Creative Media Use Increases Online Sharing of Your Ad (but Seems Less Effective for Your Brand)

Abstract

Previous research has shown beneficial advertising effects of creative media use (i.e., creatively choosing a novel medium to implicitly communicate a message) in comparison with traditional media use. Because of the increasing importance of marketing initiatives through social media, the authors investigated the impact of creative media on electronic word of mouth. In an online experiment it was found that a creative medium advertisement was shared more often online, liked more and spoken more positively about than the same advertisement in a traditional print medium. However, the creative advertisement was not effective for sharing brand-related content or increasing (explicit) brand knowledge. The underlying mechanisms of surprise and increased positive elaboration are discussed.