Integrating Advertising and Publicity

Using several theories, including Information Integration Theory (IIT), Integrated Information Response Model (IIRM), confirmation effect, and contrast theory, this study investigates the combined effects of advertising and publicity under the varied conditions of exposure sequence, publicity valence, and product attribute consistency. Results obtained through a 2 (sequence: ad then publicity versus publicity then ad) X 2 (attribute variation: same attribute versus different attribute) X 2 (valence of publicity: positive versus negative) within-subjects factorial design show that advertising coupled with positive publicity induces confirmation effects regardless of sequence and attribute consistency, whereas negative publicity combined with advertising mostly produces contrast effects, with mixed results depending on the sequence and attribute consistency. Findings and implications are discussed.