The Role of Attitude toward the Ad as a Mediator of Advertising Effectiveness: A Test of Competing Explanations

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Abstract
Attitude toward the ad (Aad) has been postulated to be a causal mediating variable in the process through which advertising influences brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Previous conceptual and empirical research on this topic has suggested four alternative models of the relationships between brand-related cognitive, affective, and conative responses and ad-related cognitive and affective responses. The authors describe a structural equations analysis of these four models, utilizing two data sets generated within a commercial pretest setting. The results suggest that a dual mediation hypothesis, which postulates that Aad influences brand attitude both directly and indirectly through its effect on brand cognitions, is superior to the other three models under the particular set of conditions in the pretest setting.