Article Abstract

"An Empirical Test of an Updated Relevance-Accessibility Model of Advertising Effectiveness"
|by William E. Baker and Richard J. Lutz - Journal of Advertising, Vol. 29, 4, pp. 411-427.

An empirical test of the RAM model demonstrates that advertising effectiveness is maximized when advertising message content is (1) memorable at the time of brand choice and (2) it conforms to the decision process that consumers use at the time of brand choice. When consumers were indifferent, advertising that maximized brand salience was most effective. When consumers were satisficing, advertising that maximized credibility perceptions was most effective. When consumer were optimizing, advertising that proved superiority to brand alternatives was most effective. Importantly, when consumers were indifferent they ignored tangible information that demonstrated credibility or proved superiority, even though it was highly accessible to them. Likewise, when consumers were satisficing, they ignored specific performance information that proved superiority, even though it was highly accessible. These results reinforce the RAM's assertion that the type of information that integrated marketing communications programs emphasize should conform to the choice process that consumers are expected to use at the time of brand choice. They must also maximize the memorability of specific message content, not simply create favorable brand attitudes at the time of message exposure.

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