Document Type

Dissertation

First Faculty Advisor

McKay-Nesbitt, Jane

Keywords

Green Advertising; Automobile Advertising

Publisher

Bryant University

Rights Management

All Rights Retained by Stephanie Davidson and Bryant University

Abstract

This study investigates the responsiveness of Millennials to green versus non-green framed automobile print ads. A 2x2 factorial design was used in which specific advertising frames were manipulated to measure ad attitudes, purchase intentions, and skepticism for a high involvement product (i.e., an automobile). Results showed that highly-environmentally-concerned participants have more positive ad attitudes and greater purchase intentions after viewing a green ad than after viewing a non-green ad. These differences were not evident however for participants who exhibited low-environmental-concern. The results also showed that participants who are more environmentally concerned are less skeptical about green ads than those who are less environmentally concerned. This study adds to the literature on persuasion by identifying individual differences that influence responsiveness to green versus non-green ads. It also provides information to assist marketing managers who are concerned with influencing millennials’ purchases of environmentally friendly products. This study could be extended by exploring the differences in Millennials’ ad attitudes, purchase intentions, and skepticism in response to different types of ads (e.g., banner ads, tv ads) and for a different high involvement product. The sample of Bryant University students was appropriate for this research project, but extending this work to a sample of non-student Millennials, older Millennials, and older adults could increase the generalizability of the results.

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