Theoretical research on advertising effects at the individual level has focused almost entirely on the effects of advertising exposure on attitudes and the mediators of attitude formation and change. This focus implicitly assumes attitudes are a good predictor of behavior, which they generally are not, and downplays the role of memory, in that, there is generally a considerable amount of time between advertising exposure and purchase decisions in most marketing situations. Recently, a number of researchers have developed conceptual models which provide an explicit link between two separate events – advertising exposure and purchase behavior – with memory providing the link between these events.

Originally presented at the eighth annual Advertising and Consumer Psychology Conference held in Toronto, some chapters in this volume present recent research on the role of inferences in advertising situations, the effects of exposure to multiple advertisements, message receptivity, drama advertisements and the use of EEG in measuring advertising effectiveness. Contributions focus on research examining the effects of advertising exposure on consumer information processing and decision making. This book will be of interest to consumer psychologists and professionals in advertising and marketing.