When does Creativity Matter? The Impact of Consumption Motive and Claim Set-Size: An Abstract

Abstract

Designing creative ads is a critical goal for advertisers. Yet, while many researchers find positive effects of creativity on consumer responses, others argue that creativity is wasteful for ad persuasiveness or find no impact of creativity on outcomes such as ad attitudes. This paper identifies two boundary conditions affecting the effectiveness of an advertisement’s creativity: consumption motive (utilitarian vs. hedonic) and claim set-size (small number of claims vs. large number of claims). We propose and find that creativity is more effective for an advertisement when the consumption motive is utilitarian rather than hedonic. Further, using a larger claim set-size within an advertisement increases (decreases) the effectiveness of advertisement creativity for those with hedonic (utilitarian) consumption motives. Across two experiments, we find support for our hypotheses using both hedonic vs. utilitarian products (study 1) and manipulated hedonic vs. utilitarian decision goals within the same product category (study 2). This is the first research to explicitly study boundary conditions for when ad creativity matters by showing that creativity matters more (i.e., enhances persuasiveness of the ad and attitudes toward the ad) when the consumption motive is utilitarian, especially when ads have small claim set-size. Additionally, creativity matters for hedonic consumption contexts if the advertisement has a large claim-size. Thus, our research contributes to the creativity literature by showing when creativity matters depending on the consumption motive and claim set-size. In addition, our research expands the utilitarian vs. hedonic consumption literature by highlighting another way in which these two motives differ. Finally, our research expands the claim set-size literature by demonstrating that the effects of claim set-size depend on both consumption motive and features of the ad (i.e., its level of creativity). These findings help marketers manage their advertising budget more effectively and efficiently knowing when advertisement creativity matters and thus when to invest in creativity.