Anchoring effects in comparative nutrition claims: the presence of anchor brand and the role of scale

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dc.contributorGonzenbach, William J.
dc.contributorLeeper, James D.
dc.contributorGreer, Jennifer D.
dc.contributorPhelps, Joseph
dc.contributorTang, Lu
dc.contributor.advisorZhou, Shuhua
dc.contributor.authorShen, Bin
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-01T17:22:16Z
dc.date.available2017-03-01T17:22:16Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractAlthough anchoring effects have been considered highly robust and pervasive in decision-making, the theory of anchoring and adjustment has been rarely applied in studying comparative advertising or health claims. This dissertation fills the gap by examining the effects of brand anchoring on people's nutritiousness perception, attitudes toward the ad, attitudes toward the brand, and purchase intention. It also examines whether different scales (percentage vs. fraction) on which a nutritional attribute is expressed has any advertising effect. Furthermore, this dissertation extends the investigation into the possible moderating roles of personal involvement, health consciousness, and product experience in anchoring procedures. In order to examine the anchoring effect in comparative nutrition claims, a 2 (without anchor brand vs. with anchor brand) × 2 (expanded scale vs. contracted scale) × 2 (products) mixed-factorial experiment was carried out. Data were collected from 304 students recruited from a business school at a Western university. Findings revealed significant differences across anchoring conditions for the granola bar ad, but not for the chocolate ad, which supported the case-by-case approach adopted by the FTC in regulating health claims and warranted future studies on additional product categories. Results also showed that using an anchor brand or an expanded scale to describe nutrition content resulted in an inflated perception of product benefits and more favorable attitudes toward the ad. This dissertation offers insight into the effectiveness of using comparative nutrition claims to attract consumers and the importance of developing remedies to protect consumers from confusing claims. Furthermore, the research results are consistent with existing anchoring research suggesting that an anchoring process is generally not moderated by traditionally recognized moderating factors in comparative advertising research, including personal involvement, health consciousness, and product experience. The theoretical implications and practical applications of the research findings are finally discussed.en_US
dc.format.extent141 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0001830
dc.identifier.otherShen_alatus_0004D_12227
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/2269
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectCommunication
dc.titleAnchoring effects in comparative nutrition claims: the presence of anchor brand and the role of scaleen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. College of Communication and Information Sciences
etdms.degree.disciplineCommunication & Information Sciences
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.

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