To Challenge or Not to Challenge: Ad-Brand Incongruency and Brand Familiarity

This study adds to the research on information incongruency in advertising by investigating the effects of ad-brand incongruency, that is, ads that are incongruent with the brand and its associations. A total of 728 (302 + 426) students participated in two experimental studies where ad congruency was manipulated for a familiar brand and an unfamiliar brand. The results showed that ad attitude and ad credibility were lowered whereas brand attitude was enhanced for the familiar brand. The effects were not significant for the unfamiliar brand. However, the associations from the incongruent ad were sustained at a delay for the unfamiliar brand but not for the familiar brand. Based on this, the authors argue that advertising should challenge familiar brands but not unfamiliar brands.