seen before, so it was a matter of repeated exposure, rather than a cognitive decision, that people developed a liking or positive attitude toward a polygon.
Relevance?
I felt the same way, initially. Who cares if people liked polygons they had seen before? How does that let me know if people will purchase and repurchase my brand so I can make lots of money?
Enlightenment
The way this theory applies to advertising is this: if people are exposed to ads repeatedly, they will develop a preference (positive attitude) for the product being advertised. No cognitive process is involved. Just show it frequently, and people will like it, which will then translate into a purchase action.Get it?
Examples of Advertisers' Brands
As this theory was introduced in the late '60s, it stands to reason that advertisers who wanted to use this theory in their development of ads would be advertisers from the late '60s through the 1970s. But interestingly enough, advertisers had been using this theory for a long while before Zajonc came along. He gave it a name, so now all the advertisers who had been practicing this type of advertising could now call it something more official.One example of such an advertiser might be Proctor & Gamble, the US-based multinational corporation which manufactures such brands as Tide, Crest, Charmin, Downy, and Ivory Dish Liquid.
P&G has been around since the 1890s. Their brands are advertised throughout the United States and around the globe. It is very probable that P&G ads from the '70s (and probably earlier!) were based on the Mere Exposure and Attitude Formation Theory. Brands like Charmin , Tide and Crest could be seen almost everyday, in every TV market, in magazines and newspapers. From an historical perspective, it makes sense that P&G ads for many of their brands were shown to a mass audience with high frequency, i.e. REPETITION.
Even today, repetition of P&G ads is standard practice.
Another example of an advertiser who may have used the Mere Exposure theory to create ads is Coca Cola. This is the company that makes Coke, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Caffeine Free Coke, Caffeine Free Diet Coke... have you heard of them?
Coca Cola ads have also used high frequency, particularly on television. In the '70s, Coke ads were probably as common as P&G ads. And at that point in history, most large advertisers were not practicing niche marketing or market segmentation to any great extent, so many ads were simply placed on national TV on one of the Big 3 networks and a broad, mass market, high frequency approach was employed.
As far as the Mere Exposure idea is concerned, it is conceivable that Coke and P&G ads were so shown so frequently that people developed a preference (favorable attitude) toward the products.
Can it be that easy? Most likely, no. Over the ensuing years, other theories of how advertising works have grown out of exisiting theories, and new theories have been developed. Since a theory is a premise we create about how something works, they logically evolve, improve or become obsolete at some point. That's not to say Mere Exposure is dead theory. But in any discussion of communication and persuasion theories, the participants must always take into consideration the historical context in which theories are formed. And one must also remember that no one theory is absolutely right or wrong.
For the past several years, advertisers have used different strategies and methods of communication to reach an ever-changing audience. It has become more difficult to reach consumers who are awash in clutter from hundreds of different media messages daily. And advertising must, by necessity, change and grow with the audience if it is to be successful. Two things in particular, direct marketing and advertising on the Web, have dramatically changed the way many companies communicate with their customers. Would Mere Exposure be appropriate on the Web?
As advertising practitioners and researchers continue to try to understand consumers, and as consumers continue to change, there is little doubt that theories of persuasion will continue to be introduced into the field. It may be helpful to understand what other researchers found using Zajonc's basic theory.
Related Views
Further studies following Zajonc's initial work also suggest advertising repetition may, in some situations, lead to preference.
Researchers like Ehrenberg, Krugman, Hawkins and Hoch conducted advertising experiments based on Zajonc's theory. Ehrenberg found that for mature brands, advertising serves mostly to reinforce (not create) brand preference. They concluded that you need high levels of reminder advertising that use frequent repetition. (Ehrenberg, A.S.C.)
A related view of the exposure effect suggests that repeated exposure creates a conscious sense of familiarity with a brand, which causes liking. Krugman pointed out that "a product is often preferred not because it is indeed better, but because of the "pleasure of recognition... sheer familiarity."(Krugman)
Hawkins and Hoch found that when consumers processed ads under low-involvement conditions, they believed statements to be more true simply as a function of repetition. (Hawkins and Hoch)
Wrap-up
It is important to understand that much of the research on mere exposure theory (and how it leads to attitude formation) is based on low-involvement situations. It stands to reason then, that this particular theory may be useful when dealing with a product which does not require a high level of involvement on the part of the consumer.For example, consumer goods such as food, soda, gum, detergent, and household cleansers may be good types of products for the mere exposure theory. Cognition is not a major factor, so goods which do not require as much thought (low-involvement) would work best.
Products that involve more cognition (high-involvement), such as the purchase of a car, computer or stereo (i.e.; lots of money) probably won't be as successful if this advertising theory is applied.
But that's just a hunch. Remember, it's your job to evaluate the merits of this theory, then decide for yourself if it seems reasonable.
For other student papers on Theories of Advertising, please visit The University of Texas at Austin Department of Advertising Home Page.
This Web page is intended for educational purposes only. The author created this page as part of a class assignment for Dr. John Leckenby, professor of advertising at the University of Texas at Austin.
