Effects of Disliked Executional Techniques in Advertising: A Five-Country Comparison

Abstract

This study analyzes Asian consumers' attitudes towards disliked television commercials to provide an insight into the construct of advertising dislikeability. Dislikeability is an important concept because if certain attributes of an advertisement are disliked, this can lead to potential customers disliking the brand, being dissatisfied with the advertiser, complaining about the advertisement, and/or refusing to purchase the advertised product. A total of 1,000 people were questioned in five Asian cities (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, Bangkok and Mumbai) using telephone interviews. The study reveals seven dislike attributes: bad style of the ad, meaningless storyline, ugly or stupid characters, exaggerating product effectiveness, irresponsible or misleading content, scary or violent characters/settings, and hard-sell approaches. Findings from this study show that there is a close relationship between disliking television advertising and purchase intention. Additionally, the importance of the seven dislikeability dimensions differs between cities and product categories. Managerial implications are offered for organizations advertising in Asia.