Why data science is an art – and how to support the people who do it A leader in text and data analytics at Elsevier shares the ideas behind his presentation at the Bio-IT World Conference

Editor’s note: In his recent talk at the Bio-IT World Conference (Bio-IT 18), Zen and the Art of Data Science Maintenance, Elsevier’s Dr. Jabe Wilson used examples of data science undertaken at Elsevier to illustrate why data science is an art – and how best to support data scientists based on this insight. You can see his slide presentation at the end of this story.

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The idea of programming as an art – and by extension data science – is not new; it can be traced right back to the founding of the discipline of computer science. It is mentioned in the 1959 statement of purposes at the founding of the Communication of the ACM), and put forward as a positive characteristic in a famous article from 1974:

We have seen that computer programming is an art, because it applies accumulated knowledge to the world, because it requires skill and ingenuity, and especially because it produces objects of beauty.

More recently, similar realizations have been made for the field of data science, such as the recent article in Forbes, which refers to data science as an art.

In my talk at Bio-IT, I shared some lessons from the experience of data science at Elsevier: specifically, why it is an art and how to support it. The important thing is that we need to support programming and data science as it is experienced rather than with an idealized view of the practice.

Jabe Wilson used this slide to describe how data science is an art, relating this to his experience growing up as a child programming and living with two parents who are fine artists. (See his full presentation at the end of this story.)

That data science is an art seems obvious to me due to my experiences growing up in a household of artists and programming from an early age. The art-based approach is where you understand a problem more fully over time by progressively working on alternative solutions, which lead to greater understanding of the problem itself. Watching my parents work on a painting over several weeks and seeing the canvas change as they worked towards their vision for the work has many parallels to trying out lines of code and testing different algorithms.

The image for this article is my dad’s artist studio from the 1970s, and I think it illustrates the creative workplace nicely.

I studied artificial intelligence (AI) at the multidisciplinary Centre for Cognitive Sciences at the University of Sussex and taught interaction design at the Royal College of Art, so I can see the strong association between the creative arts, programming and data science.

The reason data science can be described as an art is because of the need to adopt an exploratory workflow (similar ideas about artist-design and engineering-design as applied to software design were expressed by my colleague Gillian Crampton-Smith at the Royal College of Art in the mid-1990s). There are a number of challenges you face as you work:

• First, you have to start with clearly defining problem that may initially be ill-defined.
• Then you have to identify and work on preparing the relevant data (described as data curation and feature engineering).
• Next you have to choose the algorithmic approach you take.
• And finally, you might have to adjust these elements based on your experience of running your system.

This keeps you busy working, and to paraphrase Pablo Picasso, that is when inspiration can find you!

These themes of multidisciplinary teams working collaboratively and the creative approach to problem solving are present in the work I do at Elsevier and the teams I work with. This is also the approach being taken across Elsevier and RELX – recently voted one of the world’s most innovate companies by Forbes.

3 principles of supporting creative data science

Understanding and thereby supporting data science practice is a critical driver to the work we do in building new scientifically nuanced platforms. It also underpins our work on the Professional Services teamas we provide consulting services to pharmaceutical companies and commercial R&D organizations.

You can summarize our approach in three principles:

• Good data: cleaned and curated to remove noise, including curation and feature engineering such as scaling or reducing dimensionality. We spend a great deal of effort on data curation.
• Right data: to have enough of the relevant data for your hypothesis to be able to build a predictive model. Problem description is important (defining the hypothesis or model you want to explore) as is the choice of algorithmic approach (Are you choosing Naïve Bayes, support vector machines or logistic regression?).
• In-time data: avoiding the opportunity cost of waiting hours between process steps. Create a platform that brings this together so you have the information at your fingertips when you need it.

In my opinion, where you see examples of data science failing (like the well publicized MD Anderson example), it comes down to failings across the range of these factors, or as was said recently in the Harvard Business Review –“if your data is bad, your machine learning tools are useless.”

Data science in practice: examples from Elsevier

At Elsevier, we use data science extensively in operations. Our Elsevier Labs team operates on the cutting edge exploring emerging techniques; and our Professional Services team brings all of this together to create bespoke solutions to customer problems.

Creative data science is delivered through a multidisciplinary work place – at Elsevier we have domain experts, specialists in creating taxonomies and ontologies, and folks that focus on how best to apply the right algorithms that make up AI approaches.

This is our culture around data science and AI, as Dan Olley, CIO and EVP of Product Development at Elsevier, talked about recently in Forbes.

Here are some examples of the work we do:

• Rare disease treatment: Our team have taken highly curated data that enables us to make predictions about which drugs can be repurposed to treat rare dieases.
• Translational safety: We have worked alongside Bayer to determine where animal models can be avoided when testing drug toxicity.
• Evidence selection: The Elsevier Labs team has successfully applied neural networks to identify complex evidence-based statements to choose the right data for building data science models.
• Real-world data interpretation: We are investigating how to bring together machine learning classification of text with taxonomies, and alongside images, to deliver learning across multimodal data sets. These approaches create opportunities to develop classification of data sources with unstructured text and unlabeled images from real-world data, such as patient records.

Our Professional Services team – and our users – have benefited from this vision of data science as an art form: starting with the right canvas in terms of good data, getting to the right model (using qualitative data and intuition), and putting the tools at your fingertips so inspiration can find you busily at work, whether you’re identifying candidate drugs for treating rare diseases or reducing the need to use animals in drug safety experiments.

Why this is important for all of us

AI and data science hold the keys to overcoming some of the challenges we face as a society. We face a productivity crisis both in research and commercial R&D, which is hitting economic growth with social implications and limiting our abilities to respond to heath and environmental challenges. People know Elsevier for great content; what they will learn more about is the innovative culture that is exists here in applying data science to advancing science and commercial R&D and thereby addressing the productivity crisis experienced in research and economics.

Elsevier is well placed to take a lead in data science to meet the global challenges we face in productivity. Because as I wrote recently in The Guardian:

It’s important to remember that while AI has great promise, it’s not simply a case of ‘plug and play.’ The use of AI in healthcare will necessitate purpose-built platforms that are not only technologically advanced but scientifically nuanced. Such platforms will require huge volumes of accurate, varied, multidisciplinary data, along with many years of training and algorithm-building by human ‘masters.’

At Elsevier, we’re constantly working to enhance productivity by developing tools to support research and commercial R&D. One of the important ways we do so is by supporting the data scientists who develop these tools.

Human creativity and AI

We need to augment our intelligence, and success is still down to human creativity

The hope is that we can achieve far more by combining human creativity with AI than we can through automation alone. But the very activity of creating AI systems through data science is creative in itself.

An important insight is that human researchers are more efficient using AI systems than working alone – and that together, they are more effective than advanced AI systems working without human guidance.

As James Bridle wrote in The Guardian recently:

While even a mid-level chess computer can today wipe the floor with most grandmasters, an average player paired with an average computer is capable of beating the most sophisticated supercomputer.

Therefore, we need to both support data scientists in the development of AI systems through their creativity in data science, as well as taking the end products and enabling humans to work with these systems to augment their human intelligence to solve problems.

Elsevier is doing important work to support data science. We are building tools that bring data together in ways that are accessible to AI. We have made significant, well curated data sources available and are putting them in a semantic data knowledge hub that can be harvested for insights or as a source of features for machine learning to deliver predictive analytics. We are really excited about the opportunities this brings when our teams are able to work in a dynamic manner that allows them to explore diverse information spaces driven by their intuition and inspiration. We’re using our tools both to improve the quality of the data and to provide tools that allow you to be sure you have the right data for the task at hand.

Watch this space for new announcements on our scientifically nuanced data science platforms.

The impact of creative media advertising on consumer responses: two field experiments Fabiënne Rauwers, Paola Remmelswaal, Marieke L. Fransen, Micael Dahlén & Guda van Noort Received 24 Aug 2017, Accepted 17 May 2018, Published online: 31 Aug 2018

Creative media (CM) advertising is an advertising strategy wherein a non-traditional medium is creatively used for advertising purposes. This novel advertising strategy is gaining marketers’ interest; however, little is known about its persuasive effects on consumers’ cognitive, affective and behavioural responses and the processes that underlie them. Therefore, to convey a genuine experience to consumers, two field experiments with a one-factor (advertising type: creative vs. traditional) between-subjects design were conducted within a supermarket context. Results showed that creative (vs. traditional) media ads not only improve consumers’ affective and behavioural responses but also consumers’ cognitive responses. Even though no mediations were found through perceived surprise or perceived persuasive intent, results do provide evidence for the notion that perceived humor and perceived value are the underlying mechanisms through which affective and behavioural responses to creative media advertising can be explained.

Introduction

Imagine yourself walking through a park searching for a bench on which to rest. While approaching the nearest bench, you are surprised to see that the slats of the bench are a chocolate brown color and carry the logo and slogan of a KitKat candy bar. After a few seconds, you suddenly understand the connection between KitKat and the bench: Aha! You eat a KitKat when you are ‘taking a break’, and a bench is typically a place to take a break! The chocolate brown slats of the bench are intended to resemble the bars of a KitKat. This KitKat bench is a form of creative media advertising (CM advertising).

CM advertising might be the answer to the quest of many advertisers nowadays. It provides a new advertising format that attracts the attention of consumers despite the large excess of commercial messages known as ‘advertising clutter’ (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). Due to this advertising clutter consumers’ attitudes towards advertising have become increasingly more negative over time (Speck and Elliott 1997Speck, P.S., and M.T. Elliott. 1997. Predictors of advertising avoidance in print and broadcast media. Journal of Advertising 26, no. 3: 61–76. doi:10.1080/00913367.1997.10673529[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). Such negative effects might be overcome by using CM advertisements. A CM advertisement is promoted on a media vehicle that (1) is not commonly used for advertising and (2) has an associative overlap with the advertised brand (Dahlén 2005Dahlén, M. 2005. The medium as a contextual cue: Effects of creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 34, no. 3: 89–98.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). Since CM advertisements are not depicted in traditional advertising formats as newspapers, they might be more difficult to identify as advertisements (Obermiller, Spangenberg and MacLachlan 2005Obermiller, C., E. Spangenberg, and D.L. MacLachlan. 2005. Ad skepticism: The consequences of disbelief. Journal of Advertising 34, no. 3: 7–17. doi:10.1080/00913367.2005.10639199[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]), possibly resulting in positive advertising effects.

This reasoning can be confirmed by an increasing body of research (Meijers, Eelen and Voorveld 2016Meijers, M.H.C., J. Eelen, and H.A.M.Voorveld. 2016. Creative media advertising (SWOCC; No. 72). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Commerciële Communicatie. [Google Scholar]), which shows that CM advertising exceeds traditional media advertising (TM advertising) in improving affective and behavioural responses (Dahlén, Friberg and Nilsson 2009Dahlén, M., L. Friberg, and E.Nilsson. 2009. Long live creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 38, no. 2: 121–129. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367380208[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Meijers et al. 2016Meijers, M.H.C., J. Eelen, and H.A.M.Voorveld. 2016. Creative media advertising (SWOCC; No. 72). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Commerciële Communicatie. [Google Scholar]). This study contributes to the current knowledge on CM advertising effects by focusing on three focal points that have not been fully addressed in earlier research. The first aim of the study entails the replication and extension of previous results by examining the impact of CM advertising in a real-life setting. This is crucial in conveying a real experience to consumers, as a real experience triggers consumers to process the advertisement in a more in-depth manner and allows people to use environmental cues to figure out the association between the medium and the brand (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]).

Next, although research demonstrated that CM advertising improves consumers’ affective and behavioural responses, little is known about the cognitive impact of CM advertising and the underlying processes for CM advertising effects (Eelen and Seiler 2015Eelen, J., and R.V.J. Seiler. 2015. Creative media use increases online sharing of your ad (but seems less effective for your brand). In Advances in advertising research. Vol. VI, The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed. P.W.J. Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M. Eisend, 291–308. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). Thus, the second aim is to extend previous CM advertising findings and examine the impact on consumers’ cognitive responses, such as recall and recognition of the advertised brand. The third aim is to examine the underlying processes for CM advertising effects. Based on Schema Theory (Roedder and Whitney 1986Roedder, D., and J.C. Whitney.1986. The development of consumer knowledge in children: A cognitive structure approach. Journal of Consumer Research 12, no. 4: 406–417.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]), we propose the following four potential processes: perceived surprise, perceived humor, perceived value and perceived persuasive intent (see Figure 1). Of these processes, only perceived surprise and perceived value had previously been examined (Dahlén et al. 2009Dahlén, M., L. Friberg, and E.Nilsson. 2009. Long live creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 38, no. 2: 121–129. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367380208[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Eelen and Seiler 2015Eelen, J., and R.V.J. Seiler. 2015. Creative media use increases online sharing of your ad (but seems less effective for your brand). In Advances in advertising research. Vol. VI, The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed. P.W.J. Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M. Eisend, 291–308. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]), although never in a real-life setting. Perceived humor and perceived persuasive intent have only been suggested by the literature (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]) but have not been tested for their explanatory power.

Figure 1. Overall conceptual model.

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Theoretical background

The effects of creative media advertising on cognitive responses

Brand recall and brand recognition are commonly used to investigate consumers’ cognitive advertising responses (e.g., Van Reijmersdal, Rozendaal and Buijzen 2012Van Reijmersdal, E.A., E. Rozendaal, and M. Buijzen. 2012. Effects of prominence, involvement, and persuasion knowledge on children’s cognitive and affective responses to advergames. Journal of Interactive Marketing 26, no. 1: 33–42. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2011.04.005[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). To our knowledge, only one study has investigated the impact of CM advertising on brand recall, revealing a negative effect (Eelen and Seiler 2015Eelen, J., and R.V.J. Seiler. 2015. Creative media use increases online sharing of your ad (but seems less effective for your brand). In Advances in advertising research. Vol. VI, The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed. P.W.J. Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M. Eisend, 291–308. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). This was unexpected, as other studies had revealed that a CM (vs. TM) advertisement increased attention (Hutter 2015Hutter, K. 2015. Unusual location and unexpected execution in advertising: A content analysis and test of effectiveness in ambient advertisements. Journal of Marketing Communications 21, no. 1: 33–47. doi:10.1080/13527266.2014.970823[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]; Hutter and Hoffmann 2014Hutter, K., and S. Hoffmann. 2014. Guerilla marketing: The nature of the concept and propositions for further research. Asian Journal of Marketing 5, no. 2: 39–54. doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2013.08.001[Crossref], [Google Scholar]), and attention has frequently been identified as a predictor of cognitive responses (e.g., Morrin and Ratneshwar 2000Morrin, M., and S. Ratneshwar.2000. The impact of ambient scent on evaluation, attention, and memory for familiar and unfamiliar brands. Journal of Business Research 49, no. 2: 157–165. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00006-5[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]).

A potential explanation for the negative effect found by Eelen and Seiler (2015Eelen, J., and R.V.J. Seiler. 2015. Creative media use increases online sharing of your ad (but seems less effective for your brand). In Advances in advertising research. Vol. VI, The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed. P.W.J. Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M. Eisend, 291–308. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]) is that an online experimental design was chosen. Consequently, participants were only able to see a picture of the CM advertisement instead of experiencing it in its ‘natural context’. Rauwers and Van Noort (2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]) argue that this might be important, because the context of a CM advertisement delivers cues for solving the ‘creative puzzle’ (e.g., the bench in the park functioned as a metaphor for taking a break in the KitKat example), which stimulates ad processing. Since the negative effect of Eelen and Seiler (2015Eelen, J., and R.V.J. Seiler. 2015. Creative media use increases online sharing of your ad (but seems less effective for your brand). In Advances in advertising research. Vol. VI, The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed. P.W.J. Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M. Eisend, 291–308. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]) could be caused by methodological design choices and other studies found positive effects on attention, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H1: CM advertising (vs. TM) improves consumers’ cognitive responses.

The effects of creative media advertising on affective and behavioural responses

Various studies have examined the effects of CM advertising on consumers’ affective and behavioural responses (i.e., ad attitude, brand attitude, purchase intention and WOM intention; Dahlén 2005Dahlén, M. 2005. The medium as a contextual cue: Effects of creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 34, no. 3: 89–98.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Hutter and Hoffmann 2014Hutter, K., and S. Hoffmann. 2014. Guerilla marketing: The nature of the concept and propositions for further research. Asian Journal of Marketing 5, no. 2: 39–54. doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2013.08.001[Crossref], [Google Scholar]) and consistently found positive effects. However, these studies did not use a real-life setting, which could be vital in catching realistic feelings of consumers and complementary environmental effects (Hutter 2015Hutter, K. 2015. Unusual location and unexpected execution in advertising: A content analysis and test of effectiveness in ambient advertisements. Journal of Marketing Communications 21, no. 1: 33–47. doi:10.1080/13527266.2014.970823[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]). In an attempt to replicate previous findings, the following hypotheses are formulated:

H2: CM advertising (vs. TM) improves consumers’ affective responses.

H3: CM advertising (vs. TM) improves consumers’ behavioural responses.

Why creative could be more effective than traditional media advertising?

The principles of Schema Theory have identified four potential underlying processes that could explain the effectiveness of CM advertising; perceived surprise, perceived humor and perceived persuasive intent. In the following, the general principles of Schema Theory will be discussed and applied to the specific context of CM advertising.

Schema theory applied to creative and traditional media advertising

Schema Theory states that the information in a person’s long-term memory is stored in packages of related information, called schemata (Roedder and Whitney 1986Roedder, D., and J.C. Whitney.1986. The development of consumer knowledge in children: A cognitive structure approach. Journal of Consumer Research 12, no. 4: 406–417.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Warlaumont 1997Warlaumont, H.G. 1997. Appropriating reality: Consumers’ perceptions of schema inconsistent advertising. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 74, no. 1: 39–54. doi:10.1177/107769909707400104[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). A schema gives consumers the opportunity to quickly process and understand new information, by relating the stimulus information to prior processed knowledge. For example, when the number combination ‘007’ fills your television screen, you probably understand that a James Bond movie is about to start.

In identifying messages as advertising, consumers rely on two schemata: their brand and advertising schema (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). The brand schema contains all of a person’s thoughts and feelings related to a specific brand (Dahlén et al. 2008Dahlén, M., S. Rosengren, F. Törn, and N. Öhman. 2008. Could placing ads wrong be right? Advertising effects of thematic incongruence. Journal of Advertising 37, no. 3: 57–67. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367370305[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]), whereas the advertising schema covers one’s knowledge about advertising, such as being aware of its commercial intent and its recognizable features (Dahlén and Edenius 2007Dahlén, M., and M. Edenius. 2007. When is advertising advertising? Comparing responses to non-traditional and traditional advertising media. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising 29, no. 1: 33–42. doi:10.1080/10641734.2007.10505206[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]; Warlaumont 1997Warlaumont, H.G. 1997. Appropriating reality: Consumers’ perceptions of schema inconsistent advertising. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 74, no. 1: 39–54. doi:10.1177/107769909707400104[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]).

The crucial difference between exposure to a CM advertisement and TM advertisement is that in the former, a person’s advertising schema will not be immediately activated (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). Consumers will not directly associate the medium of a CM advertisement with advertising. For instance, in the KitKat example, consumers will probably not relate a bench in the park to advertising. This is called ‘stimulus-schema incongruity’: A stimulus that interferes with the activation of a schema – here the advertising schema (Alden, Mukherjee and Hoyer 2000Alden, D.L., A. Mukherjee, and W.D.Hoyer. 2000. The effects of incongruity, surprise and positive moderators on perceived humor in television advertising. Journal of Advertising 29, no. 2: 1–15. doi:10.1080/00913367.2000.10673605[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). This stimulus-schema incongruity at the ad level forms the foundation of our four proposed processing variables.

Perceived surprise: an underlying process of cognitive responses

Surprise is a neutral (i.e., not valenced) and short-lived sensation, which can be elicited when a consumer is confronted with an unfamiliar stimulus (i.e., stimulus-schema incongruity; Alden et al. 2000Alden, D.L., A. Mukherjee, and W.D.Hoyer. 2000. The effects of incongruity, surprise and positive moderators on perceived humor in television advertising. Journal of Advertising 29, no. 2: 1–15. doi:10.1080/00913367.2000.10673605[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Vanhamme 2000Vanhamme, J. 2000. The link between surprise and satisfaction: An exploratory research on how best to measure surprise. Journal of Marketing Management 16, no. 6: 565–582. doi:10.1362/026725700785045949[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]). Since CM advertising is schema-incongruent at the ad level, we suggest that exposure to such an advertisement will elicit stronger feelings of surprise than exposure to a TM advertisement (H4a). Evidence for this effect has already been provided in several online studies, in which participants were confronted with an image of a CM advertisement (e.g., Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]) but not in real-life settings.

Advertisements that are perceived as highly surprising are more successful in drawing the attention of the consumer (Johnston and Hawley 1994Johnston, W.A., and K.J. Hawley.1994. Perceptual inhibition of expected inputs: The key that opens closed minds. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 1, no. 1: 56–72. doi:10.3758/BF03200761[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Hutter and Hoffmann 2014Hutter, K., and S. Hoffmann. 2014. Guerilla marketing: The nature of the concept and propositions for further research. Asian Journal of Marketing 5, no. 2: 39–54. doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2013.08.001[Crossref], [Google Scholar]). This can be explained by a consumer’s natural urge to explore surprising elements (i.e., schema-incongruent stimuli) to solve its incongruence (Warlaumont 1997Warlaumont, H.G. 1997. Appropriating reality: Consumers’ perceptions of schema inconsistent advertising. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 74, no. 1: 39–54. doi:10.1177/107769909707400104[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). Surprising ads are, therefore, processed more deeply than non-surprising ones, which results in more cognitive responses (Petty et al. 1994Petty, R.E., J.T. Cacciopo, A.J.Strathman, and J.R. Priester (1994). To think or not to think: Exploring two routes to persuasion. In Persuasion: Psychological insights and perspectives, ed. S. Shavitt and T.C., 113–148. Boston: Allyn and Bacon [Google Scholar]). Since we assume that CM advertisements (vs. TM) are perceived as more surprising, we further hypothesize that these advertisements also improve cognitive responses (i.e., brand recall and brand recognition):

H4: CM advertising (vs. TM) is perceived as (a) more surprising, which subsequently improves consumers’ (b) cognitive responses.¹

Perceived humor: an underlying process of cognitive, affective and behavioural responses

‘Humor is anything done or said, purposely or inadvertently, that is found to be comical or amusing’ (Long and Graesser 1988Long, D.L., and A.C. Graesser. 1988. Wit and humor in discourse processing. Discourse Processes 11, no. 1: 35–60. doi:10.1080/01638538809544690[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). A humorous response can be elicited when consumers are able to solve a stimulus-schema incongruity (Speck 1991Speck, P.S. 1991. The humorous message taxonomy: A framework for the study of humorous ads. Current Issues and Research in Advertising 13, no. 1–2: 1–44. doi:10.1080/01633392.1991.10504957[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]). Due to the incongruity at the ad level, a CM advertisement can be seen as some kind of ‘creative puzzle’, which is solved when consumers identify the associative overlap between brand and medium, eliciting a humorous response (H5a).

The fun reaction that consumers derive from a humorous advertisement could spill over to consumer responses (Eelen et al. 2016Eelen, J., Rauwers, F., Wottrich, V.M., Voorveld, H. A. and G. van Noort. 2016. Consumer responses to creative media advertising: A literature review. In Advertising in new formats and media: Current research and implications for marketers, ed. P. De Pelsmacker, 19–46. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. [Google Scholar]). Accordingly, prior findings demonstrated that the use of humor in advertising has a positive effect on consumers’ affective (e.g., Alden et al. 2000Alden, D.L., A. Mukherjee, and W.D.Hoyer. 2000. The effects of incongruity, surprise and positive moderators on perceived humor in television advertising. Journal of Advertising 29, no. 2: 1–15. doi:10.1080/00913367.2000.10673605[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]) and behavioural responses (Zhang 1996Zhang, Y. 1996. Responses to humorous advertising: The moderating effect of need for cognition. Journal of Advertising 25, no. 1: 15–32. doi:10.1080/00913367.1996.10673493[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). Since we assume that CM advertisements (vs. TM) are perceived as more humorous, we further hypothesize that these advertisements can also improve consumers’ affective (i.e., ad and brand attitude) and behavioural (i.e., purchase intention and WOM intention) responses:

H5: CM advertising (vs. TM) is perceived as (a) more humorous, which subsequently positively affects consumers’ (b) affective and (c) behavioural responses.

Responses to perceived humor can also be intellectual. To understand the humor (i.e., the witty link between the medium and the brand), one needs to mentally process information and this elaborative process might result in cognitive responses (Eisend 2009Eisend, M. 2009. A meta-analysis of humor in advertising. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science 37, no. 2: 191–203. doi:10.1007/s11747-008-0096-y[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). A wide range of research has examined the effectiveness of humor on cognitive advertising responses (Weinberger and Gulas 1992Weinberger, M.G., and C.S. Gulas.1992. The impact of humor in advertising: A review. Journal of Advertising 21, no. 4: 35–59. doi:10.1080/00913367.1992.10673384[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). However, these results are still mixed, which leads to the following research question:

RQ1: Does the impact of CM advertising (vs. TM) on perceived humor subsequently lead to improved cognitive responses?

Perceived persuasive intent: an underlying process of affective and behavioural responses

Perceived persuasive intent is the degree to which consumers recognize and comprehend the commercial purpose of a message (Friestad and Wright 1994Friestad, M., and P. Wright. 1994. The persuasion knowledge model: How people cope with persuasion attempts. Journal of Consumer Research 21: 1–31. doi:10.1086/209380[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). When confronted with a message, consumers access their persuasion knowledge, their set of beliefs and knowledge about advertising motives and strategies, to judge whether a message is part of a persuasion attempt (Friestad and Wright 1995Friestad, M., and P. Wright. 1995. Persuasion knowledge: Lay people’s and researchers’ beliefs about the psychology of advertising. Journal of Consumer Research 22, no. 1: 62–74. doi:10.1086/209435[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Eelen et al. 2016Eelen, J., Rauwers, F., Wottrich, V.M., Voorveld, H. A. and G. van Noort. 2016. Consumer responses to creative media advertising: A literature review. In Advertising in new formats and media: Current research and implications for marketers, ed. P. De Pelsmacker, 19–46. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. [Google Scholar]). Persuasion knowledge matures with people’s own experiences with advertising and by what they learn from others. As a result, consumers develop an advertising schema that helps them to evaluate the persuasive intent of an advertisement (Friestad and Wright 1994Friestad, M., and P. Wright. 1994. The persuasion knowledge model: How people cope with persuasion attempts. Journal of Consumer Research 21: 1–31. doi:10.1086/209380[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Roedder and Whitney 1986Roedder, D., and J.C. Whitney.1986. The development of consumer knowledge in children: A cognitive structure approach. Journal of Consumer Research 12, no. 4: 406–417.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]). Since TM advertisements are portrayed on traditional advertising media, their advertising strategies and motives are generally clear. However, CM advertisements are portrayed in more novel formats, which make it more difficult to recognize them as persuasion attempts (H6a).

In order to maintain their personal freedom of choice, consumers tend to defend themselves against persuasive attempts (Koslow 2000Koslow, S. 2000. Can the truth hurt? How honest and persuasive advertising can unintentionally lead to increased consumer skepticism. Journal of Consumer Affairs 3, no. 2: 245–267. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6606.2000.tb00093.x[Crossref], [Google Scholar]). Therefore, perceived persuasive intent has a negative effect on consumers’ affective and behavioural responses (e.g., Van Noort, Antheunis and Van Reijmersdal 2012Van Noort, G., M.L. Antheunis, and E.A. Van Reijmersdal. 2012. Social connections and the persuasiveness of viral campaigns in social network sites: Persuasive intent as the underlying mechanism. Journal of Marketing Communications 18, no. 1: 39–53. doi:10.1080/13527266.2011.620764[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]). However, since we assume that CM advertisements (vs. TM) are perceived as less persuasive, we further hypothesize that these advertisements will generate more positive affective (i.e., ad and brand attitude) and behavioural responses (purchase intention and WOM intention):

H6: CM advertising (vs. TM) is perceived as (a) less persuasive, which subsequently positively affects consumers’ (b) affective and (c) behavioural responses.

Furthermore, Van Reijmersdal et al. (2012Van Reijmersdal, E.A., E. Rozendaal, and M. Buijzen. 2012. Effects of prominence, involvement, and persuasion knowledge on children’s cognitive and affective responses to advergames. Journal of Interactive Marketing 26, no. 1: 33–42. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2011.04.005[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]) revealed that children’s persuasion knowledge did not affect their cognitive responses. However, to our knowledge, no research has been conducted among adults in which this mediating effect has been further tested. The following research question is, therefore, formulated:

RQ2: Does the impact of CM advertising (vs. TM) on perceived persuasive intent subsequently lead to improved cognitive responses?

Perceived value as an underlying process of consumers’ affective and behavioural responses

Perceived value can, according to Dahlén et al. (2009Dahlén, M., L. Friberg, and E.Nilsson. 2009. Long live creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 38, no. 2: 121–129. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367380208[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]), be defined as ‘a cognitive assessment of the value consumers derive from the advertisement that focuses both on what the advertiser gains and what the consumer receives’. By providing a ‘creative puzzle’ rather than just brand information, CM advertisements offer some form of entertainment value (Eelen et al. 2016Eelen, J., Rauwers, F., Wottrich, V.M., Voorveld, H. A. and G. van Noort. 2016. Consumer responses to creative media advertising: A literature review. In Advertising in new formats and media: Current research and implications for marketers, ed. P. De Pelsmacker, 19–46. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. [Google Scholar]). Hence, we suggest that a CM advertisement will be perceived as more valuable than a TM advertisement (H7a).

Moreover, consumers could perceive the clever bridge between the medium and the brand as a valuable effort delivered by the company, which could indirectly elicit positive affective and behavioural responses (Rosengren, Modig and Dahlén 2015Rosengren, S., E. Modig, and M.Dahlén. 2015. The value of ambient communication from a consumer perspective. Journal of Marketing Communications 21, no. 1: 20–32. doi:10.1080/13527266.2014.970825[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]). Two studies on CM advertising (Dahlén et al. 2009Dahlén, M., L. Friberg, and E.Nilsson. 2009. Long live creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 38, no. 2: 121–129. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367380208[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Rosengren et al. 2015Rosengren, S., E. Modig, and M.Dahlén. 2015. The value of ambient communication from a consumer perspective. Journal of Marketing Communications 21, no. 1: 20–32. doi:10.1080/13527266.2014.970825[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]) have revealed that perceived value mediates the effects on consumers’ affective and behavioural responses by exposing participants to photographs of CM advertisements. It is, however, questionable whether a picture can deliver the same experience as when CM advertisement is experienced within a real-life setting (Dahlén 2005Dahlén, M. 2005. The medium as a contextual cue: Effects of creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 34, no. 3: 89–98.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). Results are expected to be even stronger in a real-life setting, resulting in potentially bigger value exchanges (Dahlén and Edenius 2007Dahlén, M., and M. Edenius. 2007. When is advertising advertising? Comparing responses to non-traditional and traditional advertising media. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising 29, no. 1: 33–42. doi:10.1080/10641734.2007.10505206[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]). Therefore, the following expectations are formulated:

H7: CM advertising (vs. TM) is perceived as (a) more valuable, which subsequently positively affects consumers’ (b) affective and (c) behavioural responses.

General methods

To provide a strong test of the hypotheses, two field experiments were conducted in a supermarket context. Actual customers were confronted with either the TM or CM advertisement while shopping for groceries. The ads were developed in collaboration with a professional ad agency and were previously used and pretested in an online study (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). In line with the conceptualization of CM advertising, a shopping cart was used as a creative medium, because it had not been previously used as an advertising medium in our supermarkets and had an associative overlap with the brand. In Study 1, we used a poster as the traditional medium, one of the most common means of in-store advertising. In Study 2, we used CardBoards: relatively small posters placed in the back of shopping carts. By selecting this medium, exposure time was kept equal under both conditions.

Study 1 was designed to extend our knowledge of cognitive responses to CM advertising, to replicate previous findings on affective and behavioural responses and to examine underlying mechanisms of CM advertising effects that were suggested by the literature (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]; see Figure 2). Next, Study 2 replicated and extended Study 1 and was designed to examine mediation hypotheses for affective and behavioural responses. Study 2 extended Study 1 by examining another mediating process that was not suggested by Rauwers and Van Noort (2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]), perceived value. It also investigated the effects on WOM intention (see Figure 4).

Figure 2. Conceptual model Study 1: the hypothesized direct effects of advertising type on consumers’ cognitive (H1), affective (H2) and behavioural (H3) are not presented in the figure.

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Study 1

Methods

Design and participants

To test our hypotheses (see Figure 2), a field experiment was conducted with a one-factor (advertising type: creative vs. traditional) between-subjects design. Participants were recruited from two supermarkets belonging to the same supermarket chain. In one supermarket, the CM condition was implemented, and in the other, the TM condition was implemented. Customers had to be at least 18 years of age to qualify for participation. In total, 88 customers participated, although 10 were excluded, as they were unable to fill out the questionnaire (see ‘Pretest’ section). This resulted in a final sample of 78 participants (76.6% female) ranging in age from 35 to 75 years (M = 55.23, SD = 9.67).

Procedure

Participants were assigned to either the CM condition (n = 47) or the TM condition (n = 31), depending on the supermarket they visited. Customers were unaware of the research study, and while shopping, they were exposed to either our CM advertisement or TM advertisement. After shopping, customers were approached and asked to participate in our study.

Customers willing to participate completed a 10-minute questionnaire that consisted of three parts. First, participants were asked to answer questions that tapped into their cognitive responses (i.e., brand recall and brand recognition), affective responses (i.e., brand attitude) and behavioural responses (i.e., purchase intention). Second, they viewed a picture of the advertisement (to ensure that they had the right ad in mind), after which another affective response (i.e., ad attitude) was measured, followed by questions that measured our processing variables: perceived surprise, perceived humor and perceived persuasive intent. The final part contained randomization and manipulation checks and questions regarding participants’ demographic characteristics.

Stimulus materials: creative vs. traditional media advertising

For this study, a CM and a TM advertisement were developed² for the brand Autodrop, a Dutch licorice brand known for its car-shaped candies. In the CM condition, a shopping cart was selected as creative medium because 1) this medium had not been previously used for advertising in our selected supermarkets and 2) as Autodrop, it is strongly associated with cars: it has wheels, you can drive it and it has a bit of a car-shape. A cardboard steering wheel was connected to the cart, which contained the logo and the slogan of the brand; an image of a dashboard was placed on the bar of the cart, which contained the image of an Autodrop sweet; and fake breaking pedals were attached near the wheels (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Stimulus materials of Study 1: the CM advertisement (left) and the TM advertisement (right).

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For the TM condition, a poster (size: 1189 mm × 841 mm) was chosen as the traditional medium. The poster contained the image of an Autodrop product, the brand name and the brand slogan (see Figure 3) and was placed at three prominent and common advertising locations in the supermarket: next to the entrance/exit, in the middle of the shop and near the cash registers.

Pretest

A pretest among 50 supermarket customers tested the clarity of our questionnaire and the noticeability of our stimuli. A prototype of the Autodrop poster was placed in a third supermarket³ and the main experiment procedures were applied. Based on feedback, we refined the questionnaire layout and removed ambiguities. We found that participants who disliked the taste of Autodrop candy experienced extreme difficulties completing the questionnaire. They became irritated (‘I don’t like licorice, so how can I have an opinion about this brand?’) and filled in the questionnaire neglectfully or quit. We, therefore, decided that such participants had to be excluded from the main experiment sample. Next, we noticed that some participants had problems actively recalling the Autodrop poster. To assure that participants had the right ad in mind, we integrated a picture of the ad in the questionnaire before ad-related variables were measured. This procedure was applied under both conditions.

Measures

Cognitive responses

Brand recall was measured by asking participants whether they could remember the brand that was exposed on the poster/shopping cart (0 = no, 1 = yes; M = .36, SD = .48). Brand recognition was measured by asking participants to mark the brand they had seen on the poster/shopping cart, using a list of six brands (autodrop = 1, all other answers =  0; M = .55, SD = .50).

Affective responses

Ad attitude and brand attitude were assessed using a seven-point semantic differential scale. For brand attitude, the bipolar ends were bad/good, unfavorable/favorable, unappealing/appealing and unlikeable/likeable (Bellman et al. 2011Bellman, S., R.F. Potter, S.Treleaven-Hassard, J.A. Robinson, and D. Varan. 2011. The effectiveness of branded mobile phone apps. Journal of Interactive Marketing 25, no. 4: 191–200. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2011.06.001[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; α = .88; M = 4.71, SD = 1.17). For ad attitude, the bipolar ends were unpleasant/pleasant, unlikeable/likeable, irritating/not irritating and not interesting/interesting (Zhang 1996Zhang, Y. 1996. Responses to humorous advertising: The moderating effect of need for cognition. Journal of Advertising 25, no. 1: 15–32. doi:10.1080/00913367.1996.10673493[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; α = .77; M = 4.64, SD = 1.23).

Behavioural response

Purchase intention was measured with five items on a 7-point semantic differential scale aimed at evaluating the likelihood that participants were going to buy products of Autodrop in the near future: unlikely/likely, improbable/probable, uncertain/certain and definitely not/definitely, ruled out/considerable (Bearden, Lichtenstein and Teel 1984Bearden, W.O., D.R. Lichtenstein, and J.E. Teel. 1984. Comparison price, coupon, and brand effects on consumer reactions to retail newspaper advertisements. Journal of Retailing 60, no. 2: 11–34.[Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Zhang 1996Zhang, Y. 1996. Responses to humorous advertising: The moderating effect of need for cognition. Journal of Advertising 25, no. 1: 15–32. doi:10.1080/00913367.1996.10673493[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; α = .97; M = 4.02, SD = 1.86).

Processing variables

Perceived surprise was measured by asking participants to rate on a seven-point Likert scale whether they were surprised, amazed and astonished (1 = not at all, 7 = a lot) by the location of the advertisement (Izard 1977Izard, C.E. 1977. Human emotions. New York: Plenum Press.[Crossref], [Google Scholar]; α = .89; M = 4.28, SD = 1.88). Perceived humor was measured with six items on a 7-point semantic differential scale. The bipolar ends were not humorous/humorous, not playful/playful, not funny/funny, not amusing/amusing, dull/not dull and boring/not boring (Chattopadhyay and Basu 1990Chattopadhyay, A., and K. Basu.1990. Humor in advertising: The moderating role of prior brand evaluation. Journal of Marketing Research 27: 466–476.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; α = .88; M = 4.96, SD = 1.18). Perceived persuasive intent was evaluated using three items modelled from Dahlén and Edenius (2007Dahlén, M., and M. Edenius. 2007. When is advertising advertising? Comparing responses to non-traditional and traditional advertising media. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising 29, no. 1: 33–42. doi:10.1080/10641734.2007.10505206[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]) that included ‘The aim of the advertisement is to sell more Autodrop’, ‘… to make me buy more Autodrop’ and ‘… had a commercial purpose’ (1 = totally disagree, 7 = totally agree; α = .83, M = 5.90, SD = 1.13).

Manipulation check

The fit between the advertised brand and the medium was measured with two items on a 7-point semantic differential scale: match/do not match and fit well/do not fit well(Dahlén 2005Dahlén, M. 2005. The medium as a contextual cue: Effects of creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 34, no. 3: 89–98.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; r = .67, p < .001; M = 4.06, SD = 1.80).

Randomization and design checks

Several variables were measured as randomization checks. General advertising attitude was measured with the same bipolar ends as ad attitude (α = .85; M = 3.86, SD = 1.11). Next, the participant’s age, gender and educational attainment were measured. Finally, we measured ‘liking of Autodrop’ with the question: ‘Do you like the taste of Autodrop sweets?’ (0 = no, 1 = yes).

Results

Randomization and manipulation checks

The experimental groups did not differ with respect to participants’ gender, χ² (1) = .47, p= .494, age, F(1, 76) = .54, p = .464, and general advertising attitude, F(3, 188) = .40, p = .753. In contrast, educational attainment did differ significantly, F(1, 74) = 5.34, p = .024, which was, therefore, included as a covariate in subsequent analyses. Furthermore, the manipulation check revealed that participants experienced a stronger fit between the brand and the creative medium (M = 4.66, SD = 1.69) than between the brand and the traditional medium (M = 3.18, SD = 1.60), F(1, 75) = 14.90, p < .001. The manipulation was, thus, considered successful.

Consumer responses towards creative media advertising

In H1, we proposed that exposure to a CM advertisement (vs. TM) would improve consumers’ cognitive responses. Results of two logistic regressions revealed that participants who were exposed to the CM advertisement were more likely to recall the advertised brand (b = 3.47, Wald χ² = 10.69, p < .001, odds ratio = 32.24) and to recognize it (b = 5.10, Wald χ² = 11.49, p < .001, odds ratio = 164.18) than the ones who were exposed to the TM advertisement. H1 is supported.

Next, a MANCOVA was conducted to test whether exposure to a CM advertisement (vs. TM) leads to more favorable affective (H2) and behavioural responses (H3). Results showed that participants’ scores on ad attitude, F(1, 69) = .00, p = .980, brand attitude F(1, 69) = .38, p = .549 and purchase intention, F(1, 69) = .77, p = .385, did not significantly vary across conditions (see Table 1). Thus, H2 and H3 are not supported.

Table 1. Direct consumer responses.

CSVDisplay Table

The underlying processes of creative media advertising

To test our hypothesized mediations (see Figure 2), a two-step procedure was followed. First, we tested with three separate ANCOVAs whether exposure to the CM advertisement resulted in the activation of perceived surprise, perceived humor and perceived persuasive intent. Second, complete mediations were tested, using Hayes’ (2012) PROCESS macro Model 4.

Mediation effects through perceived surprise

In line with H4a, the results of the first ANCOVA demonstrated that the CM advertisement was perceived as more surprising (M = 5.33, SE = .22) than the TM advertisement (M = 2.79, SE = .26), F(1, 70) = 52.88, p < .001). However, PROCESS did not reveal significant mediation effects for either brand recall (indirect effect = –.20, boot SE= .70, BCI [–1.58, 1.13]) or brand recognition (indirect effect = –.69, boot SE = 1.42, BCI [–1.97, 3.31]). H4b is not supported.

Mediation effects through perceived humor

In support of H5a, the results of the second ANCOVA demonstrated that the CM advertisement was perceived as more humorous (M = 5.25, SE = .18) than the TM advertisement (M = 4.57, SE = .21), F(1, 72) = 5.75, p = .019. Next, mediation analyses through perceived humor revealed positive mediations on ad attitude (indirect effect = .63, boot SE = .27, BCI [.06, 1.11]), brand attitude (indirect effect = .38, boot SE = .16, BCI [.11, .76]) and purchase intention (indirect effect = .48, boot SE = .25, BCI [.04, 1.00]. More precisely, the CM advertisement was perceived as more humorous, which evoked a more favorable ad attitude (b = .88, SE = .07, p < .001), brand attitude (b = .56, SE = .10, p < .001) and purchase intention (b = .78, SE = .17, p < .001). Therefore, H5b and H5c are supported.

Finally, to answer RQ1, we also tested whether perceived humor mediated the effects on brand recall and brand recognition. PROCESS did not reveal any significant mediation effects (indirect effect of brand recall = .13, boot SE = .31, BCI [–.37, .94]; indirect effect of brand recognition = .41, boot SE = 1.71, BCI [–1.46, 5.98]), which means that consumers’ cognitive responses could not be explained by this mechanism.

Mediation effects through perceived persuasive intent

The results of the third ANCOVA showed that the CM advertisement (M = 6.30, SE = .16) was perceived as more persuasive than the TM advertisement (M = 5.37, SE = .20), F(1, 70) = 12.54, p < .001. Since we expected that the CM advertisement would be perceived as less persuasive, H6a is rejected. Next, PROCESS did not reveal any significant mediation effects for either brand recall (indirect effect = .44, boot SE = .44, BCI [–.21, 1.56]), brand recognition (indirect effect = .54, boot SE = .96, BCI [–.22, 1.91]), ad attitude (indirect effect = .11, boot SE = .27, BCI [–.10, .37]) or brand attitude (indirect effect = .11, boot SE = .15, BCI [–.55, .73]). In other words, the activation of perceived persuasive intent could not explain the positive effects on consumers’ cognitive (RQ2) and affective (H6b) responses. However, with regard to consumers’ behavioural response (H6c), PROCESS revealed a positive mediation effect for purchase intention (indirect effect = .46, boot SE = .25, BCI [.03, 1.10]). More specifically, exposure to the CM advertisement resulted in a higher perceived persuasive intent, which subsequently had a positive effect on purchase intention (b = .48, SE = .21, p = .024).

Conclusion and discussion

The results of Study 1 indicated a direct positive effect of CM advertising on cognitive responses, while no direct effect was found for any of the affective responses or behavioural responses. Furthermore, the CM advertisement was perceived as more surprising, more humorous and more persuasive than the TM advertisement. Whereas no indirect effects were found through perceived surprise, mediation analyses revealed that the CM advertisement had a positive indirect effect on ad attitude, brand attitude and purchase intention through perceived humor. In addition, unlike the expectations, a positive indirect effect was found of the CM advertisement on purchase intention through perceived persuasive intent. This effect could be due to differences in exposure time between conditions (i.e., walking with a shopping cart vs. passing by a poster). Limited exposure time to the TM advertisement may have reduced consumers’ ability to process the persuasive scope of the advertisement. Thus, when we control for exposure time (Study 2), we expect that the negative effect of CM advertising on perceived persuasive intent will still exist.

Study 2

The aim of Study 2 was to provide robust findings. Therefore, this study retested the indirect effects of CM advertising (vs. TM) on ad attitude, brand attitude and purchase intention through perceived persuasive intent and perceived humor. Moreover, Study 2 aimed to extend the findings of Study 1 by taking into account WOM intention as a behavioural response and perceived value as a mediator.

Methods

Design, participants and procedure

To test our hypothesized theoretical model (see Figure 4), a second field experiment with the same between-subjects design was conducted. However, two new supermarkets were selected. After excluding the participants who disliked Autodrop candies, 108 (74.1% female) consumers participated in the study, ranging in age from 22 to 83 years (M = 53, SD = 14.03). The procedures were similar to those applied in Study 1.

Figure 4. Conceptual model Study 2: the hypothesized effects direct of advertising type on consumers’ affective (H2) and behavioural (H3) are not presented in the figure.

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Stimulus materials: creative vs. traditional media advertising

The same stimulus materials were used as in Study 1 with one important difference: In Study 1, large posters were used as the traditional medium, but in Study 2, the TM advertisements were placed on so-called CartBoards (see Figure 5). The CartBoard system enabled advertisers to place messages in shopping carts, by attaching a full color A4 board to the back of the cart. This approach allowed equal exposure time across conditions.

Figure 5. Stimulus materials of Study 2: the TM advertisement.

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Measures

Affective responses

Ad attitude and brand attitude were measured in the same way as in Study 1 (α_{ad attitude}= .98, M = 4.56, SD = 1.86; α_{brand attitude} = .96, M = 4.72, SD = 1.56).

Behavioural responses

Purchase intention was assessed using the same scale as in Study 1 (α = .97, M = 4.63, SD = 2.18). WOM intention was measured using two items adapted from Derbaix and Vanhamme (2003Derbaix, C., and J. Vanhamme.2003. Inducing word-of-mouth by eliciting surprise – A pilot investigation. Journal of Economic Psychology 24, no. 1: 99–116. doi:10.1016/S0167-4870(02)00157-5[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]) that included the following statements: ‘The likelihood that I will tell people about this advertisement is high’ and ‘The likelihood that I will tell people about this advertisement online via mail or social media is high’ (1 = totally disagree, 7 = totally agree; r = .53, p < .001, M = 2.43, SD = 1.55).

Processes

Perceived humor and perceived persuasive intent were assessed with the same scales as in Study 1 (α_{perceived humor} = .96, M = 4.51, SD = 1.87; α_{persuasive intent} = .87, M = 6.13, SD = 1.19). Perceived value was measured with three items on a 7-point Likert-scale that included the statements, ‘The advertising is of value to me’, ‘… interesting’ and ‘… worth my attention’ (1 = totally disagree, 7 = totally agree; Rosengren et al. 2015Rosengren, S., E. Modig, and M.Dahlén. 2015. The value of ambient communication from a consumer perspective. Journal of Marketing Communications 21, no. 1: 20–32. doi:10.1080/13527266.2014.970825[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]; α = .95, M = 3.96, SD = 1.87).

Manipulation check

Fit between brand and medium was measured in the same manner as in Study 1 (r = .88, p < .001, M = 4.03, SD = 2.18).

Randomization and design checks

Participants’ general advertising attitude (see Study 1; α = .95, M = 4.29, SD = 1.62), age, gender, educational attainment and ‘liking of Autodrop’ were measured.

Results

Randomization and manipulation check

The experimental groups did not differ with respect to participants’ gender, χ² (1) = .19, p= .661, age, F(1, 106) = .01, p = .946, general advertising attitude, F(1, 106) = .09, p = .930, or educational attainment, χ² (6) = .05, p = .171. An ANOVA further showed that the manipulation of advertising type was successful (M_creative = 5.76, SD = 1.09 vs. M_traditional= 2.31, SD = 1.52), F(1, 106) = 182.06, p < .001.

Consumer responses towards creative media advertising

To test whether exposure to a CM advertisement leads to more favorable affective and behavioural response than a TM advertisement, a MANOVA was conducted. Results demonstrated that participants exposed to the CM advertisement had a significantly more positive ad attitude, F(1, 106) = 5.42, p = .022, and brand attitude, F(1, 106) = 10.13, p = .002, and higher WOM intention, F(1, 106) = 24.86, p < .001, and purchase intention, F(1, 106) = 15.13, p < .001. This confirms H2 and H3 (see Table 1).

The underlying processes of creative media advertising

To test our hypothesized mediations (see Figure 4), the same two-step procedure was followed as in Study 1.

Mediation effects through perceived humor

In support of H5a, the results of an ANOVA demonstrated that the CM advertisement was perceived as more humorous (M = 5.09, SE = 1.59) than the TM advertisement (M = 3.94, SE = 1.96), F(1, 106) = 11.35, p = .001. Next, mediation analyses revealed positive mediations through perceived humor on ad attitude (indirect = .94, boot SE = .28, 95% BCI [.40, 1.48]), brand attitude (indirect = .61, boot SE = .22, 95% BCI [.22, 1.10]), WOM intention (indirect = .44, boot SE = .16, 95% BCI [.17, .81]), and purchase intention (indirect = .75, boot SE = .26, 95% BCI [.30, 1.29]). More specifically, the CM advertisement is perceived as more humorous (b = 1.16, SE = .34, p = .001), which evoked a more favorable ad attitude (b = .81, SE = .06, p < .001), brand attitude (b = .53, SE = .06, p < .001), purchase intention (b = .65, SE = .10, p < .001) and WOM intention (b = .38, SE = .07, p < .001). Therefore, H5b and H5c are supported.

Mediation effects through perceived persuasive intent

Unexpectedly, the results of a third ANOVA did not reveal a significant effect of advertising type on perceived persuasive intent, F(1, 106) = 1.28, p = .260 and, therefore, could not function as an underlying mechanism. Consequently, H6a–c are not supported.

Mediation effects through perceived value

The results of a second ANOVA showed that the CM advertisement was perceived as more valuable (M = 4.43, SE = 1.94) than the TM advertisement (M = 3.49, SE = 1.68), F(1, 106) = 7.22, p = .008. These data confirmed H7a. Next, PROCESS results indicated a significant mediation effect of perceived value on ad attitude (indirect = .73, boot SE = .27, 95% BCI [.20, 1.26]), brand attitude (indirect = .47, boot SE = .20, 95% BCI [.12, .93]), WOM intention (indirect = .43, boot SE = .17, BCI [.12, .80]) and purchase intention (indirect = .60, boot SE = .25, 95% BCI [.15, 1.13]). More specifically, the CM advertisement is perceived as more valuable (b = .94, SE = .35, p = .008), which evoked a more favorable ad attitude (b = .77, SE = .06, p < .001), brand attitude (b = .51, SE = .06, p < .001), purchase intention (b = .64, SE = .09, p < .001) and WOM intention (b = .45, SE = .06, p < .001). Thus, H7b and H7c are supported.

General conclusion and discussion

The present study has tried to fill three pressing gaps in the CM advertising literature. First, we replicated and extended earlier research on CM advertising by examining the impact of CM advertising (vs. TM) on consumers’ affective and behavioural responses in a real-life setting. Although results of Study 1 showed no direct effect of CM advertising on consumers’ affective and behavioural responses, Study 2 confirmed the effects found in the meta-analysis of Meijers et al. (2016Meijers, M.H.C., J. Eelen, and H.A.M.Voorveld. 2016. Creative media advertising (SWOCC; No. 72). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Commerciële Communicatie. [Google Scholar]): Exposure to a CM advertisement leads to more favorable affective and behavioural responses than exposure to a TM advertisement. This difference between Studies 1 and 2 could be explained by the probability that participants in Study 1 were exposed for a shorter time to the TM advertisement than to the CM advertisement, which could have affected their ad processing. In Study 2, however, ad exposure time was equal across conditions. Therefore, this study demonstrated that CM advertising proved once again to be more effective than TM advertising, even in a realistic and natural setting.

Our second aim was to extend previous CM advertising findings by examining the impact on consumers’ cognitive responses. The results of Study 1 showed that a brand is better recalled and recognized when it is advertised on a creative medium instead of a traditional medium. Although Eelen and Seiler (2015Eelen, J., and R.V.J. Seiler. 2015. Creative media use increases online sharing of your ad (but seems less effective for your brand). In Advances in advertising research. Vol. VI, The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed. P.W.J. Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M. Eisend, 291–308. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]) found the opposite effect, it should be noted that their study was conducted online. As stated by Rauwers and Van Noort (2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]), a real-life experience can offer valuable cues to stimulate ad processing, which could generate more positive cognitive responses. This study is the first to find some empirical evidence in support of this claim.

The third aim was to determine why CM advertising is more effective than TM advertising. More specifically, Study 1 tested the mediation effects of (1) perceived surprise, (2) perceived humor and (3) perceived persuasive intent on consumers’ cognitive, affective and behavioural responses. Study 2 replicated Study 1 by refining the procedure of Study 1 (equal exposure time) and extended it by adding perceived value as another potential mediator.

First, results of Study 1 showed that perceived surprise did not mediate the effects on consumers’ cognitive responses. This could be explained by the notion that surprise is only a short-lived sensation. Potentially, this sensation is simply too short to actually affect consumers’ cognitive responses. As surprise is a neutral sensation that cannot transmit valence by itself, no expectations were formulated for consumers’ affective and behavioural responses.

Second, results of Study 1 did not find any mediation effects of perceived humor on consumers’ cognitive responses. However, the results did reveal that perceived humor mediated the effects on consumers’ affective and behavioural responses. The findings proved to be robust, since Study 2 confirmed the results of Study 1. Thus, as proposed by Rauwers and Van Noort (2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]), the witty link between the medium and the brand is perceived as humorous, which generated more positive affective and behavioural responses.

Third, although the mediating effect of perceived persuasive intent was expected, the direction of the effect was exactly the opposite. More specifically, Study 1 showed that the CM advertisement (vs. TM) was perceived as more persuasive, leading to higher purchase intentions. However, since consumers were exposed longer to the CM advertisement, the persuasive character might be more prominent, providing consumers more time to process the persuasive scope of this ad. In Study 2, no mediation effects were found. These mixed findings could be the result of a measurement difference. This is because perceived persuasive intent is often measured by testing only the cognitive aspect of persuasion knowledge (conceptual persuasion knowledge; Rozendaal et al. 2011Rozendaal, E., M.A. Lapierre, E.A.Van Reijmersdal, and M. Buijzen.2011. Reconsidering advertising literacy as defense against advertising effects. Media Psychology 14, no. 4: 333–354. doi:10.1080/15213269.2011.620540[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]) comprising the recognition of the commercial message, its source and its commercial motives. However, attitudinal persuasion knowledge can also be affected, which covers the attitudinal mechanisms that can be used by consumers to cope with persuasion attempts (e.g., disliking and skepticism). This could explain why perceived persuasive intent does not always negatively affect consumer responses. For example, even though consumers’ conceptual persuasion knowledge is high (i.e., consumers recognize a CM advertisement as advertising), their attitudinal persuasion knowledge could still be low (i.e., consumers like the witty link between brand and medium and do not mind being persuaded). Hence, future research on this topic is needed.

Lastly, in Study 2, a fourth mediator proved to be important in explaining CM advertising effects. More precisely, a CM advertisement is perceived as more valuable, leading to more positive affective responses (i.e., brand attitude and ad attitude) and behavioural responses (WOM intention and purchase intention). These results confirm earlier findings retrieved in an online setting (e.g., Dahlén et al. 2009Dahlén, M., L. Friberg, and E.Nilsson. 2009. Long live creative media choice. Journal of Advertising 38, no. 2: 121–129. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367380208[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]) and prove that value exchanges also take place in a real-life setting.

Context of this study

Although the findings of this study made several contributions to the understanding of the effectiveness of CM advertising, they need to be seen in light of the research context. A consideration is that the impact of CM advertising is studied in just one real-life context: a supermarket. Such a shopping environment may have functioned as a commercial prime, which could have spilled over and increased the perceived persuasiveness of the two advertisements (Rauwers and Van Noort 2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]). Research is needed to demonstrate whether of CM advertisements effects differ depending on the context.

Managerial implications

Advertisers are looking for new ways to break through the ever-growing advertising clutter. This study demonstrates that CM advertising might be the key they are looking for, as our findings reveal that CM advertising is able to outperform TM advertising in improving consumers’ cognitive responses. Additionally, CM advertising is evaluated as more humorous and more valuable, which has a positive impact on consumers’ affective and behavioural responses. Therefore, this study implies that advertisers should think more often outside ‘the traditional box’ and be more unconventionally ‘creative’.

Acknowledgments

The study’s stimulus materials were developed in collaboration with KSM, a professional advertising agency located in Amsterdam.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Mediation hypotheses are not formulated for the valenced effects (i.e., the affective and behavioral outcomes), since surprise is only a neutral sensation that cannot transmit valence by itself.

2 These advertisements were developed in collaboration with a professional ad agency and previously used and pretested in the online study of Rauwers and Van Noort (2015Rauwers, F., and G. Van Noort. 2015. The underlying processes of creative media advertising. In Advances in advertising research: The digital, the classic, the subtle and the alternative, ed P.W.J.Verlegh, H.A.M. Voorveld and M.Eisend, 309–324. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Gabler. [Google Scholar]).

3 The supermarket was comparable to the ones in the main experiment.

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Additional information

Author information

Fabiënne Rauwers

Fabiënne Rauwers (MSc, University of Amsterdam) is a PhD candidate of Persuasive Communication, Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her PhD project is about interactivity within digital magazines, and in addition, she also examines the effects of various forms of guerilla marketing (e.g., creative media advertising).

Paola Remmelswaal

Paola Remmelswaal (MSc, University of Amsterdam) is a junior researcher of Persuasive Communication, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her research interests include green advertising, guerrilla marketing (e.g., creative media advertising) and new media uses and effects.

Marieke L. Fransen

Marieke L. Fransen (PhD, University of Twente) is an associate professor of Persuasive Communication, Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her research interests are in persuasive communication, in particular resistance towards persuasion from the perspective of both the sender and the receiver.

Factors affecting family firms’ communication behaviour: a cross-cultural study Li Chen, Fengxia Zhu, Shaoming Zou & Yiwen Chen Received 12 Sep 2017, Accepted 30 Apr 2018, Published online: 20 Sep 2018

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The purpose of this study is to examine corporate blogs to understand how they reflect communications objectives and strategies and represent dimensions of corporate credibility. Emergent themes and frameworks of corporate credibility provided the theoretical framework for this study. A content analysis of corporate blogs was conducted in a multi-stage process, two researchers coded 534 blog posts from 41 corporate blogs. The findings indicate a broad range of communication messages with the majority pertaining to the corporation itself followed by product-related strategies. Corporate blogs afford organizations the opportunity to interact directly with their audiences. Determining topics should be dependent upon the objectives that the organization has for the corporation and its blog. This study sheds light on the dimensions of corporate credibility that may be appropriate for organizations to consider in their online communications and promotion.

Tourist behavior analysis in gaming destinations based on venue check-in data Jian Ming Luo, Huy Quan Vu, Gang Li & Rob Law Received 10 Apr 2018, Accepted 20 Jun 2018, Published online: 03 Sep 2018

This research introduces the use of venue check-ins, which are available on mobile social media platforms, as an additional data source to study tourist behaviors in gaming destinations. The practical value of venue check-ins is demonstrated through a case study of Macau, a popular gaming and cultural destination. The analyses provide an overview of the travel patterns of tourists to gambling and non-gambling venues and highlight the differences between gambling and non-gambling tourists. The introduced approach is beneficial to tourism managers in understanding tourist behaviors and interests and, thus, improves the management and development of gaming destinations.

Consumer adoption of the Uber mobile application: Insights from diffusion of innovation theory and technology acceptance model

The sharing economy literature has largely concentrated on the examination of peer-to-peer accommodation platforms such as Airbnb, with little attention paid on other innovations in collaborative consumption. This study investigates consumer adoption of the Uber mobile application through lenses of two theoretical models – Diffusion of Innovation Theory and Technology Acceptance Model. The results suggest that relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, and social influence have a significant influence on both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which in turn lead to subsequent consumer attitudes and adoption intentions. This study demonstrates the integration of the two classic adoption theories.

Money, Credit, and Digital Payment 1971/2014: From the Credit Card to Apple Pay Sebastian Gießmann, First Published August 22, 2018

The article intertwines the history of the American credit card, its standardization, and interactional realization with the latest developments in payment systems. Understanding both credit cards and systems like Apple Pay or blockchain-based applications as part of an administrative longue durée, it argues for a different understanding of the Internet of Things. It should be understood both as a technical-informational and as an accounting infrastructure, with tensions arising between both segments.

Time for a Marketing Curriculum Overhaul: Developing a Digital-First Approach Andrew J. Rohm, Matthew Stefl, Julian Saint Clair, First Published September 7, 2018

Academic programs and educators face numerous challenges related to teaching digital marketing. Today, the world of marketing is digital and marketing programs have struggled to maintain pace with the changes influencing marketing practice. The authors describe the M-School program at Loyola Marymount University, a program developed to address this challenge by placing digital marketing at the center of the curriculum. Through experiential learning and project-based learning, M-School courses expose students to real-life challenges involving ways in which companies and organizations generate consumer awareness, demand, and value given the significant digital shifts taking place in technology and consumer behavior. The authors highlight the creation of a digital-first curriculum that is aligned with industry practice and helps students develop the skills needed to become future proof and real-world ready. Quantitative and qualitative assessment over a three-year period points to the success of the M-School program in preparing students for careers in marketing. Lessons for the development of marketing curricula include the role of new course development, the need to integrate digital within existing courses, the role of a project-based learning approach with measurable outcomes, and the potential for designing transdisciplinary courses to foster students’ creative, critical thinking, communication, and collaborative skills.

‘Made to run’ Biopolitical marketing and the making of the self-quantified runner Vassilis Charitsis, Anna Fyrberg Yngfalk, Per Skålén, First Published September 11, 2018 Research Article

While previous critical marketing research on co-creation has focused on how consumers’ cognitive and social abilities are governed, this article focuses on how firms’ marketing strategies attempt to govern every aspect of consumers’ lives. By drawing on a biopolitical framework and a study of Nike+, a marketing system for runners which Nike has developed around its self-tracking devices, three biopolitical marketing dimensions were identified: the gamification of the running experience, the transformation of running into a competitive activity and the conversion of running into a social activity. In identifying these marketing dimensions, the study demonstrates how self-tracking affordances are deployed in the development of a biopolitical marketing environment that tames, captures and appropriates value from different aspects of consumers’ lives, including – and combining – their social behaviours, cognitive capacities and bodily conducts. This article contributes to critical studies of value co-creation by focusing on the tamed self-tracking body as a resource for value creation, but also by demonstrating that consumers engage, through cognitive labour, in the production of the biopolitical environment that leads to their exploitation.

Millennials don’t trust businesses to tackle the SDGs — can Elsevier change that? We’re working with the world’s largest youth-led organization to support sustainable development – and show that corporations can (and should) play a role By Georgiana-Simona Baciu May 23, 2018

The launch of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 acted as a wake-up call for politicians, nonprofits and businesses alike. It pushed them to ask the question “What can we do?” – re-shaping strategies and processes of institutions and organizations. Colleagues at Elsevier and our parent company RELX Group asked that question themselves.

On the eve before the UN adopted the SDGs, Elsevier held an expert panel and released an analysis: Sustainability Science in a Global Landscape. And last year, RELX created the SDG Resource Centre, an interactive platform that features multimedia content and research by our scientific, legal and business experts to promote collaboration that can influence society.

But who do millennials trust with the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals? Is it businesses, NGOs, governments, Elon Musk? Before getting to the answer, let’s take a moment to paint the bigger picture.

Research shows that the answer is not big businesses. Since 2016, a multitude of accusations have been brought to several corporations for doing the opposite of what the goals call for – like increasing inequality, causing poverty and damaging the environment.

YouthSpeak, a global insight survey with over 185,000 respondents that is run by AIESEC – the world’s largest youth-led organization – shows that millennials have lost their faith in businesses as positive change-makers for society. Instead, the report reveals, young people count overwhelmingly on governments (36 percent) and youth-led organizations (21 percent) as stakeholders that can lead the change. Outside of the report, AIESEC confirmed that the private sector had the trust of only 14 percent of respondents.

Ylann Schemm

For Elsevier, a business oriented towards empowering knowledge and helping institutions and professionals improve their performance in ways that ultimately benefit humanity, this lack of trust in the power of entrepreneurship and the private sector came as a surprise and a challenge. Elsevier Foundation Director Ylann Schemm said:

We know from experience that it is possible to make a focus out of contributing to the achievement of the global goals without being a nonprofit — and we need millennials on our side to drive that positive change. Only together can we grow the entrepreneurial environment into one that is inherently oriented towards sustainable development. The first step in this direction is increasing the trust of young people in businesses – as future CEOs and managers.

AIESEC recently brought to the Netherlands an educational project focused on the SDGs: the World’s Largest Lesson. Through this global initiative, volunteers visit schools simultaneously around the world on the same day to hold a workshop about the Sustainable Development Goals, teaching students about their importance and giving them the tools to create and commit to a personal action-plan. In the Netherlands, AIESEC reached 2000 students in just five hours. The first half of the day included a presentation from Elsevier on how businesses can contribute to the achievement of the

The presentation explored several ways Elsevier is using its resources and shaping its processes to tackle SDGs 4 (“Quality Education”) and 5 (“Gender Equality”), as well as to support the achievement of all the SDGs by supporting collaboration among researchers and ensuring the availability of data required to make impactful decisions.

Tjeerd Harkema, Local Committee President of AIESEC in Amsterdam and head organizer of the project, said he understood the role companies like Elsevier can play:

One’s belief in their own ability to contribute to achieving the goals is essential for the achievement of the SDGs. First, we need awareness of the goals, which was created through events such as World’s Largest Lesson. But awareness is not enough to act upon the goals; we need the right attitude as well. When businesses like Elsevier show the right example, it will help push people in the right direction, to ultimately contribute to the goals.

Georgiana-Simona Baciu, the author of this story, gives a keynote: «Achieving the SDGs – what can businesses do?» (Credit: AIESEC in the Netherlands)

Elsevier is also contributing to efforts to increase the diversity of research, its access and use all over the world with the development of Scientific African, a pan-African peer-reviewed open access journal. Owned by the Next Einstein Forum (NEF) and published by Elsevier, Scientific African publishes research articles across all scientific fields that can directly impact the life of African citizens. The journal offers a platform for researchers to publish papers relevant to Africa and make them immediately available at a low publication cost (NEF set the APC at $200, with hopes to subsidize the cost further).

“We hope Scientific African will prove to be a valuable resource for helping African countries achieve the SDGs,” said Marc Chahin, co-publisher of Scientific African at Elsevier. “Although this is an international journal, featuring research from the entire African continent and reaching a worldwide audience, it’s also local — the journal provides the opportunity for research from Africa to make significant local impacts.”

Additionally, the Elsevier Foundation has worked with the Organization for Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD) for the past seven years to present the Awards for Early -Career Women Scientists in the Developing World at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This distinction aims to increase the number and influence of women scientists who make substantial contributions in key scientific fields, while also encouraging future generations of girls to break the norms and follow their aspirations. OWSD President Dr. Jennifer Thomson said of the winners: “These scientists are living proof that, if given the opportunities and support, women all over the developing world can become leaders in their field. They serve as role models for all young girls and women aspiring to achieve success.”

As a global information analytics business specializing in science and health, Elsevier is well positioned to produce benchmarking reports to show how research is contributing to the SDGs. Our report Sustainability Science in a Global Landscape, which we developed with SciDev.net, examines the status of sustainability science as a research field.

We work with our partners to encourage global collaboration in research, as well as providing access to research where it is needed the most through programs such as Research4Life. That is also why we are so eager to collaborate with AIESEC, whose members clearly understand the role businesses can – and must – play in supporting sustainable development.

As Harkema of AIESEC commented:

The work that Elsevier is doing, expanding the boundaries of knowledge for the benefit of humanity, is essential in tackling the (sustainable development) goals. Without objective and reliable scientific background, we would not be able to make significant practical progress in any of the goals, nor to track them. Objectivism and reliability are two core values from Elsevier, and to me, absolutely necessary to tackle the SDGs.

SDGs.