Comparative Advertising’s Novelty and Persuasion Outcomes: Insights from France, United Kingdom and United States

Considering that novelty increases information processing but decreases perceived believability as well, we conducted a cross-national study in three countries (France, UK, and USA) to examine the effects of two comparative ad formats (Direct and Indirect Comparative Advertising) on persuasion outcomes for an unknown brand. Based on a representative sample of 789 “real” French, UK and USA consumers, the results mainly support the role of comparative advertising’s novelty on persuasion outcomes and call for a deeper understanding of both perceptions of comparative advertising in different countries as well as the cultural differences able to be at work at an individual level.