Consumer response to direct, indirect and non-comparative advertising in France, UK and USA

Purpose Calls for additional inquiry into comparative advertising (CA) using samples of populations beyond college students and testing theory have been made (Beard, 2018). There is also a need to gather knowledge on the transferability of CA strategies across nations. This research contributes to the literature by applying both motivation, ability and opportunity (MAO) theory and dual coding theory to CA through two international studies focused on direct comparative advertising (DCA), indirect comparative advertising (ICA) and non-comparative advertising (NCA). Design/methodology/approach Study 1 is based on a 2 × 2 × 3 between-subjects experimental design (ad formats: DCA vs ICA; exposure time: 4 vs 20 s; three nations: France, UK and USA) (n = 758 consumers). Study 2 relies on a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design (ad formats: DCA vs NCA; two nations: France and UK) (n = 800 consumers). Findings Study 1 reveals a superiority of ICA over DCA with cross-national differences (US consumers embracing more CA compared to French and British consumers). Motivation (attribute importance, health motivation), ability and opportunity (exposure time) all impact ad response. Study 2 results show that DCA outperforms NCA, and imagery processing yields a more positive response to DCA and NCA. Research limitations/implications The results of this research are specific to the countries included and design characteristics used. Herein, processing styles are inherent in the subject and not manipulated as often done. Practical implications Be wary of shorter CA. A country-specific approach may be best. Social implications DCA emerges as the strategy with the highest perceived manipulative intent. While health motivation reduces this, marketers should be mindful of ethical concerns. Originality/value This research contributes the application of MAO theory to CA literature.