Affective involvement in advertising effectiveness: implications for interpretation of print advertisements

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that affective dimensions of involvement have on the decoding process of print advertisements. The results from a factorial experiment using advertisements for two types of product, credit cards and chocolate bars, indicate that outcomes of the decoding process are predominantly influenced by affective dimensions of involvement, such as interest and pleasure, in a low involvement situation. This affective involvement has a strong relationship with likeability of the advertisement. However the relationship between comprehension and likeability is less straightforward and seems to be linked to beliefs about the advertisement.