Abstract
The purpose of this research was to evaluate the influence on readers of qualifying statements regarding technical performance claims in magazine advertisements. The independent variables were (1) the use of qualification, (2) the intensity of a qualification, (3) layout of the qualification, (4) source of the tests from which the technical performance claim was derived, and, (5) level of reader's product familiarity. The dependent variables were the reader's (1) confidence in the claim, (2) image of the claim, (3) image of the product, and (4) image of the advertiser. A total of twenty-eight hypotheses regarding these variables were developed and tested. To test the hypotheses, data were collected from 450 subjects at Texas A&M University through self-administered questionnaires. Each respondent was exposed to a single treatment by viewing one of thirty versions of mock magazine advertisements. Analysis of variance and orthogonal contrasts were used to compare the means of the dependent variables in order to evaluate each null hypothesis. The results suggested that the presence of a qualification regarding a technical performance claim made a significant difference in both the reader's confidence in the claim and image of the claim. Respondents' confidence in the claim was lower and images of the claim less favorable when a qualification was present. There were no differences in respondents' images of the product or in their images of the advertiser due to the presence compared to the absence of a qualification. Variations in the intensity of the qualification appeared to cause a significant difference in respondents' confidence in the claim; the more intense the qualification, the lower the respondents' confidence. The intensity of the qualification also made a significant difference in respondents' images of the product; the more intense the qualification, the less favorable the image of the product. Variations in qualification intensity did not appear to cause a significantly more favorable or less favorable image of the claim or image of the advertiser.
Moore, Carlos William (1976). An experimental analysis of selected effects on readers of qualifying statements regarding technical performance claims in magazine advertisements. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -613555.