This study looked at whether heath-based advertisements were remembered when placed in a health (congruity) or non-health (incongruity) based television programme and the extent to which participant involvement influenced recall. The study aimed to test whether programme context had an effect on memory for congruent or incongruent advertisements. Sixth-form students watched either a health or non-health programme, with health or non-health centre-break advertisements. Sessions took place during the morning and afternoon. Free recall and cued recall tests were administered to test memory for the TV adverts. Results found no support for the cognitive priming theory, cognitive interference theory or for contrast effects. The study found little evidence to support any theory as to why programme surround should influence the recall of health advertisements. Limitations of the study are considered.
KeywordsTelevision AdvertisementsTime of DayContextCongruency
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). The Effects of Media Violence on Society. Science, 295, 2377-2379. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1070765
Bridges, S., & Thompson, J. (2010). Children’s BMI, Overweight and Obesity. Health Survey for England, 1-21. http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB03023/heal-surv-eng-2010-resp-heal-ch11-chil-bmi.pdf
Bryant, J., & Zillmann, D. (1994). Media Effects—Advances in Theory and Research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bushman, B. J., & Bonacci, A. M. (2002). Violence and Sex Impair Memory for Television Adverts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 557-564. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.3.557
De Pelsmacker, P., Geuens, M., & Anckaert, P. (2002). Media Context and Advertising Effectiveness: The Role of Context Appreciation and Context/AD Similarity. Journal of Advertising, 31, 49-61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2002.10673666
Dixon, H. G., Scully, M. L., Wakefield, M. A., White, V. M., & Crawford, D. A. (2007). The Effects of Television Advertisements for Junk Food versus Nutritious Food on Children’s Food Attitudes and Preference. Social Science and Medicine, 65, 1311-1323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.05.011
Frey, D. (1986). Recent Research on Selective Exposure to Information. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 41-80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60212-9
Furnham, A., Bergland, J., & Gunter, B. (2002a). Memory for Television Advertisements as a Function of Advertisement-Program Congruity. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16, 525-545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acp.812
Furnham, A., Gunter, B., & Richardson, B. (2002b). Effects of Product-Program Congruity and Viewer Involvement on Memory for Televised Advertisements. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1, 124-141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb01423.x
Furnham, A., Gunter, B., & Walsh, D. (1998). Effects of Programme Context on Memory of Humorous Television Commercials. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12, 555-567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(1998120)12:6 3.0.CO;2-X
Furnham, A., & Mainaud, L. (2010). The Effect of French Television Sexual Program Content on the Recall of Sexual and Nonsexual Advertisements. Journal of Sex Research, 47, 1-9.
Furnham, A., & Mori, T. (2003). The Effect of Programme Context on Memory for Humorous Television Advertisements in Japan. Psychologia, 46, 53-66. http://dx.doi.org/10.2117/psysoc.2003.53
Goodstein, R. C. (1993). Category-Based Applications and Extensions in Advertising: Motivating More Extensive AD Processing. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 87-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209335
Gorn, G. J., & Goldberg, M. E. (1982). Behavioural Evidence of the Effects of Televised Food Messages on Children. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 200-205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/208913
Gunter, B., Baluch, B., Duffy, L., & Furnham, A. (2002). Children’s Memory for Television Advertising: Effects of Program-Advertising Congruency. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16, 171-190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acp.776
Gunter, B., Clifford, B. R., & Berry, C. (1980). Release from Proactive Interference with Television News Items: Evidence for Encoding Dimensions within Televised News. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6, 216-223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.6.2.216
Gunter, B., Furnham, A., & Pappa, E. (2005). Effects of Television Violence on Memory for Violent and Nonviolent Advertising. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35, 1680-1697. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02190.x
Harris, J. L., Bargh, J. A., & Brownell, K. D. (2009). Priming Effects of Television Food Advertising on Eating Behavior. Health Psychology, 28, 404-413. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014399
Hastings, G., Stead, M., McDermott, L., Forsyth, A., MacKintosh, A. M., & Rayner, M. et al. (2003). Review of Research on the Effects of Food Promotion to Children. Report Prepared for the UK Food Standards Agency. Centre for Social Marketing, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
Hirani, V. (2010). Adult Anthropometric Measures, Overweight and Obesity. Health Survey for England, 1-26. http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB03023/heal-surv-eng-2010-resp-heal-ch10-adul-anth.pdf
Howard, J. (1977). Consumer Behaviour: Application and Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hunt, R. R. (1995). The Subtlety of Distinctiveness: What von Restorff Really Did. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 2, 105-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03214414
Juntunen, A. (1995). Media Context and Advertising Processing. Helsinki: Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration.
Kamins, M. A., Marks, L. J., & Skinner, D. (1991). Television Commercial Evaluation in the Context of Program-Induced Mood: Congruity versus Consistency Effects. Journal of Advertising, 20, 1-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1991.10673209
McNair, D., Lorr, M., & Doppleman, L. (1971). POMS Manual for the Profile of Mood States. San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
Meyers-Levy, J., & Tybout, A. M. (1997). Context Effects at Encoding and Judgment in Consumption Settings: The Role of Cognitive Resources. Journal of Consumer Research, 24, 1-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209490
Moorman, M., Neijens, P., & Smit, E. (2007). The Effects of Program Involvement on Commercial Exposure and Recall in a Naturalistic Setting. Journal of Advertising, 36, 121-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/JOA0091-3367360109
Norris, C. E., & Colman, A. M. (1992). Context Effects on Recall and Recognition of Magazine Advertisements. Journal of Advertising, 21, 37-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1992.10673374
Norris, C. E., & Colman, A. M. (1993). Context Effects on Memory for Television Advertisements. Social Behaviour and Personality: An International Journal, 21, 279-296. http://dx.doi.org/10.2224/sbp.1993.21.4.279
Parker, E., & Furnham, A. (2007). Does Sex Sell? The Effect of Sexual Programme Content on the Recall of Sexual and Non-Sexual Advertisements. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 1217-1228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acp.1325
Pieters, R., Warlop, L., & Weder, M. (2002). Breaking through the Clutter: Benefits of Advertisement Originality and Familiarity for Brand Attention and Memory. Management Science, 48, 765-781. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.48.6.765.192
Sanbonmatsu, D. M., & Fazio, R. H. (1991). Construct Accessibility: Determinants, Consequences and Implications for the Media. In J. Bryant, & D. Zillmann (Ed.), Responding to the Screen: Reception and Reaction Processes (pp. 45-62). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hancox, R. J., Milne, B. J., & Poulton, R. (2004). Association between Child and Adolescent Television Viewing and Adult Health: A Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study. The Lancet, 364, 257-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16675-0
Viner, R. M., & Cole, T. J. (2005). Television Viewing in Early Childhood Predicts Adult Body Mass Index. Journal of Pediatrics, 147, 429-435. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2005.05.005
Wallace, J. C., Vodanovich, S. J., & Restino, B. M. (2003). Predicting Cognitive Failures from Boredom Proneness and Daytime Sleepiness Scores: An Investigation within Military and Undergraduate Samples. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 635-644. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00050-8
Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1999). The PANAS-X: Manual for the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Expanded Form. http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/Watson/Watson.html