EFFECTS OF PICTURE SIZE AND COLOR ON BRAND ATTITUDE RESPONSES IN PRINT ADVERTISING

In the marketing industry, colors are very much vital. It could either make or break a product. This is why the study of color and the consumers' response to it is important in this field.

Bagozzi et al. extended the previous work of Percy and Rossiter (1983) on the effects of picture size and color in advertising by systematically adding a second visual stimulus dimension, color (the earlier Rossiter and Percy experiment used only black and white whereas the Mitchell and Olson experiment used only color ads). 


The method included choosing a a product to endorse which is mineral water that they fictitiously named 'Esprit'. It was presented as a potentially new product of a company. The stimulus ads used in the study were based on a professionally done draft rather than an actual finished work. The advertisement itself consisted of the brand name, Esprit, at the top of the page, with a picture of a bottle and glass beneath with minimal background. Variations of this advertisement were then created by making color copies of the full picture in different sizes: full-size, medium size and a small visual. Black and white versions were created by simply photocopying the three ads. The experiment was participated by 90 adults randomly selected in a mall setting. 


They were presented with the stimulus and was later on asked to rate the product in various aspects such as their personal opinion or what they personally look for when buying mineral water. Next was what they thought of the product in terms of aesthetics, impact and their likelihood of buying Esprit. 


The result was that visual elements in advertising, without the aid of verbal components (beyond the brand name) can mediate belief and attitude responses to advertising. Further, attitude has been shown to be a function of the size of the visual element in the execution, where larger pictures of the product generate significantly more favorable attitudes than the same picture reduced in size (Bagozzi, et al., 1983).


It was also found that compared to the black and white stimulus, colors have a much greater effect on the consumers' attitude towards the product and that color cues in ads are logically relevant. In the present study, picture size was found to be relevant if the target audience chooses the product on the basis of attitude, whereas color was found to be more relevant if the choice is based on overall affect or perhaps a primary expectation about taste. 


Personally, when buying a product, I also consider their advertisements and I like the more colorful presentations rather than monochromatic ones which to appear dull and unattractive. This study indicates that great care and thorough preparations should be made upon reaching the final decision of marketing a product. As Bagozzi, et al (1983) suggested, the problem, or the solution, maybe in the picture.