The effectiveness of direct comparative advertisements for supermarkets and brands in a Facebook setting

The present research examines the effectiveness of comparative advertisements for different type of segment supermarkets and brands in a social media setting. The hierarchy-of-effects model was used in this research to define the concept of effectiveness. According to this model effectiveness can be measured as increased awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and/or purchase intention. In this research, purchase intention was excluded because the actual buying of a product was not measurable. In terms of methodology, an 2-by-2 between subjects online experiment was conducted. The effectiveness of comparative advertisements from high and low segment supermarkets (i.e., Albert Heijn and Aldi) with high and low segment brands (i.e., Calvé and own label) were compared to each other. The statistical population included a total of 131 respondents, consisting of 41 men with an average age of 35.49 and 90 women with an average age of 31.09 years old. The data was analyzed by using SPSS24, conducting chi-square tests for independence (with Yates’ Continuity Correction) and one-way between-groups analyses of variance with Tukey HSD and post-hoc comparisons (ANOVAs). The results of the research showed that there was little evidence for a difference in effectiveness in the combinations of high or low segment stores and high or low segment brands using direct comparative advertising in a social media setting. For the components awareness, knowledge, advertisement likeability, store likeability and conviction there was no difference found. However, a difference was found for brand likeability and preference. The respondents’ likeability of the brand was higher for the high segment brand than for the low segment brand. Lastly, respondents preferred the high segment store and the high segment brand over the low segment store and the low segment brand. The findings of this research can give an insight in the field of comparative advertisement in the Netherlands in a social media context. More specifically, these findings can advise both high and low segment supermarkets on what type of segment brand they can use best in a comparative advertisement on social media.