Advertising Repetition as a Signal of Quality: If It's Advertised So Much, Something Must Be Wrong

The author proposes that consumers infer brand quality from the level of advertising repetition for unfamiliar brands. Consumers are posited to associate high product quality with high levels of repetition because they see repetition as costly and think higher costs reflect the manufacturer's commitment to the product. However, at very high levels of repetition, consumers may perceive the expenditures as excessive and begin to doubt the manufacturer's confidence in product quality, which would lead to an inverted-U relationship between advertising repetition and product quality perceptions. The author demonstrates that the relationship between repetition and perceived brand quality is mediated by perceptions of the manufacturer's effort and confidence in quality rather than by irritation or boredom. The hypotheses were tested in an experiment in which the level of repetition and the color of the ad were varied.