Creativity in Advertisements on Instagram: A Quantitative Study of Sunshine and Cheeseburgers

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of two advertising creativity paradigms in the context of Instagram, with regards to advertising effectiveness as well as examining the role of brands on this relationship. Applying either theoretical frameworks of (a) Information Processing Theory through text or (b) Signal Theory through image, a two-by-two study was distributed to respondents with accompanying identical questionnaires. The findings suggest as indicated by previously conducted research that creativity is central to advertising efficiency. However, new insights regarding the context of the displayed ad was gained as Image Creativity was shown to be effective on Instagram while Text Creativity was not. Furthermore, a mediating effect of Source Credibility on the relationship between Creativity and Advertisement Effectiveness was found. Implications for marketers are thus to put emphasis and resources in optimizing Image Creativity in lieu of Text Creativity in the context of Instagram. Given that the field is bereft of studies combining the two theories the present study breaks new ground concerning an undiscovered area of advertising creativity research in the context of Instagram.