Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication and Media

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication and Media

Understanding the impact of website logos as animated talking characters on media advertising: A meta-social interaction perspective

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Associate Professor, Department of Business Management,, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author)
2 M. A. in Tourism Management, Karaj Branch, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jiscm.2023.381177.1485
Abstract
In the competitive world of selling goods and services, many commercial establishments are looking for innovative methods of advertising, and since today one of the effective ways to identify the brand is to design a good website for businesses, we must look for ways to increase the number of web visitors. The site and the attraction were mostly advertisements. The use of animated brand spokesperson characters (BASC) is one of these methods. In fact, these characters are cartoon characters that create good social interactions with people with their human-like characteristics. This study examines the characteristics of animated spokesperson characters about How to create an advertising effect on the websites of travel service offices in Tehran was investigated. Questionnaires were given to 384 customers of these offices and the following findings were obtained: Website logos as animated talking characters have an effect on social interaction and the effect of advertising. They are positive and meaningful. The effect of advertising also has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention, and these results were in full agreement with the results of previous research. The results of this research included suggestions for the use of different sectors of the society, including business owners, buyers, cultural centers and other sectors.
Keywords

  1. Bart, Y., Shankar, V., Sultan, F., & Urban, G. L. (2005). Are the drivers and role of online trust the same for all web sites and consumers? A large scale exploratory empirical study. Journal of Marketing, 69(4), 133e152.

    Baxter, S. M., & Ilicic, J. (2018). May the force drag your dynamic logo: The brand work-energy effect. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 35(3), 509-523.

    Bond, B. J. (2018). “Parasocial Relationships with Media Personae: Why They Matter and How They Differ Among Heterosexual, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents”. Media Psychology, 21(3), 457-485.

    Brasel, S. A., & Hagtvedt, H. (2016). Living brands: consumer responses to animated brand logos. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 44(5), 639-653.

    C.F. Lin, C.S. Fu, Evaluating online advertising effect: an approach integrating means-end conceptualization and similarity analysis, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl. (2018) 1–12.

    Chaiken, S. (1980). Heuristic versus systematic information processing and the use of source versus message cues in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(5), 752e766.

    Chaiken, S., & Ledgerwood, A. (2012). A theory of heuristic and systematic information processing. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 246e266). London, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.

    Cian, L., Krishna, A., & Elder, R. S. (2014). This logo moves me: Dynamic imagery from static images. Journal of Marketing Research, 51(2), 184-197.

    Cowan, K. (2020). Anything you can imagine is possible: How imagining can overcome visceral drive states elicited in promotional advertising. Journal of Business Research, 120, 529-538

    Cummins, R. G., & Cui, B. (2014). “Reconceptualizing Address in Television Programming: The Effect of Address and Affective Empathy on Viewer Experience of Parasocial Interaction”. Journal of Communication, 64(4), 723-742.

    D.G. Taylor, J.E. Lewin, D. Strutton, Friends, fans, and followers: do ads work on social networks? How gender and age shape receptivity, J. Advert. Res. 51 (2011) 258–275

    Datta, P., Bigham, G., Zou, Z., & Hill, G. (2015). A global study of heritage site ecology, proclivity and loyalty. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 25, 19–29.

    Dehn, D. M., & Van Mulken, S. (2000). The impact of animated interface agents: a review of empirical research. International journal of human-computer studies, 52(1), 1-22.

    Dibble, J. L., Hartmann, T., & Rosaen, S. F. (2016). “Parasocial Interaction and Parasocial Relationship: Conceptual Clarification and a Critical Assessment of Measures”. Human Communication Research, 42(1), 21-44.

    1. Shehu, T.H. Bijmoult, M. Clement, Effects of likeability dynamics on consumers’ intention to share online video advertisements, J. Interact. Market. 35 (2016) 27–43

    Escalas, J., and Bettman, J., (2003), “You are what they eat: the influence of reference groups on consumers’ connections to brands:, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp.339–348.

    Farivar, S., Wang, F., & Yuan, Y. (2021). Opinion leadership vs. para-social relationship: Key factors in influencer marketing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59, 102371

    Fetscherin, M. (2014). “What type of relationship do we have with loved brands?”.Journal of Consumer Marketing, 31(6-7), 430-440.

    Foroudi, M., Ageeva, E., Foroudi,P. (2021). Corporate Brand Website Design, Image, Identification and Loyality,10.4324

    1. Guido, A.M. Peluso, When are baby-faced endorsers appropriate? Testing effects on credibility and purchase intention, J. Curr. Issues Res. Advert. 31 (2009) 67–74.

    Garretson, J. A., & Niedrich, R. W. (2004). Spokes-characters: Creating character trust and positive brand attitudes. Journal of advertising, 33(2), 25-36.

    Giles, D. C. (2002). “Parasocial Interaction: A Review of the Literature and a Model for Future Research”. Media Psychology, 4(3), 279-305.

    Gong, W., & Li, X. (2017). Engaging fans on microblog: the synthetic influence of parasocial interaction and source characteristics on celebrity endorsement. Psychology & Marketing, 34(7), 720-732.

    Hartmann, T., & Goldhoorn, C. (2011). Horton and Wohl revisited: Exploring viewers' experience of parasocial interaction. Journal of communication, 61(6), 1104-1121.

    Holzwarth, M., Janiszewski, C., & Neumann, M. M. (2006). The influence of avatars on online consumer shopping behavior. Journal of marketing, 70(4), 19-36

    Horton, D., & Wohl, R. R. (1956). “Mass communication and parasocial interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance”. Psychiatry, 19, 215-229.

    J.D. Mittelstaedt, P.C. Riesz, W.J. Burns, Why are endorsements effective? Sorting among theories of product and endorser effects, J. Cur.Iss. & Res. Adver. 22 (2000) 55–65.

    K.K. Seo, S. Lee, B.D. Chung, Effects of perceived usability and aesthetics on emotional responses in different contexts of use, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact. 32 (2016) 445–459

    Kim, W., Lee, Y., and Yoo, Y. (2006), “Predictors of relationship quality and relationship

    Klimmt, C., Hartmann, T., & Schramm, H. (2006). Parasocial interactions and relationships. In J. Bryant & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Psychological of entertainment (pp. 291–313). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

    Knoll, J. (2016). Advertising in social media: a review of empirical evidence. International journal of Advertising, 35(2), 266-300.

    1. Binet, P. Field, Empirical generalizations about advertising campaign success, J. Advert. Res. 49 (2009) 130–133

    Labrecque, L. I. (2014). Fostering consumer–brand relationships in social media environments: The role of parasocial interaction. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), 134–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2013.12.003

    Lin, K. W., & Wang, Y. J. (2012). The influence of animated spokes-characters in customer orientation. The International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 4(4), 142-154.

    Lu, W., & Stepchenkova, S. (2012). Ecotourism experiences reported online: classi-fication of satisfaction attributes. Tourism Management, 33(3), 702e712.

    Malik, G., & Guptha, A. (2014). Impact of Celebrity Endorsements and Brand Mascots on Consumer Buying Behavior. Journal of Global Marketing, 27(2), 128-143.

    Malthouse, E., Haenlein, M., Skiera, B., Wege, E., and Zhang, M. (2013), “Managing customer relationships in the social media era: introducing the social CRM house”, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 270-280.

    Muller, B., Kocher, B., & Crettaz, A. (2013). The effects of visual rejuvenation through brand logos. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 82-88.

    Neeley,S,M& Schumann,D,W(2013) ated Using animated spokes characters in advertising to young children:dose increasing attention to advertising necessarily lead to product preference? Journa of advertising,33(3),pp,7-23

    Ohanian, R. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers' perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Journal of advertising, 19(3), 39-52.

    Olins, Wally(2003), On Brand Thames& Hudson, London

    Perse, E. M., & Rubin, R. B. (1989). “Attribution in social and parasocial relationships”. Communication Research, 16(1), 59-77

    Puzakova, M., Kwak, H., & Rocereto, J. F. (2013). When humanizing brands goes wrong: The detrimental effect of brand anthropomorphization amid product wrongdoings. Journal of marketing, 77(3), 81-100.

    Revinate, (2011). Information from Tripadvisors’ master class. Accessed 25.07.12. http:// blog.revinate.com/2011/04/information-from-tripadvisors-master-class.html.

    Richardson, P. S., Dick, A. S., & Jain, A. K. (1994). Extrinsic and intrinsic cue effects on perceptions of store brand quality. Journal of Marketing, 58(4), 28e36.

    S.L. Holak, W.J. Havlena, Feelings, fantasies, and memories: an examination of the emotional components of nostalgia, J. Bus. Res. 42 (2004) 217–226

    Saldanha, N., Mulye, R., & Rahman, K. (2018). Who is the attached endorser? An examination of the attachment-endorsement spectrum. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 43, 242-250.

    Sashi, C., (2012), “Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social media”, Management Decision, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 253–272.

    Saxena, U. Khanna, Advertising on social network sites: a structural equation modelling approach, Vision 17 (2013) 17–25

    Schimmelpfennig, C., & Hunt, J. B. (2020). Fifty years of celebrity endorser research: Support for a comprehensive celebrity endorsement strategy framework. Psychology & Marketing, 37(3), 488-505.

    Sharma, P., Nayak, J.K., 2019. Understanding memorable tourism experiences as the determinants of tourists’ behaviour. Int. J. Tourism Res. 21, 504–518.

    Thorson, K. S., & Rodgers, S. (2006). Relationships between blogs as eWOM and interactivity, perceived interactivity, and parasocial interaction. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 6(2), 5–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2006.10722117

    X.Y.S. Shen, G. Chick, H. Zinn, Playfulness in adulthood as a personality trait: a reconceptualization and a new measurement, J. Leisure Res. 46 (2014) 58–83

    Xiang, L., Zheng, X., Lee, M. K., & Zhao, D. (2016). Exploring consumers’ impulse buying behavior on social commerce platform: The role of parasocial interaction. International journal of information management, 36(3), 333-347.

    Zhou,F,Su,Q,Mao,J(2021). Understanding the effect of website logos as animated spokescharacters on the advertising: A lens of parasocial interaction relationship. Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).