The Effect Model of Billboard Advertising Media

IntroductionOut-of-home (OOH) media are one of the most well-known historical advertising formats (Schaeffler, 2012). It is commonly known that before the modern advertising industry appeared, earlier forms of advertising were based on types of signboards that served as primitive types of advertising (Park, Kim, & del Pobil, 2011). Despite its long history, OOH advertising (advertising using OOH media) has deviated from the main academic interests of advertising research (Katz, 2003). Nevertheless, some believe OOH advertising has various merits. For example, OOH media (e.g., billboards) can receive massive exposure to pedestrians and drivers and are very effective in terms of consumer exposure (Roux &. Van der Waldt, 2016; Taylor, Franke, &. Bang, 2006). Although it has not gained much academic attention, OOH advertising has its own concrete industrial position (e.g., Jurca &. Madlberger, 2015). Furthermore, as OOH media evolve, they have become smarter than ever before by incorporating digital technologies into their appearance and characteristics (Dennis et al., 2014; Taylor, 2015). Digital signage represents digital outdoor that has potential in advertising industries, based on interactivity or other new media technologies (Bae, Jun, & Hough, 2016). This study starts from the point that there has been limited research on OOH media and OOH advertising. The main research target is billboard media, which comprise the typical types of OOH advertising. In particular, this study is interested in billboards located in Time Squares for several reasons. First, many people such as advertisers and tourists know billboards in Time Squares very well. Also, these media exert various additional effects, along with direct media exposure effects. For example, advertisers using Times Square billboards can use this advertising execution as PR (Public Relations) issues. Moreover, even for brands from other countries, Times Square advertising can be a symbol of global branding in their domestic markets (Cheon &. Jun, 2012). Accordingly, this study focuses on which variables in consumers' minds influence their attitude toward billboard advertising media, especially in Times Square. More specifically, this study aims to explore how billboard media work via consumers' perceptions by proposing the effect model of billboard advertising media that explores the effects of individual consumers' latent constructs on their attitude toward billboard advertising media, including hypothesized relationships. Suggesting the research model, we empirically test hierarchical relationships in this study.Conceptual Rational and Hypotheses DevelopmentSince consumers easily see billboards and perceive billboard media as a part of their lives, a billboard medium is a representative form of OOH advertising (Taylor, Franke, &Bang, 2006). Recently various types of billboards have appeared, and we can now notice digitalized forms of billboards such as digital signage that has newly entered into media and advertising markets and has gained attention from the media industries for a decade (Bae, Jun, & Hough, 2016). In particular, sometimes people regard billboards located in Times Square as media art, due to their novel presentation styles. Since these billboard media are not only for pedestrians in Times Square but also for effective advertising forms, we explore how the following relevant individual consumer's latent constructs influence billboard advertising effects via billboard media in Times Square, New York City.CongruenceCongruence between objects and messages is important in enhancing communication effects (Choi & Rifon, 2012). Varadarajan and Menon (1988) defined congruence as the perceived relevance between two objects and involves various concepts including products, brand image, positioning, and target markets. Academic fields also have used similar concepts, such as fit or similarity. …