IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v78y2024ics0969698923004538.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Meme marketing effectiveness: A moderated-mediation model

Author

Listed:
  • Razzaq, Ali
  • Shao, Wei
  • Quach, Sara

Abstract

Underpinned by brand placement literature, associative network theory, and narrative transportation theory, this research examines how meme marketing types (brand prominent and brand subtle) create immersive consumer experiences through narrative transportation and the moderating effects of consumer brand knowledge, meme literacy, and linguistic characteristics (i.e., pronouns) on meme marketing effectiveness. Study 1 (NÂ =Â 300) confirms that brand prominent meme marketing generates more favourable consumer outcomes (attitude towards ad, customer engagement) and narrative transportation compared to brand subtle meme marketing. Additionally, Study 1 examines the moderating effects of consumer brand knowledge and the mediating role of narrative transportation. Study 2 (NÂ =Â 300) validates the findings of Study 1 and assesses the mediating role of narrative transportation between brand prominent meme marketing (vs. brand subtle) and outcomes among consumers with varying meme literacy. Brand prominent meme marketing yields profound consumer outcomes and narrative transportation, especially with low brand knowledge. Study 3 (NÂ =Â 253) confirms the results of Studies 1 and 2 and further introduces a novel linguistic moderator, examining the use of first-person and second-person pronouns within the meme marketing content using a different product category. This study uncovers the influence of second-person pronouns on intensifying narrative transportation. Empirical evidence supports all three moderated mediation models. Overall, this study adds to the knowledge on meme marketing and provides useful insights for designing and targeting effective meme marketing campaigns.

Suggested Citation

  • Razzaq, Ali & Shao, Wei & Quach, Sara, 2024. "Meme marketing effectiveness: A moderated-mediation model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:78:y:2024:i:c:s0969698923004538
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103702
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698923004538
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103702?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Merchant, Altaf & Rose, Gregory M., 2013. "Effects of advertising-evoked vicarious nostalgia on brand heritage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2619-2625.
    2. Kim, Jae-Eun & Lloyd, Stephen & Cervellon, Marie-Cécile, 2016. "Narrative-transportation storylines in luxury brand advertising: Motivating consumer engagement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 304-313.
    3. Viglia, Giampaolo & Dolnicar, Sara, 2020. "A review of experiments in tourism and hospitality," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Natarajan, Thamaraiselvan & Balasubramaniam, Senthil Arasu & Stephen, Gladys & Jublee, Daniel Inbaraj & Kasilingam, Dharun Lingam, 2018. "The influence of audience characteristics on the effectiveness of brand placement memory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 134-149.
    5. Cruz, Ryan E. & Leonhardt, James M. & Pezzuti, Todd, 2017. "Second Person Pronouns Enhance Consumer Involvement and Brand Attitude," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 104-116.
    6. Friestad, Marian & Wright, Peter, 1994. "The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope with Persuasion Attempts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(1), pages 1-31, June.
    7. van Reijmersdal, Eva A. & Rozendaal, Esther & Buijzen, Moniek, 2012. "Effects of Prominence, Involvement, and Persuasion Knowledge on Children's Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advergames," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 33-42.
    8. Touchstone, Ellen E. & Koslow, Scott & Shamdasani, Prem N. & D'Alessandro, Steven, 2017. "The linguistic servicescape: Speaking their language may not be enough," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 147-157.
    9. Petty, Richard E & Cacioppo, John T & Schumann, David, 1983. "Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 10(2), pages 135-146, September.
    10. Ngo, Liem Viet & Northey, Gavin & Tran, Quan & Septianto, Felix, 2020. "The Devil might wear Prada, but Narcissus wears counterfeit Gucci! How social adjustive functions influence counterfeit luxury purchases," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. Grigsby, Jamie L. & Mellema, Hillary N., 2020. "Negative Consequences of Storytelling in Native Advertising," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 61-78.
    12. Aner Sela & S. Christian Wheeler & Gülen Sarial-Abi, 2012. "We Are Not the Same as You and I: Causal Effects of Minor Language Variations on Consumers' Attitudes toward Brands," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(3), pages 644-661.
    13. Fennis, Bob M. & Wiebenga, Jacob H., 2017. "Me, myself, and Ikea: Qualifying generic self-referencing effects in brand judgment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 69-79.
    14. Tenghao Zhang & Xinli Huang, 2022. "Viral marketing: influencer marketing pivots in tourism – a case study of meme influencer instigated travel interest surge," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 508-515, February.
    15. Russell, Cristel Antonia, 2002. "Investigating the Effectiveness of Product Placements in Television Shows: The Role of Modality and Plot Connection Congruence on Brand Memory and Attitude," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(3), pages 306-318, December.
    16. Tom van Laer & Ko de Ruyter & Luca M. Visconti & Martin Wetzels, 2014. "The Extended Transportation-Imagery Model: A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents and Consequences of Consumers' Narrative Transportation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(5), pages 797-817.
    17. Choi, Dongwon & Bang, Hyejin & Wojdynski, Bartosz W. & Lee, Yen-I & Keib, Kate M., 2018. "How Brand Disclosure Timing and Brand Prominence Influence Consumer's Intention to Share Branded Entertainment Content," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 18-31.
    18. Martí-Parreño, José & Bermejo-Berros, Jesús & Aldás-Manzano, Joaquín, 2017. "Product Placement in Video Games: The Effect of Brand Familiarity and Repetition on Consumers' Memory," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 55-63.
    19. Erfgen, Carsten & Zenker, Sebastian & Sattler, Henrik, 2015. "The vampire effect: When do celebrity endorsers harm brand recall?," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 155-163.
    20. Babin, Barry J. & Herrmann, Jean-Luc & Kacha, Mathieu & Babin, Laurie A., 2021. "The effectiveness of brand placements: A meta-analytic synthesis," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1017-1033.
    21. Yana R. Avramova & Patrick De Pelsmacker & Nathalie Dens, 2018. "How reading in a foreign versus native language moderates the impact of repetition-induced brand placement prominence on placement responses," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(6), pages 500-518, November.
    22. Dokyun Lee & Kartik Hosanagar & Harikesh S. Nair, 2018. "Advertising Content and Consumer Engagement on Social Media: Evidence from Facebook," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5105-5131, November.
    23. Barry Babin & Jean-Luc Herrmann & Mathieu Kacha & Laurie Babin, 2021. "The effectiveness of brand placements: A meta-analytic synthesis," Post-Print hal-03426691, HAL.
    24. Xiao, Lin & Li, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Yucheng, 2023. "Exploring the factors influencing consumer engagement behavior regarding short-form video advertising: A big data perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    25. Yang, Shuai & Carlson, Jeffrey R. & Chen, Sixing, 2020. "How augmented reality affects advertising effectiveness: The mediating effects of curiosity and attention toward the ad," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    26. Campbell, Margaret C & Keller, Kevin Lane, 2003. "Brand Familiarity and Advertising Repetition Effects," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 292-304, September.
    27. Cao, Xinyue & Qu, Zhirui & Liu, Yan & Hu, JiaJing, 2021. "How the destination short video affects the customers' attitude: The role of narrative transportation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    28. Lim, Weng Marc & Ahmed, Pervaiz Khalid & Ali, Md Yunus, 2022. "Giving electronic word of mouth (eWOM) as a prepurchase behavior: The case of online group buying," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 582-604.
    29. Lee, Seonjeong (Ally) & Oh, Haemoon, 2021. "Anthropomorphism and its implications for advertising hotel brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 455-464.
    30. Aleti, Torgeir & Pallant, Jason I. & Tuan, Annamaria & van Laer, Tom, 2019. "Tweeting with the Stars: Automated Text Analysis of the Effect of Celebrity Social Media Communications on Consumer Word of Mouth," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 17-32.
    31. Zheng, Run & Li, Zhuyuan & Na, Sanggyun, 2022. "How customer engagement in the live-streaming affects purchase intention and customer acquisition, E-tailer's perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    32. Hamelin, Nicolas & Moujahid, Othmane El & Thaichon, Park, 2017. "Emotion and advertising effectiveness: A novel facial expression analysis approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 103-111.
    33. Nathalie Dens & Patrick Pelsmacker, 2010. "Advertising for extensions: Moderating effects of extension type, advertising strategy, and product category involvement on extension evaluation," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 175-189, June.
    34. Vanessa M. Patrick & Henrik Hagtvedt, 2012. ""I Don't" versus "I Can't": When Empowered Refusal Motivates Goal-Directed Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(2), pages 371-381.
    35. Andrew W. Perkins & Mark R. Forehand, 2012. "Implicit Self-Referencing: The Effect of Nonvolitional Self-Association on Brand and Product Attitude," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(1), pages 142-156.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Avramova, Yana R. & Dens, Nathalie & De Pelsmacker, Patrick, 2021. "Brand placement across media: The interaction of placement modality and frequency in film versus text," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 20-30.
    2. Kirk Kristofferson & Lea Dunn, 2023. "The brand that wasn’t there: The impact of brand displacement on viewer engagement and brand attitude," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 716-745, May.
    3. Johannes Knoll & Jörg Matthes, 2017. "The effectiveness of celebrity endorsements: a meta-analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 55-75, January.
    4. Grigsby, Jamie L. & Mellema, Hillary N., 2020. "Negative Consequences of Storytelling in Native Advertising," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 61-78.
    5. Ghosh, Tathagata & Sreejesh, S. & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2022. "Brand logos versus brand names: A comparison of the memory effects of textual and pictorial brand elements placed in computer games," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 222-235.
    6. Babin, Barry J. & Herrmann, Jean-Luc & Kacha, Mathieu & Babin, Laurie A., 2021. "The effectiveness of brand placements: A meta-analytic synthesis," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1017-1033.
    7. Martí-Parreño, José & Bermejo-Berros, Jesús & Aldás-Manzano, Joaquín, 2017. "Product Placement in Video Games: The Effect of Brand Familiarity and Repetition on Consumers' Memory," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 55-63.
    8. van Reijmersdal, Eva A. & Rozendaal, Esther & Hudders, Liselot & Vanwesenbeeck, Ini & Cauberghe, Veroline & van Berlo, Zeph M.C., 2020. "Effects of Disclosing Influencer Marketing in Videos: An Eye Tracking Study Among Children in Early Adolescence," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 94-106.
    9. Yang, Zhihao & Wang, Desheng & Li, Tingting & Han, Jie, 2023. "Customizing a consumers’ story for you: The impact of protagonist geographical distance on willingness to share," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    10. Choi, Dongwon & Bang, Hyejin & Wojdynski, Bartosz W. & Lee, Yen-I & Keib, Kate M., 2018. "How Brand Disclosure Timing and Brand Prominence Influence Consumer's Intention to Share Branded Entertainment Content," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 18-31.
    11. Syrdal, Holly A. & Myers, Susan & Sen, Sandipan & Woodroof, Parker J. & McDowell, William C., 2023. "Influencer marketing and the growth of affiliates: The effects of language features on engagement behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    12. Davtyan, Davit & Cunningham, Isabella, 2017. "An investigation of brand placement effects on brand attitudes and purchase intentions: Brand placements versus TV commercials," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 160-167.
    13. Dessart, Laurence & Pitardi, Valentina, 2019. "How stories generate consumer engagement: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 183-195.
    14. Yin, Xicheng & Li, Jing & Si, Hongyun & Wu, Peng, 2024. "Attention marketing in fragmented entertainment: How advertising embedding influences purchase decision in short-form video apps," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    15. Dens, Nathalie & De Pelsmacker, Patrick & Verhellen, Yann, 2018. "Better together? Harnessing the power of brand placement through program sponsorship messages," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 151-159.
    16. Lars Bergkvist & Charles R. Taylor, 2016. "Leveraged marketing communications: a framework for explaining the effects of secondary brand associations," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 6(3), pages 157-175, December.
    17. Dongmei Li & Ung T’chiang Chow & Cecilia Yin Mei Cheong, 2022. "A Critical Genre Analysis of Covert Advertising Through Short-Videos in Douyin: The Chinese Version of Tik-Tok," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, November.
    18. Dong Hoo Kim & Doori Song, 2019. "Can brand experience shorten consumers’ psychological distance toward the brand? The effect of brand experience on consumers’ construal level," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(3), pages 255-267, May.
    19. Rosbergen, Edward & Wedel, Michel & Pieters, Rik, 1997. "Analyzing visual attention tot repeated print advertising using scanpath theory," Research Report 97B32, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    20. Erfgen, Carsten & Zenker, Sebastian & Sattler, Henrik, 2015. "The vampire effect: When do celebrity endorsers harm brand recall?," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 155-163.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:78:y:2024:i:c:s0969698923004538. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.