Optimising Advertisement Styles on Social Media: Evaluating the Comparative Effects of UGC- Style versus Traditional-Style Advertisements on Brand Recall, Recognition, and Consumer Perceptions

Abstract

Following the recognition of social media advertising as a key component of advertising success, there is an increasing interest in the topic of user-generated content. Although existing literature acknowledges user-generated content as a valuable resource for brands, a knowledge gap persists regarding firm-generated UGC-style advertisements and its potential impact on key advertising metrics. The aim of this master thesis is to unveil the undisclosed effects of the newly emerged and self-defined advertisement style, UGC-style advertising. This study finds that UGC-style advertisements exhibit distinct tendencies and implications compared to traditional advertisements on social media. By employing measures such as the persuasion knowledge model, brand genuinuity, and purchase intention, this study effectively investigates and elucidates consumer behaviour in relation to our hypotheses. To examine these effects, we conducted an experimental study involving manipulations of advertisement style (traditional vs. UGC-style) within brand communication. The first part of the study disclose that traditional advertisements significantly enhance brand recall and recognition, boosting brand awareness. The second part of the study finds that traditional advertisement style enhances perceived acceptability of persuasion attempts, and this further has a positive impact on brand genuinuity. The study also discloses there is a positive relationship between perceived brand genuinuity and purchase intention, and lastly that traditional advertisement style has a positive effect on purchase intention, compared to UGC-style advertisements. This thesis identifies both theoretical and practical implications for advertising strategies. It also discusses the limitations of the current study and suggests directions for future research.