광고 노출 시 태도 및 태도자신감 형성 과정에서 사고 자신감의 역할

Cognitive responses model contends that consumers' thoughts evoked by persuasive message are critical determinants of their attitudes. According to the research of metacognitive dimension of thoughts, however, consumers may first generate and then validate their own thoughts. This research is regarding the roles of thought confidence in the process of ad-exposed consumers’ attitudes and attitude confidence. The current research consists of three studies. Study 1 was designed to examine the effect of self-validation that might be induced by ad endorser's attractiveness. Study 2 investigated the effects of personality variables on thought confidence and the relationship between thought confidence and attitude confidence. Study 3was regarding the effect of thought’s source on the possibility of word-of–mouth. Study 1: The Effect of Self-Validation Induced by Ad Endorser's Attractiveness Hypotheses Four hypotheses were established as follows. H1: The higher the elaboration likelihood is,the higher the thought confidence would be. H2: The thought confidence induced by endorser's attractiveness is expected to be greater in the case that elaboration likelihood is high (vs. low)and the imagery impression is weak (vs. strong). H3: Under a high-elaboration condition, the thought confidence induced by endorser’s attractiveness would moderate the relationship between argument cogency and brand attitudes in a positive direction. H4: Under a low-elaboration condition, ad endorser's attractiveness would play a role of only peripheral cue. That is, endorser's attractiveness would directly influence brand attitudes in a positive direction. Research Design For the experiment, advertisements of a toothpaste brand were made. In this experiment,experimental variables were argument cogency and endorser's attractiveness. In the pretest,two arguments (strong and weak) and two endorsers (more and less attractive) were selected from four arguments and eight endorsers, respectively. Thus, four experimental ads were developed and experimental design was a 2 (argument cogency: strong and weak) × 2 (endorser's attractiveness:more and less) factorial design. Two hundred and eighty-one students participated in the experiment. Subjects were randomly assigned to each of four conditions. They were asked to view an ad presented on a computer screen and to answer the questionnaire. In the questionnaire,subjects were asked to list the thoughts they had while viewing the ad and to provide a response on a seven-point scale regarding the extent of their confidence in those thoughts. They were also asked to answer questions asking brand attitudes, imagery impressions, and level of elaboration. Data obtained from two hundred and sixty-five subjects were analyzed. Results For testing H1, we conducted a regression analysis predicting thought confidence with elaboration likelihood. The coefficient was positive and statistically significant, supporting H1. For testing H2, two-way ANOVA and three-way ANOVA were conducted, and the results appeared to be consistent with H2. To test H3, a moderated regression analysis was performed and the interaction term of argument cogency and thought confidence appeared to be statistically significant, which supported H3. In a similar way, H4 was tested with a moderated regression analysis and the result supported H4. Study 2: The Effects of Personality Variables on Thought Confidence and the Relationship between Thought Confidence and Attitudes Confidence Hypotheses Four hypotheses were established as follows. H5: The higher the need-for-cognition is, the higher the thought confidence would be. H6: The lower the self-monitoring is, the higher the thought confidence would be. H7: The higher the private self-consciousness is, the higher the thought confidence would be. H8: The higher the thought confidence is, the higher the attitude confidence would be. Research Design Data for study 2 were collected at the same time when we collected data in the experiment for study 1. All personality variables, need-for-cognition, self-monitoring, and private selfconsciousness were measured with five seven-point scales, respectively. In addition, attitudes confidence and thought confidence were measured with a seven-point scale, respectively. Results To test the hypotheses, simple regression analyses were conducted four times. The results were as follows. In each regression analysis predicting thought confidence with personality variable,the predictor variable appeared to be in the hypothesized direction and was statistically significant. Thus, the hypotheses 5, 6, and 7 were supported. In addition, a significant positive relationship between thought confidence and attitudes confidence also appeared, which was consistent with H8. Study 3: The Effect of Thought’s Source (Self-generated vs. Other-generated Argument) on the Possibility of Word-of-mouth Hypotheses Three hypotheses were established as follows. H9: Thought confidence would be higher in the case of self-generated argument than the case of exposure to other-generated argument. H10: The higher the thought confidence is, the higher the possibility of word-of-mouth would be. H11: The effect of thought’s source on the possibility of word-of-mouth would be mediated by thought confidence. Research Design The experimental ads used in the study 1 were modified to accommodate to the purpose of this study. One-hundred subjects were randomly divided into two groups. The subjects in one group were exposed to the experimental ads and were asked to list the thoughts they had while viewing the ad and to answer the question for thought confidence. The subjects of the other group viewed the thoughts generated in the first group and were asked to answer the question for thought confidence. In addition, all subjects answered the question for the possibility of word-of-mouth. Data obtained from eighty-three subjects were analyzed. Results To test the hypotheses 9, 10, and 11, a path-analysis was performed with AMOS 16.0. The coefficients of the paths both from self-generated argument to thought confidence and from thought confidence to the possibility of word-of-mouth appeared to be positive and were statistically significant. These results supported H9 and H10. However, the path from selfgenerated argument to the possibility of word-of-mouth also appeared to be positive and were statistically significant. To investigate the mediating effect of thought confidence, mediated regression analyses were performed. The result showed that the effect of self-generated argument on the possibility of word-of-mouth was partially mediated by thought confidence.