How to survive in advertisement flooding: The effects of schema–product congruity and attribute relevance on advertisement attitude

Abstract An increasing number of advertisements imply that market competition is becoming fiercer. This study identifies different types of advertising elements to suggest advertising design strategies that can attract consumers' attention. In this paper, we investigate the effects of schema congruity and attribute relevance on attitude toward advertising. We refer to schema congruity that is created by product color design as “color congruity” and verify the influence of color congruity. To identify the underlying psychological mechanism by which these effects occur, we investigate the mediating effect of perceived novelty and typicality on advertisement attitude. Study 1 identifies the effect of color congruity and product attribute relevance on advertising attitude. When presenting secondary attributes, low color congruity leads to a more favorable advertising attitude than that of high color congruity, whereas when presenting primary attributes, high color congruity is more effective. In Study 2, for secondary attributes, perceived novelty explains the positive impact of low color congruity on advertising attitude. However, for primary attributes, the effect of high congruity on advertising attitude is mediated by perceived typicality. These findings may be useful in proving guidelines for advertising companies and marketers that want to create fresh content by suggesting how to combine advertising elements that will attract consumers' attention.