Cue Compatibility and Framing in Advertising

Findings from a laboratory experiment support three research propositions on how processing goals at ad exposure and retrieval cues in the brand decision environment affect recall of communication effects and ad and brand judgments. The first proposition, the “cue compatibility principle,” is that compatibility or a match between the type of information stored in memory at encoding and the type of information present as cues at retrieval is necessary for successful recall of communication effects (e.g., cognitive responses). The second proposition is that though retrieval cues can facilitate recall of strongly associated information, they can inhibit recall of other, less strongly associated information in memory. The third proposition is that because processing goals and retrieval cues affect the accessibility and diagnosticity of communication effects, they “frame” brand judgments by influencing (1) the importance or weight placed on different types of communication effects in ad and brand judgments, and therefore (2) the actual favorableness of the judgments reached. The theoretical and managerial implications of these memory factors on advertising effectiveness are discussed.