Advertising Skepticism, Need for Cognition and Consumers’ Attitudes

Abstract

Purpose – This paper examines the relationship of advertising skepticism and need for cognition with consumers’ attitudes towards brand. There is currently limited understanding on how advertising skepticism and need for cognition relate to the consumers’ attitudes. Methodology – Using a ‘within-brand-comparison’ strategy, a mock print advertisement of a telecom brand is shown to 204 cellular services users in Pakistan. This is followed by a survey. Data are analysed using a variance-based structural equation modelling. Findings – The relationship of advertising skepticism with attitude towards brand is negative and partially mediated by the sequence of brand image, advertisement believability and attitudes towards advertisement. In contrast, the relationship between need for cognition and attitude towards brand is positive and fully mediated by the sequence of brand image, advertisement believability and attitudes towards advertisement. Originality/value – The paper fills some theoretical as well as empirical gaps by showing how (in a within-brand advertisement context) advertising skepticism and need for cognition relate to the consumers' attitudes towards brand.