The power of creative advertising: creative ads impair recall and attitudes toward other ads

The purpose of the current research is to examine the effect of repetition upon recall and attitudes when a list of ads includes (vs. does not include) creative ads. We found significant context effects, as the presence of creative ads in a list decreased recall of, and attitudes towards, regular ads. The effects of repetition upon recall for regular ads decreased by 30% when those ads were shown alongside creative ads. When creative (vs. regular) ads were repeated, recall for non-repeated regular ads dropped by 70%. Furthermore, the current research found that regular ads were judged less favorably when a list of ads included creative ads. Overall, ad attitudes for the same regular ads were 10% lower when shown in the presence of creative ads. In order to avoid such impairment effects, the current research demonstrates why advertisers need to develop creative advertising.