Naturally leading: a content analysis of terms, themes and word associations in Natural American Spirit advertising, 2000–2020

BackgroundNatural American Spirit (NAS) is a cigarette brand distinguished by supposed ‘natural’, ‘additive-free’ characteristics, marketing of which is tied to misperceptions of reduced harm. In 2017, NAS’s manufacturer agreed (with the Food and Drug Administration) to remove ‘natural’/‘additive-free’ from US marketing. Prior research has explored NAS marketing immediately post-agreement. This study sought to identify prominent post-agreement terms and themes and analyse how they had been used in pre-agreement ads.MethodsWe conducted a content analysis of NAS ads from 2000 to 2020 (N=176), documenting prominent pre-agreement and post-agreement terms/themes and examining how they are used in NAS ads. We coded for descriptors, themes, imagery and promotions, and extended prior research by analysing how leading post-agreement terms were used in conjunction and thematically associated with ‘additive-free’ and ‘natural’ before the agreement.ResultsResults indicated ‘tobacco and water’ and ‘Real. Simple. Different.’ increased post-agreement, as did environmental imagery. ‘Organic’ was prominent pre-agreement and post-agreement. The descriptors used most often in post-agreement ads almost always appeared in conjunction with (and were thematically linked to) ‘natural’ and ‘additive-free’ in pre-agreement ads.ConclusionsIn the years since the agreement, NAS ads have heavily relied on still-allowable descriptors that may invite reduced risk misperceptions. Notably, these descriptors were consistently used alongside the banned terminology before the agreement and presented as if affiliated conceptually, possibly prompting similar connotations. Findings indicate a continuing need for research into NAS advertising effects and a potential role for additional regulatory action.

Influence of Virtual Experience Immersion, Product control, and Stimulation on Advertising Effects

With advances in communication technologies, virtual reality (VR) has become increasing popular. This study investigated the influence of virtual experiences on advertising effects. A 2 (virtual experience immersion: high vs. low) × 2 (virtual experience product control: high vs. low) × 2 (virtual experience product stimulation: high vs. low) between-subjects design was conducted. The results revealed that compared with the low-immersion virtual experience, the high-immersion virtual experience produced better advertisement attitudes. Furthermore, virtual experiences with high product control generated better advertisement attitudes when compared with virtual experiences with low product control. The two-way interactions between virtual experience product stimulation and immersion and between virtual experience product stimulation and virtual experience product control induced better brand attitude and purchase intention. In addition, telepresence and perceived enjoyment mediated the relationship between virtual experience and advertisement attitudes.

Determinants of sales revenue in innovation diffusion effects of Taiwan sports lottery during the FIFA World Cup 2018

This article analyzes the factors affecting the sales revenue of sports lottery from the perspective of innovative diffusion theory by system dynamics analysis. With the quantification and simulation of system dynamics, the sales revenue of sports lottery is affected is found. With the daily sales amount during the FIFA World Cup 2018 as samples, six variables (reach frequency, adoption rate, betting among per person per day, advertisement expenditure, advertisement successful rate, and potential bettor increase rate) are used to find out the key factors. According to the simulation result of this study, it indicates that all the variables exert a positive influence on the sales revenue. The magnitude of influence on sales, from large to small, they are betting among per person per day, reach frequency and adoption rate in word-to-mouth, potential bettors increase rate, advertisement expenditure and advertisement successful rate in the advertisement effects. During the FIFA World Cup 2018, advertising effects initiated the diffusion of sports lottery. Compared to the advertising effects, word-to-mouth effects were bigger. In the same situation and with the same resources, Taiwan Sports Lottery, the operator could change the betting among per person per day and change the word-to-mouth advertising with priority. When major matches take place in the future, Taiwan Sports Lottery is suggested to judge if it maintains an optimistic attitude for future growth, it shall begin to promote advertising effects. When more people learn more about the sports lottery, with the diffusion of word-to-mouth advertising, the effects will be most significant.