What makes open vs. closed conclusion advertisements more persuasive?: The moderating role of prior knowledge and involvement

So far, the impact of open vs. closed conclusion advertisements has been examined mainly in terms of attitude change. Past researches have shown contradictory results, which we attribute mainly to the lack of attention to the differences between levels of objective and subjective comprehension of the advertisements. The present study focuses on the depth of information processing (DIP), as a key antecedent to attitudinal constructs. A 2 x 2 factorial experiment was designed to test the combined effects of open vs. closed conclusions and low vs. high involvement. Results show that, paradoxically, consumers under low involvement conditions may reach deeper levels of information processing as long as they are knowledgeable of the product advertised and they perceive low risk in it. In turn, attitudes are all the more positive when DIP scores are higher. Such results confirm some aspects of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), (i.e. open vs. closed conclusion as a rhetorical artifact, has effects under low involvement conditions) but contradicts it on the main point, that is low involved consumers may reach deeper levels of information processing than consumers under high involvement. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.