Why SNS Sites Are Using Advertising Models Like You : An Explanation from Construal-Level Theory

Based on the Construal Level Theory, we aim to study a most favorable fit among the advertising model, media type, and message construals, which are important factors in an advertisement. A two (social distance of the ad model in an ad: distal (low similarity) vs proximal (high similarity) by two (social distance of a media type: distal (portal) vs. proximal (SNS)) by two (message construal: abstract vs concrete) laboratory experiment was conducted to examine attitude changes on ad messages. The results show that abstract messages were more effective in attitude toward advertisement and purchase intention under the distal social distance (i.e. advertising model in low-similarity and portal media type) while concrete messages were so under the proximal social distance and SNS media type.