ABSTRACT
The focus of this volume is on considering the influence of advertising on judgment, decision making, and behavior that occur at the time of purchase and product use. The emphasis is on looking at effects on behavior rather than on attitudes or recall of the ad, and on processes that occur at some time after exposure to the ad rather than on immediate or short-term effects. This contrasts in two ways with much of the advertising research to date, which has tended to focus on ad recall and attitudes or evaluations, most frequently at the time of the ad or shortly thereafter. Thus, as suggested recently also by Alba, Hutchinson, and Lynch (1991), there is a sense that it would be useful to supplement the important work that has been done on the influence of advertising on recall and attitudes, with information regarding ways in which advertising might influence actual decision making and behaviors relevant to product purchase and use. Such a focus requires understanding of the factors and processes that influence, not only judgment or evaluation, but also decision making itself. Further, because these decisions and behaviors often occur long after the advertising experience itself, it is also necessary to consider some aspects of the processes that may lead advertising’s effects to be sustained in time.
