SuperBowl Advertising Story/Non-Story Influencing People Liking of the Ads

Super Bowl advertising is one of the biggest events of the year and many people like the ads more than the games themselves. Past research shows that advertisements adopting a story format are more persuasive. Separately, past research also shows that products can vary in the extent to which they are central (peripheral) to the advertisement. The present research examines if the format of the ad (narrative or non-narrative) and the nature of product placement (central or peripheral to the message) influences audience liking of the advertisement using a panel of USA TODAY ad meter responses. Our results suggest that people like ads that are narrative in format, especially when the product is central to the message. The results of this study have implications for advertising research and practice.