The Effect of Attitude toward Advertisement on Yemeni Female Consumers' Attitude toward Brand and Purchase Intention

Introduction In trying to understand what triggers consumer's behavior, the role of attitude has been explored by many researchers on which its importance has already been acknowledged. Today, research on attitude has been expanded to include attitude that relates to product advertisements and brands found in the marketplace as can be found in consumer behavior and communication literature. Consumer's attitude towards one object for instance is said to affect his/her attitudes towards another object with which it is associated. As Hoyer and MacInnis (1997) explain, consumer's liking and affection of an advertisement (the liking can be due to any reason or reasons known) will eventually be transferred to the product's brand. In this study, we attempt to investigate if consumers' attitude towards advertisements that they are exposed to (Aad) has an influence over their attitude towards brand (Ab) and purchase intention (PI). Although past studies have found linkages amongst the three variables (Aad-Ab-PI), the said relationships were found to be casual in nature. Another reason for why this study is of high importance, is because the fact that past studies have only focus on developed countries. Question pertaining to whether the same relationship can be found if the investigation is carried out in other countries (e.g. such as Yemen, a poor and under-developed country) is yet to be tested. Many of the past studies also do not use real product advertisement in their research investigations. Thus, we think that there is a need for a revisit to test the said (Aad-Ab-PI) relationships amongst the three variables focusing on a group of consumers from a poor country (like Yemen) as respondents. The use of a real selected product advertisement that consumers in that country are familiar with will be implemented in this study. Literature Review Attitude Attitude is an individual's internal evaluation of an object such as a branded product, and has been an important concept in marketing research since 1960s. Hoyer and MacInnis (1997, 2001) define attitude as "relatively global and enduring evaluation of an object, issue, person, or action". There are two major reasons for this long-term interest. First, similar to Hoyer and MacInnis's definition, attitudes are often considered relatively stable and are enduring predisposition for consumer to behave in particular way (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Thus, consequently, they should be useful predictors of consumers' behavior towards a product or service (Oskamp, 1997). Second, several theoretical models on the attitude construct can be found in social psychology literature especially through studies by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) that have stimulated attitudinal research in marketing. Previous studies have referred attitude towards specific dimensions such as attitude towards advertiser, attitude towards advertisement and attitude towards brand (Lutz, 1985). The present study is focusing on two of them, which are, (Aad) and (Ab). Attitude toward Advertisement (Aad), Attitude toward Brand (Ab) and Purchase Intention (PI) Attitude towards advertisement (Aad) has been defined as a predisposition to respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner to a particular advertising stimulus during particular exposure situation (Mackenzie, Lutz & Belch, 1986; Burke and Edell, 1989; Biehal, Stephens & Curlo, 1992). According to MacInnis and Jaworski (1989), motivation, opportunity, and ability are three factors that determine the degree to which individuals process marketing communications. In a print advertisement for example, consumers will be depending very much on the picture(s) and information about the product that are inserted in it to motivate them to take a closer look at and continue reading it. An advertisement that provides good picture(s) may give a significant impact as the picture(s) help reader consumers to get "connected" with the product. …