TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the Differential Effects of Religious and Spiritual Cues in Online Advertising
T2 - A Study of U.S. Christians and the Nonreligious during COVID-19
AU - La Ferle, Carrie
AU - Muralidharan, Sidharth
AU - Roth-Cohen, Osnat
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2022, American Academy of Advertising.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - During times of distress, people tend to seek religious or spiritual guidance as a coping mechanism. COVID-19 brought much uncertainty into the lives of people across the world, providing a unique window into the various constructs and individual preferences related to religion and spirituality. While previous findings focus on the importance of religious cues and religiosity in advertising, scholars have not paid much attention to spirituality. A growing number of Americans do not identify with any religion, and studies about the nonreligious, especially atheists and agnostics, are relatively scant. Therefore, the aim of the current study, grounded in congruity theory and cue utilization theory, was to align ad orientation (religious versus spiritual) with individual life orientation (religious versus nonreligious) to explore the impact of these relationships on advertising effectiveness. Findings show that Christians had strong and favorable attitudes toward both the religious and spiritual ads but stronger intention to learn more about the brand only after exposure to the religious ad. In contrast, nonreligious participants had significantly more favorable attitudes and higher intention after exposure to the spiritual ad (versus religious ad). These findings contribute to an initial theoretical understanding of these two groups, with important implications for advertisers.
AB - During times of distress, people tend to seek religious or spiritual guidance as a coping mechanism. COVID-19 brought much uncertainty into the lives of people across the world, providing a unique window into the various constructs and individual preferences related to religion and spirituality. While previous findings focus on the importance of religious cues and religiosity in advertising, scholars have not paid much attention to spirituality. A growing number of Americans do not identify with any religion, and studies about the nonreligious, especially atheists and agnostics, are relatively scant. Therefore, the aim of the current study, grounded in congruity theory and cue utilization theory, was to align ad orientation (religious versus spiritual) with individual life orientation (religious versus nonreligious) to explore the impact of these relationships on advertising effectiveness. Findings show that Christians had strong and favorable attitudes toward both the religious and spiritual ads but stronger intention to learn more about the brand only after exposure to the religious ad. In contrast, nonreligious participants had significantly more favorable attitudes and higher intention after exposure to the spiritual ad (versus religious ad). These findings contribute to an initial theoretical understanding of these two groups, with important implications for advertisers.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122319385&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2021.2015728
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2021.2015728
M3 - مقالة
SN - 0091-3367
VL - 51
SP - 95
EP - 106
JO - Journal of Advertising
JF - Journal of Advertising
IS - 1
ER -