The Influence of Advertising at the Moment of Brand Choice

Recent admonitions by advertising researchers suggest a need to refocus on the fundamental issues of how consumers make purchase decisions and what the role of advertising is in the decision process. The purpose of this study was to acquire some evidence at the actual moment of brand selection concerning the impact of advertising on low-involvement decision making. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions: 1) Do consumers perceive, recognize and recall advertisements when engaged in actual shopping behavior? 2) To what extent does advertising impact translate into the strategy used to select a brand? and 3) What is the relationship between advertising response and in-store information processing? Results suggest that for some consumers, advertising can provide the valuable function of reducing the cognitive effort required to make a choice.