Examining Consumers' Perception and Attitude towards Different Product Settings Presented within Advertisements

Abstract: Today, it has become increasingly challenging for firms to communicate with their target audiences, due to the amount of media noise present in the contemporary market. In this study, the author examines how consumers perceive different product settings that are presented within advertisements, and how this affects their attitude toward the ad, with hopes that it will lead to new insights on how the visual element of product setting can be enhanced to create messages that better connect and resonate with consumers in today’s overcrowded market. Using previous literature on Sensory Marketing, Advertising Perception, and Advertising Attitude as basis, a matrix that shows different combinations of product setting was generated, which allowed the author to examine how consumers perceive different typesof product settings. The findings suggest that consumers perceive product settings that aid mental imagery and ads with balanced complexity very positively in their evaluation of advertisements. Ad information, pleasure, and its ability to produce a mental imagery were all found to be keys in garnering positive attitude, and combining these three elements together in one ad has been shown to be the most effective in gathering the highest positive attitude towards the ad. The essay ends by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, and recommendations for future research.