Social cognitive framework for advertising

Abstract

Drawing from Bandura’s social cognitive theory, a social cognitive framework for advertising, integrating the major tenets of the advertising discipline, is articulated. Unlike the widely-used, and outmoded, behavioral models that frequently appear in advertising scholarship, the social cognitive perspective emphasizes the role of personal agency with regard to thought, affect, and behavior. Social cognitive framework for advertising contends that advertisements influence individuals as determinants that operate within triadic reciprocal structures composed of other personal, environmental, and behavioral factors. Subsequent to formulating the framework, it was used to structure and test the interaction between extraversion and arousal potential of the ad on attitude toward the ad, purchase intention, and memory of the ad. The investigation failed to find any statistically significant results. Despite a lack of findings, implications of shifting to a social cognitive perspective to study advertising effects are discussed and directions for future scholarship are presented.