Download “A Study on Advertising Credibility and Skepticism in Five Different

“A Study on Advertising Credibility and Skepticis m in Five Different Media Using the
Persuasion Knowledge Model”
Management Research Project -II
Submitted
In the partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Business Administration
Semester-IV
By
Gaganpreet Singh Multani
11044311050
Hemang Rawat
11044311126
Vashishth Vaishnav
11044311143
Krushangi Shah
11044311130
Shivani Shah
10044311147
Under the Guidance of:
Prof. (Dr.) Mahendra Sharma
Prof. & Head,
V. M. Patel Institute of Management.
&
Jayesh D. Patel
Assistant Professor,
V. M. Patel Institute of Management.
Dipesh Dasani
Assistant Professor,
V. M. Patel Institute of Management.
Submitted To:
V. M. Patel Institute of Management
(April, 2013)
CERTIFICATE BY THE GUIDE
This is to certify that the contents of this report entitled “A Study on Adve rtising Credibility
and Skepticism in Five Different Media Using the Persuasion Knowledge Model” submitted
to V. M. Patel Institute of Management for the Award of Master of Business Administration
(MBA Semester-IV) is original research work carried out by him/her/them under my supervision.
This report has not been submitted either partly or fully to any other University or Institute for
award of any degree or diploma.
Name
Exam number
Gaganpreet Singh Multani
11044311050
Hemang Rawat
11044311126
Vashishth Vaishnav
11044311143
Krushangi Shah
11044311130
Shivani Shah
10044311147
Professor & Head,
V. M. Patel Institute Of Management,
Ganpat University.
Kherva.
Date:
Place: Kherva
i
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT
We hereby declare that the work incorporated in this report entitled “A Study on Adve rtising
Credibility and Skepticism in Five Different Media Using the Persuasion Knowledge
Model” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Business
Administration (Sem.-IV) is the outcome of original study undertaken by us and it has not been
submitted earlier to any other University or Institution for the award of any Degree or Diploma.
Name
Exam number
Gaganpreet Singh Multani
11044311050
Hemang Rawat
11044311126
Vashishth Vaishnav
11044311143
Krushangi Shah
11044311130
Shivani Shah
10044311147
Date:
Place: Kherva
ii
Sign
PREFACE
The project report refers to the study which is relevant to professional development as
an essential component in the development of the practical and professional skill
required of a manager and an aid to prospective employment.
As a part of the MBA curriculum and in order to gain practical knowledge in the field
of managemant, we are required to make a project report on the topic which the
respcted faculty provides for research.
The basic objective behind doing this project is to gain knowledge about the market
conditions and the different market strategies accuired to survive the compition
exisisting in the market and to interpret its various implications.
Doing this project helped us to enhance our knowledge regarding the different
strategies adopted and the through out work Through this report we come to know
about importance of team work and role of devotion towards the work.
I am thankful to our institute and all the respected faculty members. This project
report is an outline of what we have learnt during our project report.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We can achieve success as per our potential when we get the right guidance from
experts in that field & I got the right guidance at each & every time whenever I
needed in this project report. First of all, I am thankful to Dr. Mahendra Sharma,
Professor and Head, V. M. Patel Institute of Management for giving me an
opportunity to experience the corporate field experience.
I thank my guide and Professor Prof. Jayesh Patel, Recpected faculty of V.M. Patel
Institute of Management for their wholehearted support and valuable guidance with
which my project has been complete. I am also thankful to all my faculty members
who guided me throughout the project.
We are very thankful to them for their help and advice throughout our project. Their
gentleness, availability and readiness to provide all the type of guidance, for
understanding the technical things made this project successfully completed well
within the timeframe.
iv
List of Table
Chapter-3
3.1
Reliability Test
28
Chapter-4
4.1
Multiple Regression
30
4.1(a) Anova
30
4.1(b) Model Summary
30
4.1(c) Coefficients
31
4.2
32
Analysis of Variance
4.2(a) Descriptives
33
4.2(b) Anova
33
4.2(c) Multiple Comparisons
33
4.2(d) Descriptives
37
4.2(e) Anova
38
4.2(f)
39
Multiple Comparisons
v
CONTENTS
Chapter-1
Certificate by the Guide
I
Candidate’s Statement
II
Preface
III
Acknowledgments
IV
List of Tables
V
1
Introduction
1
1.1
Advertising
2
1.2
Skepticism
13
1.3
Credibility
14
1.4
Persuasion Knowledge Model
15
Chapter-2
2
Literature Review
16
Chapter-3
3
Research Methodology
24
3.1
Research Design
25
3.2
Objectives of the study
25
3.3
Sampling Technique
25
3.4
Sampling Method
25
3.5
Sample Size
26
3.6
Sampling unit
26
3.7
Data Collection
27
3.8
Tool for Data Collection
27
3.9
Data Collection Method
27
3.10
Hypothesis of the Study
27
3.11
Reliability Test
28
Data Analysis
29
4.1
Multiple Regression
30
4.2
ANOVA
32
Chapter-5
5
Findings
41
Chapter-6
6
Conclusion
43
Chapter-7
7
Implications & Recommendations of the Study
45
Chapter-8
8
Limitations And Directions For Future Research
47
Bibliography
49
Annexure
51
Chapter-4
4
Chapter 1
Introduction of Topic
1
“Advertising credibility and skepticism in five different media using the persuasion
knowledge model” the research topic is selected to examine differences in consumers'
perceptions of advertising credibility for five media — newspapers, television, radio,
magazines and the Internet — and the moderating role of persuasion knowledge in those
perceptions. And taking to the advertising skepticism, skepticism is the process of
applying reason and critical thinking to determine validity. It's the process of finding a
supported conclusion, not the justification of a preconceived conclusion.
The purpose of this research is to examine differences in consumers' perceptions of
advertising credibility for five media. A growing body of research has indicated that
credibility is one of the most important components of a persuasive message and can
often influence the outcome of persuasive messages (Perloff 1993; Choi and Rifon 2002).
Advertisements that lack credibility are often ignored or avoided by consumers, which is
why advertisers have long maintained that to affect attitude change or formation leading
to purchase behavior the advertisement must be seen as credible by the consumer. Thus,
credibility of advertising messages plays an important role in the formation of
attitudes and, ultimately, purchase behavior, as dictated by the hierarchy of effects
models (Thorson 1996). However, persuasion knowledge, defined as what consumers
know about advertisers and advertisers' tactics, can disrupt this process by making
additiona l advertiser information available to help consumers "cope" with persuasion
messages often negatively by disrupting the flow of advertising information from one
stage to the next (Friestad and Wright 1994).
The purpose of this research is to examine the role of persuasion knowledge in
influencing individuals' perceptions of advertising credibility and skepticism in five
different media newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the Internet. Although
previous research in this area has focused on source credibility, this study attempts
to examine advertising credibility across media types. Moreover, the concept of
skepticism as a set of attitudes regarding both general and vehicle specific advertising is
addressed. The need to investigate the credibility of and skepticism toward
advertisements among different media is important because it will help advertisers and
scholars.
2
1.1 Adve rtising:Advertising is nothing but a paid form of non-personal presentation or promotion of
ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor with a view to disseminate information
concerning an idea, product or service. The message which is presented or disseminated
is called advertisement. In the present day marketing activities hardly is there any
business in the modern world which does not advertise. However, the form of
advertisement differs from business to business.
Advertisement has been defined differently by different persons. A few definitions are
being reproduced below:
According to Wood, "Advertising is causing to know to remember, to do."
According to Wheeler, "Advertising is any form of paid non-personal presentation of
ideas, goods or services for the purpose of inducting people to buy."
According to Richard Buskirk, "Advertising is a paid form of non-personal presentation
of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor."
According to William J. Stanton, "Advertising consists of all the activities involves in
presenting to a group, a non-personal, oral or visual, openly sponsored message regarding
disseminated through one or more media and is paid for by an identified sponsor."
The above definitions clearly reveal the nature of advertisement. This is a powerful
element of the promotion mix. Essentially advertising means spreading of information
about the characteristics of the product to the prospective customers with a view to sell
the product or increase the sale volume.
The main features of advertise are as under:
•
It is directed towards increasing the sales of business.
•
Advertising is a paid form of publicity.
•
It is non-personal. They are directed at a mass audience and nor at the individual as is in
the case of personal selling.
3
•
Advertisements are identifiable with their sponsor of originator which is not always the
case with publicity or propaganda.
Various media for Advertising:Advertising media are the means to transmit the message of the advertiser to the desired
class of people. Channels or vehicle by which an advertising message is brought to the
notice of the prospective buyer.
Types of Media:There is no dearth of media today. It may be direct or indirect. Direct method of
advertising refers to such methods used by the advertiser with which he could establish a
direct contact with the prospective hand involve the use of a hired agency for spreading
the information. Most of the media are indirect in nature, e.g., press publicity, cinema,
etc. The various media that are commonly used are being explained here under:
Newspapers:Newspaper (Hindi or English) (morning or evening editions) are bought largely for their
news value as such they are most appropriate for announcing new products and new
development of existing products. The choice of a particular news paper for advertising
depends upon many factors i.e., circulation of the newspaper, the type of readers it
serves, the geographical region in which it is popular, the costs of space and general
reputation of the paper etc.
Magazines:Another medium under press publicity is magazines and journals. They also offer good
facility because magazine are read leisurely when the reader is mentally prepared to
receive advertisements.
4
Types of Advertising:An advertisement for a diner. Such signs are common on storefronts.
Paying people to hold signs is one of the oldest forms of advertising, as with this human
billboard pictured above.
A bus with an advertisement for GAP in Singapore. Buses and other vehicles are popular
media for advertisers.
A DBAG Class 101 with UNICEF ads at Ingolstadt main railway station
Virtually any medium can be used for advertising. Commercial advertising media can
include wall paintings, billboards,street furniture components, printed flyers and rack
5
cards, radio, cinema and television adverts, web banners, mobile telephone screens,
shopping
carts,
web popups, skywriting,
bus
stop
benches, human
billboards and forehead advertising, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses,
banners attached to or sides of airplanes ("logojets"), in- flight advertisements on seatback
tray tables or overhead storage bins, taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens,
musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers,
doors of bathroom stalls, stickers on apples in supermarkets, shopping cart
handles (grabertising), the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and the
backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an "identified" sponsor pays
to deliver their message through a medium is advertising.
Television advertising / Music in adve rtising:-
The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass- market advertising
format,
as
is
reflected
by
the
high
prices
TV
networks
charge
for
commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game in
the United States is known as the most prominent advertising event on television. The
average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached US$3.5
million (as of 2012). Some television commercials feature a song or jingle that listeners
soon relate to the product. Virtual advertisements may be inserted into regular television
programming through computer graphics. It is typically inserted into otherwise blank
backdrops or used to replace local billboards that are not relevant to the remote broadcast
audience. More
controversially,
virtual billboards
may be
inserted
into
the
background where none exist in real- life. This technique is especially used in televised
sporting events. Virtual product placement is also possible.
6
Infome rcials :-
An infomercial is a long- format television commercial, typically five minutes or longer.
The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words "information" & "commercial".
The main objective in an infomercial is to create an impulse purchase, so that the
consumer sees the presentation and then immediately buys the product through the
advertised toll- free telephone number or website. Infomercials describe, display, and
often demonstrate products and their features, and commonly have testimonials from
consumers and industry professionals.
Radio advertising:-
Radio advertising is a form of advertising via the medium of radio. Radio advertisements
are broadcast as radio waves to the air from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a
receiving device. Airtime is purchased from a station or network in exchange for airing
the commercials. While radio has the limitation of being restricted to sound, proponents
of radio advertising often cite this as an advantage. Radio is an expanding medium that
can be found not only on air, but also online. According to Arbitron, radio has
approximately 241.6 million weekly listeners, or more than 93 percent of the U.S.
population.
Online advertising:-
Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for
the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Online ads
are delivered by an ad server. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads that
appear on search engine results pages, banner ads, in text ads, Rich Media Ads, Social
network advertising, online classified advertising, advertising networks and e- mail
marketing, including e- mail spam.
7
New media:-
Technological development and economic globalization favors the emergence of new and
new communication channels and new techniques of commercial messaging.
Product placements:-
Covert advertising, is when a product or brand is embedded in entertainment and media.
For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of a definite brand, as
in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character John Anderton owns a
phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top corner, or his watch engraved with
the Bulgari logo. Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot, where main
character played by Will Smith mentions his Converse shoes several times, calling them
"classics," because the film is set far in the future. I, Robot and Spaceballs also showcase
futuristic cars with the Audi andMercedes-Benz logos clearly displayed on the front of the
vehicles. Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result
contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used. Similarly, product placement
for Omega
Watches, Ford,VAIO, BMW and Aston
Martin cars
are
featured
in
recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale. In "Fantastic Four: Rise of the
Silver Surfer", the main transport vehicle shows a large Dodge logo on the front. Blade
Runner includes some of the most obvious product placement; the whole film stops to
show a Coca-Cola billboard.
Press advertising:-
Press
advertising
describes
advertising
in
a
printed
medium
such
as
a
newspaper, magazine, or trade journal. This encompasses everything from media with a
very broad readership base, such as a major national newspaper or magazine, to more
narrowly targeted media such as local newspapers and trade journals on very specialized
topics. A form of press advertising is classified advertising, which allows private
individuals or companies to purchase a small, narrowly targeted ad for a low fee
8
advertising a product or service. Another form of press advertising is the Display Ad,
which is a larger ad (can include art) that typically run in an article section of a
newspaper.
Billboard advertising:-
Billboards are large structures located in public places which display advertisements to
passing pedestrians and motorists. Most often, they are located on main roads with a large
amount of passing motor and pedestrian traffic; however, they can be placed in any
location with large amounts of viewers, such as on mass transit vehicles and in stations,
in shopping malls or office buildings, and in stadiums.
The RedEye newspaper advertised to its target market
at North Avenue Beach with a sailboat billboard on Lake
Michigan.
9
Mobile billboard advertising:-
Mobile billboards are generally vehicle mounted billboards or digital screens. These can
be on dedicated vehicles built solely for carrying advertisements along routes preselected
by clients, they can also be specially equipped cargo trucks or, in some cases, large
banners strewn from planes. The billboards are often lighted; some being backlit, and
others employing spotlights. Some billboard displays are static, while others change; for
example, continuously or periodically rotating among a set of advertisements. Mobile
displays are used for various situations in metropolitan areas throughout the world,
including: Target advertising, One-day, and long-term campaigns, Conventions, Sporting
events, Store openings and similar promotional events, and Big advertisements from
smaller companies.
In-store advertising:-
In-store advertising is any advertisement placed in a retail store. It includes placement of
a product in visible locations in a store, such as at eye level, at the ends of aisles and near
checkout counters (aka POP—Point Of Purchase display), eye-catching displays
promoting a specific product, and advertisements in such places as shopping carts and instore video displays.
Coffee cup advertising:-
Coffee cup advertising is any advertisement placed upon a coffee cup that is distributed
out of an office, café, or drive-through coffee shop. This form of advertising was first
popularized in Australia, and has begun growing in popularity in the United States, India,
and parts of the Middle East.
10
Street advertising:-
This type of advertising first came to prominence in the UK by Street Advertising
Services to create outdoor advertising on street furniture and pavements. Working with
products such as Reverse Graffiti, air dancer's and 3D pavement advertising, the media
became an affordable and effective tool for getting brand messages out into public
spaces.
Sheltered Outdoor Advertising:-
This type of advertising opens the possibility of combining outdoor with indoor
advertisement by placing large mobile, structures (tents) in public places on temporary
bases. The large outer advertising space exerts a strong pull on the observer, the product
is promoted indoor, where the creative decor can intensify the impression.
Celebrity branding:-
This type of advertising focuses upon using celebrity power, fame, money, popularity to
gain recognition for their products and promote specific stores or products. Advertisers
often advertise their products, for example, when celebrities share their favorite products
or wear clothes by specific brands or designers. Celebrities are often involved in
advertising campaigns such as television or print adverts to advertise specific or general
products. The use of celebrities to endorse a brand can have its downsides, however. One
mistake by a celebrity can be detrimental to the public relations of a brand. For example,
following his performance of eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,
China, swimmer Michael Phelps' contract with Kellogg's was terminated, as Kellogg's
did not want to associate with him after he was photographed smoking marijuana.
Celebrities such as Britney Spears have advertised for multiple products including Pepsi,
Candies from Kohl's, Twister, NASCAR, Toyota and many more.
11
Cons umer-gene rated advertising:-
This involves getting consumers to generate advertising through blogs, websites, wikis
and forums, for some kind of payment.
Aerial advertising:-
Using aircraft, balloons or airships to create or display advertising media. Skywriting is a
notable example.
12
1.2 Skepticism:Skepticism or Scepticism is generally any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts,
or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted
elsewhere.
The popular misconception is that skeptics, or critical thinkers, are people who disbelieve
things. And indeed, the common usage of the word skeptical supports this: "He was
skeptical of the numbers in the spreadsheet", meaning he doubted their validity. To be
skeptical, therefore, is to be negative about things and doubt or disbelieve them.
The true meaning of the word skepticism has nothing to do with doubt, disbelief, or
negativity. Skepticis m is the process of applying reason and critical thinking to
determine validity. It's the process of finding a supported conclusion, not the
justification of a preconceived conclusion.
It's thus inaccurate to say "Skeptics don't believe in ghosts." Some do. Many skeptics are
deeply religious, and are satisfied with the reasoning process that led them there. Skeptics
apply critical thinking to different aspects of their lives in their own individual way.
Everyone is a skeptic to some degree.
Skepticism is, or should be, an extraordinarily powerful and positive influence on the
world. Skepticism is not simply about "debunking" as is commonly charged. Skepticism
is about redirecting attention, influence, and funding away from worthless superstitions
and toward projects and ideas that are evidenced to be beneficial to humanity and to the
world.
The scientific method is central to skepticism. The scientific method requires evidence,
preferably derived from validated testing. Anecdotal evidence and personal testimonies
generally don't meet the qualifications for scientific evidence, and thus won't often be
accepted by a responsible skeptic; which often explains why skeptics get such a bad rap
for being negative or disbelieving people. They're simply following the scientific method.
13
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, particularly in claims that are
farfetched or that violate physical laws. Skepticism is an essential, and meaningful,
component of the search for truth.
1.3 Credibility:Refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or
message.
Ad credibility is the degree to which the consumer perceives claims made about the brand
in the ad to be truthful and believable (Lutz, 1985). It has a positive influence on attitude
towards the brand, which then affects the intention to purchase the brand (MacKenzie et
al.,1986). Ads for different kinds of products and services differ in their level of
credibility. Ads sponsored by weight-loss products or services, for instance, have
received much criticism for their allegedly deceptive content. For such products, Cleland
et al (2002) go so far as to suggest that “most of the programs and products advertised are
at best unproven and at worst unsafe” (p v). In the same report it was suggested that of
300 weight- loss advertisements sampled from broadcast and cable TV, radio, magazines,
supermarket tabloids, direct mailings, commercial e- mails and web sites, 40% made at
least one false claim, while 55% ad unsubstantiated claims.
Traditionally, modern, credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise,
which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on
subjective factors, but can include objective measurements such as established reliability.
Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective
characteristics of the source or message (e.g., credentials, certification or information
quality). Secondary components of credibility include source dynamism (charisma) and
physical attractiveness.
It has become human nature to distrust advertising. Claims need to be real and credible.
Roy H. Williams, best-selling author of the "Wizard of Ads" says, "Any claim made in
your advertising which your customer does not perceive as the truth is a horrible waste of
ad dollars."
.
14
1.5 Persuasion Knowledge Model:The Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM, Friestad and Wright 1994) outlines a theory of
persuasion that acknowledges an active, thinking consumer whose overall goal is not
necessarily to reject ads, or accept them, but to maintain control of the choice of how to
respond to persuasion attempts. Consumer knowledge and inferences about the product or
brand in the ad (topic knowledge), the sponsor of the ad (agent knowledge) and the
tactics used in the ad (persuasion knowledge) are the three critical knowledge structures
in this theory of persuasion. The relative influence of each of the three knowledge
structures will vary across persuasion attempts (Friestad and Wright 1994; Meline 1996).
These knowledge structures develop over time and so are not limited to one ad or one
point in time consumers can access their cumulative persuasion knowledge as they face
each new persuasion attempt. This idea of cumulative knowledge is consistent with
Scott’s (1994) reader response approach to advertising, "Collective wisdom about
persuasive tactics in general and past experience with the advertising genre in particular
directly informs the process of reading ads"
Persuasion knowledge, as one of the three knowledge structures, is a system of beliefs.
This system includes beliefs about psychological mediators in ads (like emotional
appeals), beliefs about marketer tactics ("agent action psychological event connections;"
see also Boush, Friestad and Rose 1994), beliefs about one’s own coping tactics
(including rejecting by ignoring, etc.), beliefs about the appropriateness and effectiveness
of the marketer’s tactics ("Is it fair/ manipulative?" and "Will it work?"), and finally,
beliefs about the marketer’s persuasion goals and one’s own coping goals. Friestad and
Wright maintain that in some situations persuasion knowledge can be more extensive and
accessible than topic or agent attitudes (for example, when you see an ad for a new
unknown company, with a new, unknown product, but the ad uses a "well-known" type
of tactic or appeal).
15
Chapter 2
Literature Review
16
Lite rature Review:
Credibility:-
Scholars have used varying definitions of the concept of credibility, primarily including
believability, fairness, completeness, and trustworthiness of the message. Research on
source credibility has also examined expertise, bias, trustworthiness, and accuracy
(Gaziano and McGrath 1986; Rimmer and Weaver 1994; Shaw 1994; Flanagin and
Metzger 2000) as characteristics of the message sender or "speaker" — most often an
actor or spokesperson. Media credibility has been examined separate from source or
content, relying instead on perceptions of the believability or trustworthiness of the
medium (Kiousis 2001). Advertiser credibility is defined as the perception of whether an
advertiser/advertisement can perform according to stated information (Herbig and
Milewicz 1995), as well as the truthfulness or honesty of the advertisement's sponsor
(MacKenzie and Lutz 1989). For the present study, we adopted Herbig and Milewicz's
(1995) definition of credibility.
The landmark social psychology study by Hovland and Weiss (1951) suggested that
message effectiveness depends on the credibility of the source. Likewise, research by
Kelman (1961) and McGuire (1969) suggests that the more credible the source, the more
effective the appeal and the more likely attitude change will take place. Thus, although
most of the literature on credibility deals with source - individual, organization, or media
- throughout credibility studies, there is an emphasis on experience with perceived
trustworthiness, or attitude toward the message provider (Hovland et. al. 1953; McCrosky
1969; Freidman and Freidman 1979; Freiden 1982; Freiclen 1984; McCracken 1989;
Kamins 1990; Ohanian 1990; Kamins and Gupta 1994; Lynch 1994; Lafferty and
Goldsmith 1999; Goldsmith et. al. 2000; and Newell and Goldsmith 2001).
In other attitudinal studies on credibility, print advertisements have consistently been
more interesting, useful, and believable as well as less excessive, offensive, and annoying
17
(Haller 1974; Somasundaran and Light 1991; Magazine Publishers of America 1991)
than their broadcast counterparts. Notably, Lafferty and Goldsmith (1999) argue that
regardless of media type, advertising credibility is a key influence for attitude formation
and resulting behaviors. However, when media are treated as the source of information,
previous research regarding credibility has not produced consistent findings. For
example, Johnson and Kaye (1998) found that Internet sources were more credible than
traditional media, whereas Mashek (2000) reported that traditional media sources were
more credible than non-traditional media. Likewise, Newhagen and Nass (1989) found
that television was perceived as more credible than newspapers, whereas Flanagin and
Metzger (2000) stated that while print newspaper information was the most credible,
Internet information was as credible as the other media compared.
Based on these studies, we expect to find that advertising messages — although
decidedly less credible than informative messages such as news or politics simply due to
the fact that they are persuasive in nature — will have varying levels of credibility across
media types. However, the inconsistent and contradictory nature of previous findings led
us to propose the following research question:
RQ1A: Which of the five media yield the highest level — and alternatively the lowest
level - of advertisement credibility?
18
Skepticism:-
A number of studies (e.g., Andrews, 1989; Alwitt & Prabhaker, 1992; Mittal, 1994;
Shavitt et al., 1998) indicate that consumers generally tend to have distrustful attitudes
towards advertising. Mohr, et al. (1998) defines skepticism toward advertising as “a
cognitive response that varies depending on the contest and content of the
communication”. In particular, consumers’ skepticism towards advertising has been
defined as consumer’s negatively valued attitudes towards the motives of advertisement
claims made by advertisers (Boush et al., 1994). As noted by Batra (1986), skepticism
can be defined as a feeling of distrust and doubt evoked by stimuli that appears to be
unrealistic, exaggerated, and phony. Obermiller & Spangenber (1998) define skepticism
toward advertising as “the tendency to disbelieve the informational claims of
advertising.” Boush, Friestad & Rose (1994), Boush et al., (1993), and Mangleburg &
Bristol (1998) consider that skepticism toward advertising alludes to consumers’ lack of
trust in advertising. Subsequently, Tan (2002) identifies that skepticism towards
advertising is disbelief, and mistrust towards advertising. Based on above discussion, this
study adopts Obermiller & Spangenber’s (1998) definition of skepticism toward
advertising.
We must introduce the theory of persuasion knowledge before deducing the relationship
between gender and skepticism toward advertising. The persuasion knowledge has been
an important theoretical framework underlying the examination of a number of
phenomena in consumer behavior (Friestand & Wright, 1994). And persuasion
knowledge refers to how and why consumers are persuaded and trust what advertising
claims. That is to say, people who are persuaded easily would tend to trust the advertising
claims. And Boush et al. (1993) indicate trust may influence consumers’ attitude toward
advertising. Other researches also find that gender difference might cause different
persuasability. Bakan (1966) and Meyers-Levy (1988) proposed that males possess selffocused perspective marked by self-assertive concern. By contrast, females tend to be a
communal role and concern about both individual self and others. Myers-Levy &
Sternthal (1991) find that females give greater consideration to advertising cues than
19
men. Thus, we propose that females tend to believe what advertisement claims, they
would be persuaded more easily. The social role theory also indicates that gender might
influence customers’ attitude, behavior, and sense of self (Visser & Irene, 2002). In
addition, females are more agreeable and concerned for others than males (Egaly &
Steffen, 1984). Based on the above discussions, this study offers the following
hypothesis.
H0: Skepticism toward advertising would not be influenced by gender.
H1: Skepticism toward advertising would be influenced by gender.
Research comparing attitudes about advertising across media suggests that different
media elicit different attitudes and perceptions. One of the most common attitudes when
talking about advertising is that of skepticism (Friestand and Wright 1995). The concept
of skepticism has been developed in consumer research as an individual predisposition to
doubt persuasive messages (Oberrniller and Spangenberg 1998). Skepticism often forms
when individuals create cognitive "categories" of incoming information and treat all
information according to a set of stereotypes or beliefs regarding what they feel a
particular message is trying to accomplish (Friestad and Wright 1999). This set of beliefs
can be general (i.e. all advertising) or context specific (i.e. Internet advertising).
Furthering this line of research, Gunther (1992) posited that individuals develop different
attitudes toward media based on messages, including skepticism toward media
information.
Based on this information, we can assume that not only would individuals have different
levels of skepticism in regard to advertising in general, but also toward advertising in
specific media vehicles. RQ1B: Which of the five media yield the highest level — and
alternatively the lowest level - of skepticism?
In addition, we would venture that the skepticism displayed by individuals will be similar
20
to their level of credibility. Specifically, that if skepticism is high, credibility will be low.
This leads us to our first hypothesis.
H0 : There will be a Positive relationship between advertising skepticism and credibility
across media types.
H1 : There will be a negative relationship between advertising skepticism and credibility
across media types.
Persuasion Knowledge:-
Media literacy suggests that individuals learn to approach different types of information
through experience — applying knowledge of one medium to information in another
medium and forming new knowledge and attitudes based on that experience (Flanagin
and Metzger 2000). In much the same way, the Persuasion Knowledge Model developed
by Friestad and Wright (1994) suggests that experience with different persuasive
messages creates perceptions of advertiser intention. This perception — or knowledge —
of what advertisers are attempting to do through their messages often shapes individual
responses to future persuasion attempts.
Friestad and Wright (1994) proposed that individuals possess different knowledge
structures about persuasive messages. The authors designated these persuasion
knowledge, agent knowledge, and topic knowledge. For the purposes of this study, we
deal only with persuasion knowledge in the form of suspicion (distrust of advertising in
general) and agent knowledge. Agent knowledge consists of beliefs about the intention of
advertisers and advertising. It assumes that advertisers are trying to sell products/services
and expect persuasive messages that try to do so. Consequently, consumer responses to
advertising are based on perceptions of trustworthiness, believability, and dependability
of the advertising message. As such, there is a direct relationship between agent
knowledge and advertising credibility. It is therefore expected that individuals who
21
recognize that the intention of advertisers is to sell products or services are more likely to
doubt or be suspicious of the information presented in different types of advertisements.
We suggest that knowledge regarding persuasive intent on the part of advertisers will
reduce credibility, thus leading to the hypothesis that:
H0 : Lower agent knowledge results in higher advertising credibility and higher levels of
advertising skepticism.
H2 : Higher agent knowledge results in lower advertising credibility and higher levels of
advertising skepticism.
Persuasion knowledge is an individual- level concept, which enables consumers to access
attitudes or information retained from past persuasion experiences. These attitudes often
are the basis of understanding persuasive messages and provide a means for thinking
about future messages (Friestad and Wright, 1994). Individual advertising suspicion then
is an attitude based on past experience with persuasion, which helps to understand and
interpret new messages. Thus, there appears to be a direct relationship between
persuasion knowledge in the form of individual advertising suspicion and advertising
credibility and skepticism. Note that in this study advertising suspicion is treated as an
overall belief about advertising in general while skepticism is treated (and measured) as
applied to advertising in specific media. It is our belief that individuals who are generally
suspicious and skeptical of advertisements will be less likely to believe in or depend on
the information presented in different types of advertisements. Based on this explanation,
we hypothesized that:
H0 : Lower individual advertising suspicion results in higher advertising credibility and
lower advertising skepticism.
H3 : Higher individual advertising suspicion results in lower advertising credibility and
higher advertising skepticism.
22
Interpretations of persuasive messages based on agent knowledge and individual
skepticism are likely to cause similar actions in consumers. Friestad and Wright (1994)
term this "coping behaviors," which includes actions such as selection or resistance
resulting from attitudes toward persuasion often vary from one experience to the next as
consumers constantly update their persuasion knowledge — specifically consumers'
persuasion and agent knowledge. Because of the similarity of persuasion knowledge
based on experience seen in these two concepts, we expect that there will be a
relationship between agent knowledge and individual advertising skepticism, although it
is unclear in which direction — positive or negative. Thus, the following hypothesis was
posed:
H0 : There is no co-relation between agent knowledge and individual advertising
suspicion.
H4 : There is a co-relation between agent knowledge and individual advertising suspicion.
23
Chapter 3
Research Methodology
24
3.1 Research Design:Exploratory research is conducted into an issue or problem where there are few or no
earlier studies to refer to. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for later
investigation.
Secondly, descriptive research describes phenomena as they exist. Here data is often
quantitative and statistics applied. It is used to identify and obtain information on a
particular problem or issue. Finally causal or predictive research seeks to explain what is
happening in a particular situation. It aims to generalise from an analysis by predicting
certain phenomena on the basis of hypothesised general relationships. That’s why we had
applied descriptive research as our research methodology.
3.2 Objectives of the study:•
To study the relationship between independent variables as Advertisement
Credibility, Skepticism.
•
To study the difference of opinion among various media types along advertisement
credibility & skepticism.
•
To study the difference of opinion among various age groups along advertisement
credibility & skepticism.
3.3 Sampling Technique:“Non-Probability Sampling”. Non-probability sampling is a sampling technique they do
not use chance selection procedure they rely on personal judgment of researcher.
3.4 Sampling Method:“Judgmental Sampling”. Judgmental sampling is a form of convenience sampling in
which the population elements are selected based on the judgment of the researcher.
25
3.5 Sample Size :Take a view from statistics, Levin & Rubin has examined the sample size determination
calculations and provided guidelines for acceptable tolerance limit, significance level
with respect to the means/proportions of population. With the help of following
equations, the calculated sample size was 500 with 95% confidence level and 4.4%
tolerance error.
Tolerance error (d) = Z
Here z = 95% confidence level. So, from z table its’ value is 1.96.
Here, I have taken p = 0.5, q = 0.5, d= 0.044
n = z²pq
d²
n = (1.96)² (0.5) (0.5)
(0.044)²
N=500. (Appox.)
3.6 Sampling unit:Sampling unit is taken as people who has a watch on media advertising on different
medium like newspaper, magazine, radio, TV, internet, so in general we can say that it’s
a household’s they are going to be the sampling unit for the research.
26
3.7 Data Collection:a) Primary data
The study undertaken there to be mainly based on the primary data i.e. closed
ended structured questionnaire is designed. A survey technique is used for the
primary data collection for the topic.
b) Secondary data
The study also contains secondary data i.e. data from authenticated websites,
Newspapers, Internet, Magazine.
3.8 Tool for Data Collection:Structured Questionnaire also known as closed questionnaire is a quantitative method of
research.
3.9 Data Collection Method: - Personal Interviews
3.10 Hypothesis of the Study: H 0 : There is no relationship among persuasion knowledge model and advertisement
credibility & skepticism.
 H 1 : There is relationship among persuasion knowledge model and advertisement
credibility & skepticism.
 H 0 : There is no difference among persuasion knowledge model and media types.
 H 1 : There is difference among persuasion knowledge model and media types.
 H 0 : There no difference among age and advertisement credibility, skepticism and
Persuasion Knowledge Model.
 H 1 : There difference among age and advertisement credibility, skepticism and Persuasion
Knowledge Model.
27
Software Used:The collected data is coded in the SPSS 16.0 software to make the things presentable and
more effective. Data will analyzed with the help of different tests in this software like
Regression test, ANOVA test, frequency analysis and many other tests. The results are
shown in SPSS file which helps me in easy and effective presentation and hence results
are being obtained. Microsoft Excel is also used to effective data presentation via graph.
3.11 Reliability Test:To test the reliability of various constructs of the questionnaire, the Cronbach coefficient
alpha (equivalent to the average of all the split half correlation coefficients) is used. In
this study, it was found 0.884. That is the above of 0.6 that is set by the researcher. So we
can say that the data is consistent in nature and we can rely on it.
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Al pha
N of Items
.645
11
(Table 3.1)
28
Chapter 4
Data Analysis & Interpretation
29
Tests Conducted:4.1 Multiple Regression:More than one independent variable to estimate the dependent variable and it determines
both the nature and the strength of a relationship between two variables.
Why Regression..?
•
Independent factor affecting Dependent factors.
•
Check correlation among variables.
•
What proportion or extent to which Dependent variable is measured.
•
Among all variables which one is more significant.
H 0 : There is no relationship among persuasion knowledge model and advertisement
credibility & skepticism.
H 1 : There is relationship among persuasion knowledge model and advertisement
credibility & skepticism.
ANOVA
Sum of
Model
Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
1Regression
15.878
2
7.939
30.288
0.000
Residual
130.274
497
.262
Total
146.152
499
Table 4.1(a)
Model Summary
Model
1
R
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
0.330
0.109
0.105
Std. Error of
the Estimate
0.51198
Table 4.1(b)
30
Coefficients
Unstandardized
Coefficients
B
Std. Error
(Constant)
2.415
0.092
AC
0.173
0.029
AS
0.047
0.033
Model
1
Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
t
Sig.
26.382
0.000
0.290
6.032
0.000
0.070
1.454
0.146
Table 4.1(c)
Inte rpretation:  Model is fit to 0.05 hence it is best fitted.
 0.105% of variance in dependent variable is explained by Independent variable.
 DV (PK) is 0.105 in proportion to IV (AC, AS).
 Advertisement Credibility carries positive relationship with Persuasion Knowledge
Model and we can say that higher the credibility higher is the persuasion. Beta value
of AC is higher (i.e., 0.290) showing that it carries higher weight than other variable.
31
4.2 ANOVA(Analysis of Variance)
It enables us to test for the significance of the differences among more than two sample
means. Using ANOVA we will be able to make inferences about whether our samples are
drawn from populations having the same mean. ANOVA is useful in such situations as
comparing the mileage achieved by five different brands of gasoline, testing which of four
different training methods produces the fastest learning record, or comparing the first- year
earnings of the graduates of half a dozen different business schools.
Here, in this research we are comparing advertisement credibility, scepticism and Persuasion
of respondents across media types.
H 0 : There is no difference among persuasion knowledge model and media types.
H 1 : There is difference among persuasion knowledge model and media types.
Descriptives
95% Confidence Interval for
Mean
N
AC
AS
PK
Mean
Std. Deviation Std. Error
Lower Bound
Upper Bound
Minimum
Ma ximum
Newspaper
115
2.6841
.96209
.08972
2.5063
2.8618
1.00
5.00
Television
210
2.8016
1.07818
.07440
2.6549
2.9483
1.00
5.00
Magazine
17
3.0000
.97895
.23743
2.4967
3.5033
1.33
4.33
Radio
18
3.0370
.99600
.23476
2.5417
3.5323
1.33
4.33
Internet
140
2.7643
.95251
.08050
2.6051
2.9235
1.00
5.00
Total
500
2.7793
1.01095
.04521
2.6905
2.8682
1.00
5.00
Newspaper
115
2.8029
.71859
.06701
2.6702
2.9356
1.67
5.00
Television
210
2.7492
.96431
.06654
2.6180
2.8804
1.00
5.00
Magazine
17
2.5490
.79879
.19374
2.1383
2.9597
2.00
5.00
Radio
18
2.4815
.64900
.15297
2.1587
2.8042
1.33
4.33
Internet
140
2.7048
.77644
.06562
2.5750
2.8345
1.00
5.00
Total
500
2.7327
.84562
.03782
2.6584
2.8070
1.00
5.00
Newspaper
115
3.2696
.55253
.05152
3.1675
3.3716
2.00
4.40
Television
210
3.3314
.56047
.03868
3.2552
3.4077
2.00
4.40
Magazine
17
3.4588
.35189
.08534
3.2779
3.6397
3.00
4.20
32
Radio
18
3.4667
.43925
.10353
3.2482
3.6851
2.40
4.00
Internet
140
3.1529
.60578
.05120
3.0516
3.2541
1.60
4.80
Total
500
3.2764
.56753
.02538
Table 4.2(a)
3.2265
3.3263
1.60
4.80
ANOVA
AC
AS
PK
Sum of Squares
Df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
3.203
4
.801
.782
.537
Within Groups
506.784
495
1.024
Total
509.986
499
2.443
4
.611
.853
.492
Within Groups
354.379
495
.716
Total
356.822
499
3.995
4
.999
3.155
.014
Within Groups
156.726
495
.317
Total
160.722
499
Between Groups
Between Groups
Between Groups
Table 4.2(b)
Multiple Comparisons
LSD
Depen (I) Source
dent
of
(J) Source
of
95% Confidence Interval
Mean
Variab Information Information Difference (Ile
AC
Collection
Collection
J)
Std. Error
Sig.
-.11753
.11738
.317
-.3482
.1131
Magazine
-.31594
.26292
.230
-.8325
.2006
Radio
-.35298
.25648
.169
-.8569
.1509
Internet
-.08023
.12734
.529
-.3304
.1700
Newspaper
.11753
.11738
.317
-.1131
.3482
Magazine
-.19841
.25515
.437
-.6997
.3029
Radio
-.23545
.24850
.344
-.7237
.2528
Internet
.03730
.11040
.736
-.1796
.2542
Newspaper Television
Television
Lower Bound Upper Bound
33
Magazine
Radio
Internet
AS
Newspaper
.31594
.26292
.230
-.2006
.8325
Television
.19841
.25515
.437
-.3029
.6997
Radio
-.03704
.34220
.914
-.7094
.6353
Internet
.23571
.25988
.365
-.2749
.7463
Newspaper
.35298
.25648
.169
-.1509
.8569
Television
.23545
.24850
.344
-.2528
.7237
Magazine
.03704
.34220
.914
-.6353
.7094
Internet
.27275
.25336
.282
-.2250
.7705
Newspaper
.08023
.12734
.529
-.1700
.3304
Television
-.03730
.11040
.736
-.2542
.1796
Magazine
-.23571
.25988
.365
-.7463
.2749
Radio
-.27275
.25336
.282
-.7705
.2250
.05369
.09816
.585
-.1392
.2465
Magazine
.25388
.21986
.249
-.1781
.6859
Radio
.32142
.21447
.135
-.1000
.7428
Internet
.09814
.10649
.357
-.1111
.3074
Newspaper
-.05369
.09816
.585
-.2465
.1392
Magazine
.20019
.21336
.349
-.2190
.6194
Radio
.26772
.20780
.198
-.1406
.6760
Internet
.04444
.09232
.630
-.1369
.2258
Newspaper
-.25388
.21986
.249
-.6859
.1781
Television
-.20019
.21336
.349
-.6194
.2190
Radio
.06754
.28616
.814
-.4947
.6298
Internet
-.15574
.21732
.474
-.5827
.2712
Newspaper
-.32142
.21447
.135
-.7428
.1000
Television
-.26772
.20780
.198
-.6760
.1406
Newspaper Television
Television
Magazine
Radio
34
Internet
PK
Magazine
-.06754
.28616
.814
-.6298
.4947
Internet
-.22328
.21187
.292
-.6395
.1930
Newspaper
-.09814
.10649
.357
-.3074
.1111
Television
-.04444
.09232
.630
-.2258
.1369
Magazine
.15574
.21732
.474
-.2712
.5827
Radio
.22328
.21187
.292
-.1930
.6395
-.06186
.06528
.344
-.1901
.0664
Magazine
-.18926
.14621
.196
-.4765
.0980
Radio
-.19710
.14263
.168
-.4773
.0831
Internet
.11671
.07081
.100
-.0224
.2558
Newspaper
.06186
.06528
.344
-.0664
.1901
Magazine
-.12739
.14189
.370
-.4062
.1514
Radio
-.13524
.13819
.328
-.4068
.1363
Internet
.17857*
.06139
.004
.0579
.2992
Newspaper
.18926
.14621
.196
-.0980
.4765
Television
.12739
.14189
.370
-.1514
.4062
Radio
-.00784
.19030
.967
-.3817
.3661
Internet
.30597*
.14452
.035
.0220
.5899
Newspaper
.19710
.14263
.168
-.0831
.4773
Television
.13524
.13819
.328
-.1363
.4068
Magazine
.00784
.19030
.967
-.3661
.3817
Internet
.31381*
.14090
.026
.0370
.5906
Newspaper
-.11671
.07081
.100
-.2558
.0224
Television
-.17857*
.06139
.004
-.2992
-.0579
Magazine
-.30597*
.14452
.035
-.5899
-.0220
Radio
-.31381*
.14090
.026
-.5906
-.0370
Newspaper Television
Television
Magazine
Radio
Internet
Table 4.2(c)
35
Inte rpretation:From the ANOVA table we can see that significant value is less than 0.05 for PK i.e.,
Persuasion Knowledge Model so it shows there is a difference among persuasion and
media types.
36
H 0 : There no difference among age and advertisement credibility, skepticism and Persuasion
Knowledge Model.
H 1 : There difference among age and advertisement credibility, skepticism and Persuasion
Knowledge Model.
Descriptives
95% Confidence Interval
for Mean
AC
AS
PK
Std.
Std.
Lower
Upper
Minimu Maximu
Deviation
Error
Bound
Bound
m
m
N
Mean
18-25
106
2.7296 .95298
.09256
2.5460
2.9131
1.00
5.00
26-40
193
2.6701 .99535
.07165
2.5288
2.8114
1.00
5.00
41-55
165
3.0040 1.03003
.08019
2.8457
3.1624
1.00
5.00
56 & above 36
2.4815 1.01870
.16978
2.1368
2.8262
1.33
5.00
Total
500
2.7793 1.01095
.04521
2.6905
2.8682
1.00
5.00
18-25
106
2.7264 .77364
.07514
2.5774
2.8754
1.00
5.00
26-40
193
2.8048 .88612
.06378
2.6790
2.9306
1.00
5.00
41-55
165
2.5919 .74020
.05762
2.4781
2.7057
1.00
5.00
56 & above 36
3.0093 1.15053
.19176
2.6200
3.3985
1.00
5.00
Total
500
2.7327 .84562
.03782
2.6584
2.8070
1.00
5.00
18-25
106
3.2170 .57776
.05612
3.1057
3.3283
2.20
4.80
26-40
193
3.2528 .57292
.04124
3.1715
3.3342
1.60
4.40
41-55
165
3.3200 .51552
.04013
3.2408
3.3992
1.80
4.40
56 & above 36
3.3778 .71519
.11920
3.1358
3.6198
2.00
4.40
Total
3.2764 .56753
.02538
3.2265
3.3263
1.60
4.80
500
Table 4.2(d)
37
ANOVA
Sum
Squares
of
AC
AS
PK
Df
Mean Square F
Between Groups
14.090
3
4.697
Within Groups
495.897
496
1.000
Total
509.986
499
Between Groups
7.032
3
2.344
Within Groups
349.790
496
.705
Total
356.822
499
Between Groups
1.165
3
.388
Within Groups
159.557
496
.322
Total
160.722
499
Sig.
4.698
.003
3.324
.020
1.207
.307
Table 4.2(e)
38
Multiple Comparisons
LSD
Depen
95% Confidence Interval
dent
Mean
Variab
Difference (I-
le
(I) Age
(J) Age
J)
Std. Error Sig.
Lower Bound Upper Bound
AC
18-25
26-40
.05944
.12088
.623
-.1781
.2969
41-55
-.27448*
.12446
.028
-.5190
-.0299
56 and above .24808
.19288
.199
-.1309
.6270
18-25
-.05944
.12088
.623
-.2969
.1781
41-55
-.33392*
.10602
.002
-.5422
-.1256
.18153
.299
-.1680
.5453
26-40
56 and above .18864
41-55
AS
18-25
.27448*
.12446
.028
.0299
.5190
26-40
.33392*
.10602
.002
.1256
.5422
56 and above .52256*
.18393
.005
.1612
.8839
56 and above 18-25
-.24808
.19288
.199
-.6270
.1309
26-40
-.18864
.18153
.299
-.5453
.1680
41-55
-.52256*
.18393
.005
-.8839
-.1612
26-40
-.07842
.10152
.440
-.2779
.1210
41-55
.13450
.10453
.199
-.0709
.3399
56 and above -.28284
.16200
.081
-.6011
.0354
18-25
.07842
.10152
.440
-.1210
.2779
41-55
.21292*
.08904
.017
.0380
.3879
56 and above -.20442
.15246
.181
-.5040
.0951
18-25
-.13450
.10453
.199
-.3399
.0709
26-40
-.21292*
.08904
.017
-.3879
-.0380
56 and above -.41734*
.15448
.007
-.7209
-.1138
18-25
26-40
41-55
39
PK
56 and above 18-25
.28284
.16200
.081
-.0354
.6011
26-40
.20442
.15246
.181
-.0951
.5040
41-55
.41734*
.15448
.007
.1138
.7209
26-40
-.03587
.06857
.601
-.1706
.0989
41-55
-.10302
.07060
.145
-.2417
.0357
56 and above -.16080
.10941
.142
-.3758
.0542
18-25
.03587
.06857
.601
-.0989
.1706
41-55
-.06715
.06014
.265
-.1853
.0510
56 and above -.12493
.10297
.226
-.3272
.0774
18-25
.10302
.07060
.145
-.0357
.2417
26-40
.06715
.06014
.265
-.0510
.1853
.10433
.580
-.2628
.1472
18-25
26-40
41-55
56 and above -.05778
56 and above 18-25
.16080
.10941
.142
-.0542
.3758
26-40
.12493
.10297
.226
-.0774
.3272
41-55
.05778
.10433
.580
-.1472
.2628
Table 4.2(f)
Inte rpretation:From ANOVA table we can say that as significant values of Advertisement credibility
and scepticism is less than 0.05 there is a difference among age and them.
40
Chapter 5
Findings
41
 There is difference between persuasion knowledge model and media types.
 There is difference between age groups persuasion knowledge model, advertising
credibility, skepticism.
 Advertisement Credibility carries positive relationship with Persuasion Knowledge
Model and we can say that higher the credibility higher is the persuasion. Advertisement
credibility carries highest weight among the other dependent variables.
 There is inverse relationship between perceived ad credibility and persuasion knowledge.
 If the advertisement Skepticism is higher, than the trust is low and so does the persuasion
knowledge which leads to the low credibility.
42
Chapter 6
Conclusions
43
 We can conclude that there is difference of opinion among various media types along
advertisement credibility & skepticism.
 There is relationship between independent variables as Advertisement Credibility,
Skepticism.
 A negative relationship between unintended emotions and intention to take action.
 Advertisement credibility is a consumer’s evaluation of the truth and believability of
the advertisement.
 This study has contributed by providing a better understanding of the mediacredibility perceptions of gender consumers.
44
Chapter 7
Implications & Recommendations of
the Study
45
 In one of the first reported findings, the mean ranking values indicate that print
media are considered to be more credible than broadcast media. If an organization
contemplates using broadcast media, such as television or radio (versus print
media) as a means of advertising, they should take into account whether or not the
perceived credibility by the target audience is a factor in the advertising
campaign.
 The results suggest that the old-fashioned printed word (newspapers and
magazines) seems to be more credible when it comes to advertising. However, if
few young consumers read print media, they may not be exposed to the
marketer’s ‘credible’ advertising message at all.
 Based on the literature discussion, it was expected that respondents with higher
levels of perceived Internet credibility would exhibit higher levels of onlineshopping likelihood. Yet, no strong relationship was found to exist between
Internet credibility and the likelihood that these consumers would shop online. It
must be noted that the study was conducted among full-time students and many of
them may have a relatively low ratio of credit-card ownership, which is a
prerequisite when shopping online. It may also be that security concerns are likely
to be an influencing factor in online shopping.
46
Chapter 8
LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
47
 Since use was made of non-probability sampling, results from this study cannot be
generalized to the broader population.
 In a country that is diversely populated with many different ethnic groups, one could
expand this study to also determine whether different ethnic groups or even different
cultural groups differ in terms both of their media-credibility perceptions.
 The sample size was limited and technique used for sampling was convenient based
sampling so the results obtained from the study may not be generalized for the whole
population and may reflect bias tone.
 The time period of the study was not sufficient to measure the consumer’s response
effectively and reach to a more valid conclusion.
 Many of the respondents may not have given the correct information due to Personal
bias.
 Sometimes a respondent may feel very tedious task to participate in such opinion
pool.
 The geographical boundaries focused for research was pre-defined i.e. Ahmadabad,
hence the result drawn out can’t be assumed for other locations.
48
Bibliography
49
Books:  Birks, N. K. (2003). Marketing Research. Prentice Hall.
 Rubin, R. I. (1988). Statistics for Management. Prentice Hall.
Websites: (n.d.). Retrieved January 2013, from
http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&sclient=psyab&q=research+paper+on+accessories+counterfeit&pbx=1&oq=research+paper+on+
accessories+counterfeit&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=465076l471255l0l472
333l24l14l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.o
 (n.d.). Retrieved February 2013, from http://skeptoid.com/skeptic.php
 (n.d.). Retrieved January 2013, from
http://www.inma.org/blogs/research/advertisment
 (n.d.). Retrieved January 2013, from
http://www.proquest.com/researchpaper/skeptisium
50
Annexures
51
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/ Madam,
We are the student of V. M. Patel Institute of Management, Ganpat University, Kherva. We are
conducting survey under our Management Research Project-2 with the topic of “A study On
Advertising Credibility and Skepticism in Five Different Media Using the Persuasion
Knowledge Model” for the fulfillment of our MBA. Hence, data provided by you will be kept
confidential and exclusively used for academic purpose only.
PART- A (Personal Detail)
1. Gende r:
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
2. Age:
[ ] 18- 25
[ ] 26-40
[ ] 41-55
[ ] 56 & Above
[ ] Businessmen/women
[ ] Student
[ ] Part Time Employee
[ ] Full Time Employee
3. Occupation:
[ ] Professional
[ ] Other. Please Specify: ____________________________________
4. Education Level: [ ] S.S.C
[ ] H.S.C
[ ] Post Graduation
5. Monthly Family Income: [ ] Less than 30,000
[ ] 60,001 to 90,000
[ ] Graduation
[ ] Other
[ ] 30,001 to 60,000
[ ] 90,001 to 1,20,000
[ ] 1, 20,001 & Above
52
6. Marital Status:
[ ] Married
[ ] Unmarried
[ ] Widow
[ ] Divorced
7. What me dium of media do you use maximum to collect information?
[ ] Newspaper
[ ] Television
[
] Magazine [ ] Radio
[
] Internet
PART- B: Adve rtisement Credibility
Please give your opinion regarding the statements mentioned below in the following table.
1-Strongly
2-Disagree
3-Neutral
4-Agree
5-Strongly
disagree
agree
Please place a tick-mark (√) in appropriate boxes
Sr.No
1
Parameters
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
Advertisements generally tell the truth .
You can usually believe what you read in
2
advertisements .
I usually find advertisements to be quite
3
credible.
PART-C: Advertisement Skepticis m
Please place a tick-mark (√) in appropriate boxes
Sr.No
Parameters
I generally cannot depend on getting the
1
truth from advertisements.
2
I tend to doubt ads.
Advertisements tend to make me
3
suspicious for each different media.
53
PART-D: Persuasion knowledge
Please give your opinion regarding the statements mentioned below in the following table.
1-Strongly
2-Disagree
3-Neutral
4-Agree
5-Strongly
disagree
agree
Please place a tick-mark (√) in appropriate boxes
Sr.No
Parameters
1
2
3
4
5
Radio
Magazine Inte rnet
Advertisers care more about getting you to
1
buy things.
I notice tricks advertisers use to promote a
2
product.
3
Advertisers try to get you to buy things.
4
Advertisements are meant to sell products.
5
I generally don't trust ads.
Parameters
Newspaper Television
Which media would provide the highest
level of advertisement credibility.
Which media would provide the highest
level of advertisement skepticism..
Thank you very much for giving your precious time.
Have a wonderful day!!!
54