Personality self-schema and advertising congruence: investigating consumer responses to photograph-based adverts

Purpose Recent research has demonstrated the effectiveness of targeted advertising based on personality traits, yet there is contradictory literature explaining the psychological effect of such congruence. This study aims to investigate how the use of self-congruent photographic imagery relates to consumers’ cognitive processing, and whether personality matching triggers favourable cognition. Design/methodology/approach Across three studies, the authors explore the role of self-schema recognition and product involvement in consumers’ responses to adverts. Study 1 tested whether individuals perceive personality self-congruence in photographic depictions of extraversion. Study 2 examined how perceived congruence affects cognitive reactions. Study 3 used a thought-listing technique to assess cognition, while measuring other variables that may affect cognition, including “product involvement”, “need for cognition” and narcissism. Approximately 3,500 thoughts on 10 adverts were analysed. Findings Study 1 demonstrates self-schema recognition in photographic adverts. However, Study 2 found no significant cognitive effect of congruence alone, and Study 3 showed that product involvement was a stronger driver of favourable cognition. Trait-level variables such as narcissism and need for cognition played a more limited role. Research limitations/implications The authors demonstrate the role of self-schema in advertising and help resolve previous conflicting findings on whether personality self-congruence triggers deeper favourable cognitive processing. Practical implications For marketers targeting specific audiences, the authors demonstrate the importance of product involvement over matching specific traits. Originality/value The authors extend self-congruity theory by isolating the effect of photographic personality matching and demonstrating its limited cognitive impact relative to product involvement. This offers a more nuanced understanding of when personality-congruent advertising affects persuasion and raises important questions about why such effects are not always observed.