Memory for Advertising: When do Consumers Remember and When do they Forget Social-identity linked Ads?

What makes advertising memorable? One popular approach is to link ads to consumers’ social identities (e.g., gender, lifestyle, race). For instance, sales promotions routinely offer “10% discount to senior citizens” or “1 free drink for ladies” hoping that target consumers will attend to and remember ads that are personally relevant (and financially beneficial). But despite the popularity of identity-linked advertising (ILA), evidence for its effectiveness is mixed (Reed 2002; Weigl et al.1980; White and Argo 2009). Thus, in the present work, we document when and explain why ILA can either help marketers (by attracting attention, thereby boosting memory for ads and desire for identity-linked products) or hurt marketers (by producing poor ad-memory and product avoidance). To guide our enquiry, we draw on two constructs well-established in identity research: identity distinctiveness (ID) and strength of ingroup identification (SOII). Identity, or comparative, distinctiveness occurs when a person possesses a characteristic (e.g., a social identity) that differentiates her from others (McGuire et al. 1978; Wooten 1995). Because comparative distinctiveness allows one to feel special, individuals enjoy being part of distinctive minorities (Brewer 1991). Thus, identity distinctiveness is a common tactic used in ILA. For instance, hoping to peak women’s interest, a clothing ad may seek to activate female-identity by featuring a single woman amid multiple men.