THE IMPACT OF THE USE OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS IN ADVERTISING ON CONSUMER ATTITUDES

摘要

We predicted Americans would exhibit more positive attitudes toward the ad and the brand than Egyptians when viewing ads containing religious symbols. We found significant differences between Egyptians and Americans on attitude toward the ad, but not toward the brand. Second, we predicted Christians would exhibit more positive attitudes. We found no differences for attitude toward the ad, but Christians had significantly higher attitudes toward the brand. Third, we predicted minority religious groups in Egypt and the U.S. would exhibit more positive attitudes toward the ad and the brand than those in the majority religion. In both countries, we found no differences in attitude toward the ad, but significant differences in attitude toward the brand. Egyptian Christians showed higher attitudes toward the brand. The effect in the U.S. was reversed. American Muslims exhibited lower attitudes toward the brand. Fourth, we predicted respondents with higher levels of religious commitment would exhibit more positive attitudes than those with lower levels. We found no significant effect of religious commitment for either attitudinal outcome. Finally, we predicted the level of symbolism would be positively associated with attitudes toward the ad and the brand. We found a significant effect only for attitude toward the brand.