The Combined Influence Hypothesis: Central and Peripheral Antecedents of Attitude toward the Ad

Abstract

Abstract Two competing hypotheses relative to the formation of attitude toward the ad (Aad)provide the basis for an experiment. The peripheral-cue hypothesis views Aadas an outcome of consumer response to executional elements of an ad while the combined-influence hypothesis anticipates a joint effect of central message arguments and peripheral cues in Aadformation. Results supported the combined-influence hypothesis across varying levels of processing motivation and opportunity with differences in the relative magnitude of argument and cue effects consistent with The Elaboration Likelihood Model.