Same Message, Different Ad Framing: The Moderating Role of Need for Cognition

Advertisers choose among different ad claims when framing messages about new entrants. This paper proposes that different claims evoke different memory structures (semantic vs. episodic), and that these structures require different types of cognitive processing (system 1 vs. system 2). Two experiments, using need for cognition as a dispositional trait of level of cognitive processing, show that experiential claims are less favorably evaluated when consumers engage in system 2 processing, than when consumers engage in system 1 processing. The better performance of functional claims, may managerially implicate that experiential claims can potentially be a dangerous positioning strategy.