UMI Number: 3282218 / ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright 2007 by William J. Ward All Rights Reserved Title: The heuristic and systematic processing of brand attributes and neutral information sources in the decision to see a film at the theatre Author(s): Ward, William J. Degree: Ph.D. Year: 2007 Pages: 00111 Institution: Michigan State University; 0128 Advisor: Adviser Bruce Vanden Bergh Source: DAI, 68, no. 09A (2007): p. 3656 Standard No: ISBN: 978-0-549-24247-5 Abstract: Low or high motivation related to personal relevance has been an important indicator of the likelihood that receivers will engage in elaboration or thinking about the information contained in a persuasive effort (Petty and Cacioppo 1986). However, the concept of systematic, in-depth cognitive analysis and or heuristic, superficial processing of information, have not previously been applied to moviegoers. In this study, ten hypotheses were tested and the data provided additional validation to involvement and "market maven" measures (Feick and Price 1987) with the frequency of movie attendance and with the Heuristic-Systematic Model (Todorov, Chaiken et al. 2002) for total thoughts and heuristic thought processing. The significance of this research is that it incorporates involvement, heuristic and systematic processing, and motivation constructs into theories of moviegoing behavior. The study administered an intercept survey to moviegoers (N=373) at a Midwest cinema and applied the Heuristic-Systematic Model to the entire decision process to see a film at the theatre, considering all of the information a consumer used before a decision was made. The study found both involvement (Zaichkowsky's 1987) and "market maven" measures (Feick and Price 1987) to be correlated with frequency of movie attendance. The findings also supported the role of involvement with the combined number of systematic and heuristic thoughts and the number of heuristic thoughts. Contrary to expectations, there was no support for the role of involvement with the number of systematic thoughts or with the familiarity of a film, and with different levels or types of processing related to the genre of the film. Explanations and implications for these findings are discussed and the study concludes with suggestions for future research.

1. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Media and Information Studies
! ! ! ! ! ! ! (MIS) Doctoral Program
• Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing
• The School of Journalism
• Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies & Media
• Ranked No 3 among the media Ph.D. programs in the United
States ~ National Research Council (NRC) on Sept. 28, 2010.
• Ranked No. 2 in the category of mass communication ~ The
Chronicle of Higher Education 2007

3. Elaboration Likelihood Model
Petty & Cacioppo 1986

4. Heuristic-Systematic Persuasion Model
Chaiken 1987

5. Heuristic-Systematic Persuasion Model
Chaiken 1987
• Heuristic - Information is processed in a
low-involvement and low-effort way with
shortcuts, cues, and feelings

6. Heuristic-Systematic Persuasion Model
Chaiken 1987
• Heuristic - Information is processed in a
low-involvement and low-effort way with
shortcuts, cues, and feelings
• Systematic - Information is processed in a
high-involvement and high-effort
systematic way

7. 'Market Mavens'
Feick and Price 1987
• Purchasing involvement and
general marketplace expertise
to describe the individual
marketplace influencers or
'Market Mavens.ʼ

8. New Research
& Theory

9. New Research
& Theory
• Using brand attributes of film and neutral information sources to
help understand the individual decision process.

10. New Research
& Theory
• Using brand attributes of film and neutral information sources to
help understand the individual decision process.
• The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and
Frequency

11. New Research
& Theory
• Using brand attributes of film and neutral information sources to
help understand the individual decision process.
• The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and
Frequency
• The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with
Moviegoers

12. New Research
& Theory
• Using brand attributes of film and neutral information sources to
help understand the individual decision process.
• The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and
Frequency
• The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with
Moviegoers
• The Relationship of Genre to Involvement and Processing

13. New Research
& Theory
• Using brand attributes of film and neutral information sources to
help understand the individual decision process.
• The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and
Frequency
• The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with
Moviegoers
• The Relationship of Genre to Involvement and Processing
• The Role of Involvement and Processing with Familiarity

14. Heuristic - Brand attributes include pre-sold
elements or information about a movie such
as:

15. Heuristic - Brand attributes include pre-sold
elements or information about a movie such
as:
• filmʼs genre

16. Heuristic - Brand attributes include pre-sold
elements or information about a movie such
as:
• filmʼs genre
• star

17. Heuristic - Brand attributes include pre-sold
elements or information about a movie such
as:
• filmʼs genre
• star
• director

18. Heuristic - Brand attributes include pre-sold
elements or information about a movie such
as:
• filmʼs genre
• star
• director
• story

19. Heuristic - Brand attributes include pre-sold
elements or information about a movie such
as:
• filmʼs genre
• star
• director
• story
• included in
advertising and PR

20. Systematic - Neutral sources of information
about a film include:

21. Systematic - Neutral sources of information
about a film include:
• word-of-mouth

22. Systematic - Neutral sources of information
about a film include:
• word-of-mouth
• criticʼs comments

23. Systematic - Neutral sources of information
about a film include:
• word-of-mouth
• criticʼs comments
• awards

24. Questionnaire

25. Questionnaire
• Moviegoersʼ involvement with
seeing films at the theatre
(ELM, Zaichokowsky 1987)

26. Questionnaire
• Moviegoersʼ involvement with
seeing films at the theatre
(ELM, Zaichokowsky 1987)
• Movie frequency (MPA)

27. Questionnaire
• Moviegoersʼ involvement with
seeing films at the theatre
(ELM, Zaichokowsky 1987)
• Movie frequency (MPA)
• Film selection (HSM)

28. Questionnaire
• Moviegoersʼ involvement with
seeing films at the theatre
(ELM, Zaichokowsky 1987)
• Movie frequency (MPA)
• Film selection (HSM)
• Familiarity with the film

29. Questionnaire
• Moviegoersʼ involvement with
seeing films at the theatre
(ELM, Zaichokowsky 1987)
• Movie frequency (MPA)
• Film selection (HSM)
• Familiarity with the film
• Opinion leadership (MM)

30. Method
• 373 moviegoers received a personal intercept survey on their
way into a Midwest cinema in June 2006
Demographics
59% Female / 41% Male
Ages Percent
12 to 17 16%
18 to 24 19%
25 to 39 24%
50 to 59 32%
60 plus 7%

31. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)

32. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and Frequency

33. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and Frequency

34. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and Frequency
• H1A: The level of involvement with seeing a film at the theatre will
be positively related to the number of movies an individual has
seen in a theatre. (r = .343, p<.01)

35. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and Frequency
• H1A: The level of involvement with seeing a film at the theatre will
be positively related to the number of movies an individual has
seen in a theatre. (r = .343, p<.01)

36. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and Frequency
• H1A: The level of involvement with seeing a film at the theatre will
be positively related to the number of movies an individual has
seen in a theatre. (r = .343, p<.01)
• H1B: Movie Maven influence is positively related to the number of
movies an individual has seen in a theatre. (r = .312, p<.01)

37. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and Frequency
• H1A: The level of involvement with seeing a film at the theatre will
be positively related to the number of movies an individual has
seen in a theatre. (r = .343, p<.01)
• H1B: Movie Maven influence is positively related to the number of
movies an individual has seen in a theatre. (r = .312, p<.01)

38. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Involvement with Movie Mavens and Frequency
• H1A: The level of involvement with seeing a film at the theatre will
be positively related to the number of movies an individual has
seen in a theatre. (r = .343, p<.01)
• H1B: Movie Maven influence is positively related to the number of
movies an individual has seen in a theatre. (r = .312, p<.01)
• H1C: Level of involvement with seeing a film at the theatre will be
positively related to Movie Maven influence. (r = .521, p<.01)

39. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)

40. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers

41. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers

42. Theory & Results
Supported - Significant and Positive Correlation
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers
• H2A: The level of involvement with seeing films at the theatre will
be positively related to the number of attributes and information
sources considered before a decision was made. (r = .187, p<.01)

43. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)

44. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers

45. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers

46. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers
• H2B: The level of involvement with seeing films at the theatre will
be positively related to the amount of systematic processing of film
related material.

47. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers
• H2B: The level of involvement with seeing films at the theatre will
be positively related to the amount of systematic processing of film
related material.

48. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic Processing with Moviegoers
• H2B: The level of involvement with seeing films at the theatre will
be positively related to the amount of systematic processing of film
related material.
• H2C: The level of involvement with seeing films at the theatre will
be inversely related to the amount of heuristic processing of film-
related material.

49. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)

50. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement and Processing

51. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement and Processing

52. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement and Processing
• H3A: Individuals with high levels of involvement will report seeing
a different set of film genres than individuals with lower levels of
involvement.

53. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement and Processing
• H3A: Individuals with high levels of involvement will report seeing
a different set of film genres than individuals with lower levels of
involvement.
• H3B: Systematic processors will report seeing a different set of
film genres than heuristic processors.

54. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)

55. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Involvement and Processing with Familiarity

56. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Involvement and Processing with Familiarity

57. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Involvement and Processing with Familiarity
• H4A: Level of involvement is positively related to familiarity with
the film.

58. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Involvement and Processing with Familiarity
• H4A: Level of involvement is positively related to familiarity with
the film.

59. Theory & Results
Not Supported - Not Significant
(Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Was Not Significant at .01 Level)
The Role of Involvement and Processing with Familiarity
• H4A: Level of involvement is positively related to familiarity with
the film.
• H4B: Heuristic processors with high involvement will report a
different level of familiarity with the film than heuristic processors
with low involvement.

60. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Involvement with
Movie Mavens and Frequency

61. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Involvement with
Movie Mavens and Frequency
• 24% of Americans who go to the movies attend a film at least once a
month and account for 80% of all tickets sold. MPA 2005

62. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Involvement with
Movie Mavens and Frequency
• 24% of Americans who go to the movies attend a film at least once a
month and account for 80% of all tickets sold. MPA 2005
• Establish involvement and heuristic and systematic processing
constructs into theories of moviegoing behavior.

63. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Involvement with
Movie Mavens and Frequency
• 24% of Americans who go to the movies attend a film at least once a
month and account for 80% of all tickets sold. MPA 2005
• Establish involvement and heuristic and systematic processing
constructs into theories of moviegoing behavior.
• Involvement (Zaichkowskyʼs 19851987) and “Market Maven”
measures (Feick and Price 1987) were both found to be reliable
measures of the constructs.

64. Significance of Findings
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic
Processing with Moviegoers

65. Significance of Findings
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic
Processing with Moviegoers
• The HSM posits that highly motivated or involved people will engage
in more systematic analysis while people who are less motivated will
engage in superficial processing of information (Todorov, Chaiken et
al. 2002).

66. Significance of Findings
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic
Processing with Moviegoers
• The HSM posits that highly motivated or involved people will engage
in more systematic analysis while people who are less motivated will
engage in superficial processing of information (Todorov, Chaiken et
al. 2002).
• There was support for the role of involvement with the combined
number of systematic and heuristic thoughts and the number of
heuristic thoughts.

67. Significance of Findings
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic
Processing with Moviegoers
• The HSM posits that highly motivated or involved people will engage
in more systematic analysis while people who are less motivated will
engage in superficial processing of information (Todorov, Chaiken et
al. 2002).
• There was support for the role of involvement with the combined
number of systematic and heuristic thoughts and the number of
heuristic thoughts.
• There was little support for the role of involvement with the number of
unaided systematic thoughts. (Unaided)

68. Significance of Findings
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic
Processing with Moviegoers

69. Significance of Findings
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic
Processing with Moviegoers
• When aided with direct response questions there was support for the
role of involvement with systematic processing. One of the reasons for
the lack of effect on unaided responses to systematic processing may
be that the thought listing method is problematic and triggers more
heuristic responses.

70. Significance of Findings
The Role of Systematic and Heuristic
Processing with Moviegoers
• When aided with direct response questions there was support for the
role of involvement with systematic processing. One of the reasons for
the lack of effect on unaided responses to systematic processing may
be that the thought listing method is problematic and triggers more
heuristic responses.
• Highly involved moviegoers who see more films than low involvement
moviegoers also have a higher level of confidence and turn to
heuristic cues when reviewing a message.

71. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement
and Processing

72. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement
and Processing
• Currently six or seven movies out of any 10 major theatrical films
produced are unprofitable at the theater. (Litman 1998).

73. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement
and Processing
• Currently six or seven movies out of any 10 major theatrical films
produced are unprofitable at the theater. (Litman 1998).
• Changing consumer tastes and the nearly two-year lead time required
to produce and release a new film complicate the needs of studios to
have a continual stream of new ideas that will match consumer
demand (Litman 1998).

74. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement
and Processing
• Currently six or seven movies out of any 10 major theatrical films
produced are unprofitable at the theater. (Litman 1998).
• Changing consumer tastes and the nearly two-year lead time required
to produce and release a new film complicate the needs of studios to
have a continual stream of new ideas that will match consumer
demand (Litman 1998).
• Risky return on investment proposition for individual participants
coupled with a short life cycle and rapid decay in revenue.

75. Significance of Findings
The Relationship of Genre to Involvement
and Processing
• Currently six or seven movies out of any 10 major theatrical films
produced are unprofitable at the theater. (Litman 1998).
• Changing consumer tastes and the nearly two-year lead time required
to produce and release a new film complicate the needs of studios to
have a continual stream of new ideas that will match consumer
demand (Litman 1998).
• Risky return on investment proposition for individual participants
coupled with a short life cycle and rapid decay in revenue.
• Genre may allow the audience to associate with the familiarity of a
filmʼs story. However, it is difficult to use as brand differentiation and
consumersʼ preferences are distributed across multiple genres.
(Bakker 2001).

76. Significance of Findings
The Role of Involvement and
Processing with Familiarity

77. Significance of Findings
The Role of Involvement and
Processing with Familiarity
• It was expected that moviegoers with low involvement who see fewer
films would be motivated to systematically process information to
become more familiar with a film.

78. Significance of Findings
The Role of Involvement and
Processing with Familiarity
• It was expected that moviegoers with low involvement who see fewer
films would be motivated to systematically process information to
become more familiar with a film.
• The HSM posits that highly motivated or involved people will engage
in more systematic analysis while people who are less motivated will
engage in superficial processing of information (Todorov, Chaiken et
al. 2002).

79. Limitations
• Reliance on Self Report
• Unaided vs. Aided

80. Future Research

81. Future Research
• Testing moviegoers response to movie communications & tracking
attendance

82. Future Research
• Testing moviegoers response to movie communications & tracking
attendance

83. Future Research
• Testing moviegoers response to movie communications & tracking
attendance
• Tracking word-of-mouth and Movie Maven influence

84. Future Research
• Testing moviegoers response to movie communications & tracking
attendance
• Tracking word-of-mouth and Movie Maven influence

85. Future Research
• Testing moviegoers response to movie communications & tracking
attendance
• Tracking word-of-mouth and Movie Maven influence
• Social influence related to attendance

86. Future Research
• Testing moviegoers response to movie communications & tracking
attendance
• Tracking word-of-mouth and Movie Maven influence
• Social influence related to attendance
42% of moviegoers reported thoughts not specific to the film content but
related to going to the movies in general for mostly social reasons.

87. Future Research
• Testing moviegoers response to movie communications & tracking
attendance
• Tracking word-of-mouth and Movie Maven influence
• Social influence related to attendance
42% of moviegoers reported thoughts not specific to the film content but
related to going to the movies in general for mostly social reasons.
• Tracking word-of-mouth and social engagement

88. • Questions?
Bill (Dr. William J. Ward) a.k.a. DR4WARD
http://www.dr4ward.com/
http://twitter.com/DR4WARD
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dr4ward
email: dr4ward@me.com