The Impact of Consumer-Generated Advertising on Brand Associations

We examine how consumers evaluate consumer-generated ads (CGAs) vis-à-vis traditional ads and assess how their evaluations influence brand associations. Using in-depth interview and netnographic data, we investigate consumer responses to ads in contexts where the ad source is known versus unknown. We show that CGAs are perceived as persuasion attempts and differ considerably from word-of-mouth communications in their appeal. Specifically, unfamiliarity with the source of CGAs makes their credibility doubtful. Our data also reveal that consumers rely on their persuasion knowledge at the expense of their brand knowledge in their evaluations of CGAs.