Consumer Reactions to Explicit Brand Comparisons in Advertisements

The relative influence of comparative and noncomparative advertising on purchase intention ratings, perceptions of believability, credibility, quantity of information, and usefulness of information is investigated. The impact of the advertiser's competitive position, claim substantiation, and theme are considered, and the degrees of brand loyalty toward the advertised and competing brands are treated as covariates. Results indicate that ratings of purchase intentions, believability, and credibility were not differentially affected by comparative and noncomparative advertisements; however, the relative effectiveness of comparative advertising is influenced by the theme and advertiser's competitive position. The terms in the model did not explain a significant amount of the variation in ratings of quantity and usefulness of information.