A Hong Kong study of advertising credibility

Gerard Prendergast and Po-yan Liu

Department of Marketing, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, and
Derek T.Y. Poon
Hong Kong Productivity Council, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract
Purpose – The aim of the research reported in this paper was to identify for which types of products and services consumers find the advertising to lack
credibility and in which media this effect is most serious. The association between self-esteem and skepticism towards advertising was also explored.
Design/methodology/approach – Using a structured questionnaire, 200 Hong Kong shoppers were surveyed in mall intercept interviews.
Findings – The results showed that ads for weight-loss products were considered the least credible. The broadcast media (radio, broadcast television
and cable television) were considered the most credible advertising media, while direct mail and the internet were considered the least credible. Self-
esteem was found to be positively related with skepticism towards advertising.
Research limitations/implications – The study had two key limitations. First, the list of products and services was not exhaustive. Second, the study
did not consider how frequently the interviewees were exposed to each medium.
Practical implications – By recognizing the credibility of their advertisements and the media in which they are placed, and the influence of self-
esteem on advertising skepticism, the findings are of use to advertisers in formulating their strategies. The findings also provide information of value for
policy makers trying to combat non-credible and deceptive advertising.
Originality/value – The primary contribution from this work comes in the form of methodological considerations. This is the first study to consider the
relationships between self-esteem and skepticism after controlling for socially desirable responding. Also, this study takes a broader perspective by
looking at credibility of advertising across a range of products and media, and with a broader audience, than has been considered in previous research.

Keywords Advertising, Self esteem, Advertising media, Product attributes, Hong Kong

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executive potentially deceptive ads may indeed have appeared since
readers can be found at the end of this article. Hong Kong’s regulatory environment has loopholes and gray
areas. For instance, the Trade Descriptions Ordinance
1. Introduction protects the consumer against the supply of goods with false
or misleading “trade descriptions”, which is interpreted as
Advertisements which are unbelievable or over-dramatized including information or instructions relating to goods
can irritate consumers, and their claims frequently are not appearing in advertisements. However, the ordinance
accepted (Obermiller et al., 2005). It is generally agreed that applies only to goods, not to services, accommodation or
deception on the part of marketers is not a rare occurrence facilities. In addition, there is no regulation of health claims
(Andreasen, 1991). Russo et al. (1981) suggest that an
made in the advertisements relating to health food-like food
advertisement is deceptive if it creates, increases or exploits a
supplements, slimming foods, food substitutes, or food
false belief about product/service performance. Most
containing traditional Chinese medicine. Health food very
countries implement both self-regulation and government
controls which require advertisers to be able to prove that often falls outside the controls relating to drugs, such as the
their claims are true (Petty, 1996). For example, in the USA, Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance. That makes such products
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defines deceptive and services major areas of concern when it comes to
advertising as, “. . . a misrepresentation, omission or practice advertising. The Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority’s TV
that is likely to mislead the consumer acting reasonably in the advertising code stipulates that, “No advertisements may
circumstances to the consumer’s detriment” (Federal Trade contain any descriptions, claims or illustrations which
Commission, 1983). expressly or by implication depart from truth or mislead
In recent years there has been widespread criticism alleging about the product or service advertised or about its suitability
deceptive ads in Hong Kong, especially ads relating to real for the purpose recommended”, but sponsored TV shows
estate, beauty, and health and weight-loss products and (which in effect are advertorials) commonly feature
services (Hong Kong Consumer Council, 1999). Such testimonials by celebrities, and depict “success stories” after
using, for instance, health-related products. These are not
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at regarded as commercials and as such are not governed by the
[Link]/[Link] TV Advertising Code. In any case, there is no such code for
the print media. While a code of practice has been adopted at
the agency level to prevent deceptive advertising, this code is
Journal of Consumer Marketing only implemented on a voluntary basis and the prevalence of
26/5 (2009) 320– 329
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0736-3761]
misleading advertising in Hong Kong would suggest that its
[DOI 10.1108/07363760910976574] effect is limited.

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Hong Kong has been striving to become the marketing and advertising medium on credibility. Advertising credibility
advertising capital of Asia, yet it appears to lag behind many relates not only to the product being advertised, but also to
developed economies in terms of both the legal and self- the medium through which the message is being delivered.
regulatory framework regulating misleading advertising, Advertising medium credibility can be defined in terms of
particularly in the non-broadcast media. The increasing consumers’ perceptions of the average believability of a
concern about deceptive advertising in Hong Kong and the channel’s overall advertising content (Kiousis, 2001). Each
previously mentioned variance in advertising regulations make medium has its own image and personality (the vehicle source
Hong Kong an ideal location for studying perceptions of effect of Aaker and Brown (1972)), so it is logical to suggest
advertising credibility. While much research has been that different media have different levels of intrinsic
conducted on advertising credibility (e.g. Newell et al., credibility. Research has shown that the advertising medium
1998; Russo et al., 1981), these previous studies have all itself influences consumers’ perceptions of the ads it carries.
suffered from sampling and measurement limitations. To Marshall and Na (2003) revealed that an advertisement
overcome the shortcomings of previous research, this presented on the internet has less credibility than the same
empirical study examined perceived ad credibility in Hong message presented in a print medium. Their explanation was
Kong based on the three major elements of the that as anyone can put anything online, it is generally more
communication process: sender, channel, and receiver difficult for a person to distinguish whether the material on
(Schramm, 1971). Specifically, the study first identified the internet has been inspected or not. Consumers
which product/service advertisers (i.e. senders) and which consistently did not consider the internet a credible source
media (channels) consumers found least credible. The and were less likely to believe web advertisements in studies
association between self-esteem (a receiver trait) and by Diaz (2002) and Gilbert (1999).
skepticism towards advertising was then explored. Direct mail is also perceived as a medium that has relatively
low credibility (Belch and Belch, 2007). Research by the
2. Background and hypotheses Hong Kong Consumer Council (Hong Kong Consumer
Council, 1999) has shown that print media carry a greater
2.1 Product type percentage of deceptive ads than broadcast media. This may
Ad credibility is the degree to which the consumer perceives be because, as mentioned earlier, ads in print media face
claims made about the brand in the ad to be truthful and fewer legal restrictions than those in the broadcast media
believable (Lutz, 1985). It has a positive influence on attitude (which are monitored by the Broadcasting Authority). Direct
towards the brand, which then affects the intention to mail is print medium, and it is often referred to as “junk mail”
purchase the brand (MacKenzie et al., 1986). Ads for (Belch and Belch, 2007). It is also viewed as lacking
different kinds of products and services differ in their level of credibility (Gilbert, 1999). The Hong Kong Direct
credibility. Ads sponsored by weight-loss products or services, Marketing Association offers a Code of Ethics to advertising
for instance, have received much criticism for their allegedly agencies and marketers regarding direct mail marketing, but
deceptive content. For such products, Cleland et al. (2002) go adherence to the code is voluntary. Thus, direct mail may be
so far as to suggest that “most of the programs and products perceived as having low credibility in Hong Kong. This leads
advertised are at best unproven and at worst unsafe” (p. v). In to H2 and H3:
the same report it was suggested that of 300 weight-loss
H2. Radio, broadcast television and cable television are
advertisements sampled from broadcast and cable TV, radio,
perceived as the most credible advertising media.
magazines, supermarket tabloids, direct mailings, commercial H3. Direct mail and the internet are perceived as the least
e-mails and websites, 40 percent made at least one false claim,
credible advertising media.
while 55 percent made unsubstantiated claims.
In Hong Kong too, ads for weight-loss products and
slimming services are often perceived as lacking credibility 2.3 Self-esteem and skepticism towards advertising
(e.g. Hellmich, 2002; Hong Kong Consumer Council, 1999). Skepticism towards advertising is generally defined as the
In Hong Kong, people no longer diet solely for health reasons. tendency to disbelieve advertising claims (Obermiller and
It has become increasingly common for the non-obese to diet, Spangenberg, 1998). This is in line with the concept of ad
particularly women. Even those who are at a healthy weight believability, which also influences the ad credibility (Lutz,
strive to look thinner, and demand for weight-loss products is 1985). Highly skeptical consumers are, by definition, more
surging (Prendergast et al., 2002a). Advertisers are often disbelieving of any advertising claim than their less skeptical
accused of grossly exaggerating the benefits of their products counterparts (Obermiller and Spangenberg, 1998; Hardesty
and services to attract potential slimmers (Cleland et al., et al., 2002). More recent research has indicated that more
2002). With this backdrop, it is hypothesized that such skeptical consumers like advertising less, rely on it less, and
advertisements are perceived as less credible than ads for attend to it less. They respond more positively to emotional
other types of products and services: appeals than to information appeals (Obermiller et al., 2005).
Advertising skepticism has also been related to consumer
H1. The claims in weight-loss product advertisements are
traits such as self-esteem (McGuire, 1968).
perceived as less credible than those in advertisements
Branden (1994) has defined self-esteem as one’s reputation
for other products/services.
with oneself. Past research has shown that persons high in
self-esteem often exhibit low conformity (Hovland and Janis,
2.2 Medium credibility 1959) as well as low persuadibility (McGuire, 1968; Rhodes
Lutz (1985) has defined advertising credibility in terms of and Wood, 1992). People with higher self-esteem are more
claims made about brands or products, but that definition is demanding, have more value in their own opinion, and are
rather limiting in that it does not consider the impact of the more difficult to persuade. This view is consistent with the

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results of the longitudinal research by Boush et al. (1994) included in the sampling, as was the case here (Lautman et al.,
which concluded that adolescents with high self-esteem are 1981).
more skeptical towards television advertising than a matched
group with low self esteem. People with high self-esteem will 3.2 Measures
trust their beliefs and values, and thus will be less likely to be There were six sections to the questionnaire (all questionnaire
led by claims in TV advertising. On the other hand, one with items can be seen in the appendix). Six point scales were
low self-esteem will lack self-confidence and thus be more adopted instead of five or seven point scales in order to avoid
inclined to rely on the judgments of others. This may make any central tendency and for better discriminatory power
those low in self-esteem less skeptical towards TV (or, indeed, (Prendergast et al., 2001).
any) advertising. A list of product and service advertisements was generated
The present study was designed to investigate such based on conventional classifications of consumer product/
relationships between self-esteem and skepticism after service categories together with reference to the classifications
controlling for socially desirable responding (the tendency adopted in previous research by the Hong Kong Consumer
for individuals to present themselves favorably with respect to Council (1999). The list was then further revised through
current social norms and standards (Zerbe and Paulhus, focus group interviews. To measure the credibility of ads for
1987)). It looked at advertising in general, not just TV
each product/service category (section 1), the approach of
advertising. This, and controlling for socially desirable
Kent and Allen (1994) was adopted, with interviewees being
responding, is by no means unimportant. Boush et al.’s
asked to indicate (on a six-point semantic differential scale,
(1994) study was limited to adolescents and the context of
with 1 ¼ credible and 6 ¼ not credible) their perception of
television advertising. In addition, their work did not control
the credibility of each of the 15 product and service
for socially desirable responding. The latter effect is of
advertisements.
particular concern, since the items in the self-esteem scale
To assess medium credibility (section 2), ten media were
employed were worded in such a way as potentially to invite
listed in the questionnaire. Except for the internet, all of the
interviewees to give less than accurate answers. In short,
media were borrowed from Prendergast et al.’s (2002b) study
method variance concerns seem to have been given little
of offensive advertising in Hong Kong. Respondents were
attention in previous research in this area. H4 is offered:
then asked to assess each media along a three-item six-point
H4. Self-esteem is positively related with skepticism Likert scale previously used by Block and Keller’s (1995) in
towards advertising, after controlling for socially their study of the perceived credibility of handbills. The score
desirable responding. from these three items was then used to calculate the average
credibility level of each media, where 1 ¼ credible and
6 ¼ not credible.
3. Methods Skepticism was assessed in section 3 as the sum of the nine
3.1 Sample items that comprise Obermiller and Spangenberg’s (1998)
Given the number of independent variables, and in advertising skepticism scale, with 1 for strongly agree (low
anticipation of applying regression analysis to the results, a skepticism) and 6 for strongly disagree (high skepticism).
ratio of 40 respondents per variable was considered Higher scores therefore represented higher skepticism.
reasonable, assuming reliable measurements and a non- Section 4 assessed each respondent’s self-esteem using a
skewed dependent variable (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2001). scale adopted from the studies of Rosenberg (1965) and
Accordingly, 200 responses were gathered through personal Boush et al. (1994). The three items (where 1 ¼ strongly
interviews using a structured questionnaire. The mall disagree, and 6 strongly agree) measured the extent to which a
intercept survey interview was the method selected. This is person had a positive view of him/herself. Lower scores
because many Hong Kongers pass through shopping malls therefore indicate lower self-esteem.
after work on weekdays (public transportation stations and Section 5 consisted of ten true-or-false statements
restaurants are found there), and they like to shop in malls at measuring the influence of social desirability on the subject’s
weekends. The mall intercept interviews were conducted from responses. The scale was originally developed by Crowne and
5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. over a four week period in high traffic Marlowe (1960), but the abbreviated version used here has
malls in three districts of Hong Kong: Tsim Sha Tsui (in been widely applied by others (Podsakoff, 1986). The higher
Kowloon, an entertainment district), Causeway Bay (on the score on the scale, the more a person may be tending to
Hong Kong Island; a commercial district) and Tsuen Wan (in respond to questions in a manner he/she deems socially
the New Territories; an industrial district). People with a desirable.
complete range of ages and occupations could be interviewed Section 6 aimed at collecting demographic information
in these locations. To control for self-selection bias, about the respondents. Gender was dummy coded (0 ¼ male
respondents were selected systematically, with the and 1 ¼ female). Age was dummy coded, with one dummy
interviewer choosing every third passer-by (Sudman, 1980). being 29 years or below (age dummy 1), the other being 40
In cases where non-Cantonese speakers were chosen, they years or above (age dummy 2), with an age between these
were skipped and the next third passer-by was chosen. thresholds used as the reference category. Education was
While the intercept sampling method was designed to yield dummy coded (0 ¼ secondary or below and 1 ¼ tertiary or
a sample representative of the total population, extrapolation above). Personal monthly income was dummy coded, with
of the results to the general Hong Kong population requires one dummy being HK$10,000/month or less (income dummy
some caution. Having said that, previous researchers have 1), the other being HK$20,000/month or more (income
found data gathered in mall intercept surveys to be suitable in dummy 2), while an income between these thresholds was
advertising research, especially if an element of objectivity is used as the reference category.

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The questionnaire was developed in English, translated into 4.2 Hypothesis testing
Chinese, then back-translated for checking (Brislin et al., 4.2.1 Ad credibility and product type
1973; Tamanin et al., 2002). The questionnaire was pretested The interviewees were asked to rate the credibility of ads in 15
before use. Although every effort was made to control for product/service categories. The results are shown in Table II.
common method variance (for instance, controlling for The least credible advertisements were for weight loss
socially desirable responding), it was considered prudent to products (4.70). The second least credible were weight loss
test for common method variance using Harman’s (1967) services advertisements (4.55). Hair regrowth product
single factor test. This test assumes that if a significant advertisements (4.53) were the third least credible.
amount of common method variance exists, a single factor, or H1 predicted that advertisements for weight-loss products
a general factor that explains a significant amount of the would be perceived as less credible than those for other
variance, will emerge from factor analysis when all the products or services. The means in Table II were subjected to
variables are entered. The results of the factor analysis repeated measures analysis of variance to compare
revealed that there were five factors with eigenvalues above interviewees’ perceptions of the credibility of ads for
1.0, which combined explained 62.6 percent of the variance. different types of products and services. The results revealed
The largest single factor explained 28.4 percent. No general that ads for the 15 different product and service categories
factor was apparent in the unrotated structure. were perceived as having significantly different levels of
credibility [Fð14; 186Þ ¼ 47:19, p , 0.001].
Pairwise comparison (Table III) shows that the advertising
4. Results claims for weight-loss products were perceived as the least
credible. This supports H1.
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
Of the 200 interviewees, slightly more than half were male.
4.2.2 Medium credibility
The majority were below 40 years old, while 9 percent were
For each medium, the internal reliability of the three-item
aged 50 or above. The majority of interviewees (88.5 percent)
medium credibility scale was computed. The alphas were
had finished secondary school. More than half of the
above 0.70, indicating acceptable internal reliability. Table IV
interviewees earned less than HK$20,000 per month
shows the average credibility of each medium.
(roughly USD$2,600 per month).
Radio (M ¼ 3:01), broadcast television (M ¼ 3:14) and
Table I presents the means of the self-esteem, skepticism,
cable television (M ¼ 3:40) were perceived as the three most
and social desirability scores and correlations among them.
credible media. In contrast, direct mail (M ¼ 4:51) and the
Each mean is the average of the scores on items measuring
internet (M ¼ 4:35) were viewed as the two least credible.
that construct.
H2 predicts that radio, broadcast television and cable
The internal reliability of the scales was assessed using
television would be perceived as the most credible media. The
Cronbach’s alpha (Cronbach, 1951) or a KR20 coefficient for
means shown in Table IV were subjected to repeated
the dichotomous data. Both the self-esteem and skepticism
measures analysis of variance to compare interviewees’
scales were unidimensional and displayed acceptable
perceptions of the credibility of the ten media. The media
reliabilities (0.80 and 0.92 respectively). The original alpha
were found to differ significantly in perceived credibility
score for the ten items of the social desirability scale was 0.61.
[Fð9; 191Þ ¼ 53:11, p , 0.001]. Pairwise comparison (Table
On deleting item 4 (“I have never been irked when people
V) shows that radio, broadcast television and cable television
expressed ideas very different from my own”) the alpha
were perceived by the interviewees as the most credible
increased to 0.64. While the generally agreed upon lower limit
advertising media, which supports H2. The same table also
for Cronbach’s alpha is 0.70, 0.60 is considered acceptable in
exploratory research (Hair et al., 1998).
As predicted, there was a significant correlation between Table II Credibility of product/service advertisements
self-esteem and skepticism towards advertising. There was Products/service advertised Mean SD
also a (relatively weaker) correlation between self-esteem and
the tendency for socially desirable responding (implying that Weight-loss products 4.70 0.814
it is necessary to control for social desirability in studies of this Weight loss services 4.55 0.966
sort). Hair regrowth products 4.53 0.977
Cosmetics 3.90 0.984
Health food 3.87 0.955
Table I Descriptive statistics for the main research variables
Real estate 3.84 1.093
M SD 1 2 Tutorials and training 3.83 1.000
1. Skepticism towards Chinese medicines and therapies 3.82 0.991
advertising 3.50 (0.92) 0.844 Insurance 3.71 1.040
2. Self-esteem 4.37 (0.80) 1.03 0.463 * * Travel services 3.29 0.882
3. Social desirability 0.530 (0.64) 0.233 0.162 * 0.237 * * Telecommunications 3.20 0.965
Professional services 3.03 1.077
Notes: *Significant at the p , 0.05 level; * *significant at the p , 0.01 Food and beverage 2.99 0.990
level; * * *significant at the p , 0.001 level; for self esteem, 1 = strongly Banking services 2.86 1.121
disagree (lower self esteem) and 6 = strongly agree (higher self esteem). For Movies 2.75 1.036
skepticism, 1 = strongly agree (low skepticism) and 6 = strongly disagree
(high skepticism); reliabilities in parentheses Notes: 1 = credible and 6 = not credible

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Table III Mean pairwise differences in the credibility of ads for 15 types of products/services
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1. Real estate – 20.71 * 0.15 2 0.30 20.60 0.10 0.55 * 20.87 * 2 0.70 * 1.08 * 0.81 * 0.64 *
0.13 0.98 *
0.85 *
2. Weight loss services – 0.73 * 0.68 * 0.65 * 0.72 * 1.26 * 20.16 * 0.01 1.80 * 1.52 * 1.35 *
0.84 * 1.69 * 1.56 *
3. Chinese medicines/therapies – 2 0.05 20.08 2 0.01 0.53 * 20.88 * 2 0.71 * 1.07 * 0.80 * 0.63 * 0.11 0.96 * 0.84 *
4. Health food – 20.03 0.04 0.58 * 20.84 * 2 0.67 * 1.12 * 0.84 * 0.67 * 0.16 * 1.01 * 0.88 *
5. Cosmetics – 0.07 20.61 20.81 * 2 0.64 * 1.15 * 0.87 * 0.70 * 0.19 * 1.04 * 0.91 *
6. Tutorials and training – 0.54 * 20.88 * 2 0.71 * 1.08 * 0.80 * 0.63 * 0.12 0.97 * 0.84 *
7. Travel services – 21.42 * 2 1.25 * 0.54 * 0.26 * 0.09 20.42 * 0.43 * 0.30 *
8. Weight loss products – 0.17 * 1.95 * 1.68 * 1.51 * 0.99 * 1.84 * 1.72 *
9. Hair regrowth products – 1.78 * 1.51 * 1.34 * 0.82 * 1.67 * 1.55 *
10. Movies – 20.27 * 2 0.44 * 20.96 * 20.11 2 0.23 *
11. Professional services – 2 0.17 * 20.69 * 0.17 * 0.04
12. Telecommunications – 20.52 * 0.34 * 0.21 *
13. Insurance – 0.85 * 0.73 *
14. Banking – 2 0.13
15. Food and beverage –
Note: *Significant at the p , 0.05 level

Table IV Medium credibility Cohen (1983) to test statistical significance were used. The
following data were entered into a hierarchical regression:
Media Mean SD demographic variables in the following order: sex, income,
Direct mail 4.51 0.876 education, age; socially desirable responding; and self esteem.
Internet 4.35 0.823 All these variables were regressed separately on the outcome
Women’s magazines 3.97 0.703 variable so that the effect of demographics and the control
Men’s magazines 3.86 0.638 variable were partialed out from the main effects. Tolerance
General magazines 3.78 0.680 levels indicated that multicollinearity is not a concern. The
Posters and billboards 3.56 0.633 results are shown in Table VI.
Newspapers 3.43 0.732 Model 1 included only the demographic variables. The R2
Cable television 3.40 0.778 and Adjusted R2 were 0.195 and 0.170 respectively. Gender
Broadcast television 3.14 0.848 (b ¼ 20:151, p , 0.05), income dummy 1 (b ¼ 20:280,
Radio 3.01 0.827 p , 0.001), and education (b ¼ 0:213, p , 0.01) were
Notes: 1 = credible and 6 = not credible significantly associated with advertising skepticism.
Model 2 contained the control variable, socially desirable
responding. Adding this variable significantly increased the R2
shows that the internet and direct mail were perceived by the (DR2 ¼ 0:017, p , 0.05).
interviewees as the least credible media, which supports H3. The addition of self-esteem in Model 3 produced a
significant change in R2 (DR2 ¼ 0:148, p , 0.001), and self-
4.2.3 Relations amongst constructs esteem has a standardized beta of 0.438 ( p , 0.001).
To test the hypothesis that self-esteem predicts advertising Accordingly, self-esteem accounts for a unique variance in
skepticism, the procedures recommended by Cohen and advertising skepticism. H4, which states that self-esteem is

Table V Mean pairwise differences between the credibility scores of different media
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Internet – 0.948 * 0.792 * 0.918 * 0.565 * 0.382 * 0.488 * 2 0.0163 * 1.34 * 1.205 *
2. Cable TV – 2 0.157 * 2 0.030 2 0.383 * 2 0.567 * 2 0.460 * 2 1.112 * 0.392 * 0.257 *
3. Posters and billboards – 0.127 * 2 0.227 * 2 0.410 * 2 0.303 * 2 0.955 * 0.548 * 0.413 *
4. Newspapers – 2 0.353 * 2 0.537 * 2 0.430 * 2 1.082 * 0.422 * 0.287 *
5. General magazines – 2 0.183 * 2 0.077 2 0.728 * 0.775 * 0.640 *
6. Womens’ magazines – 0.107 * 2 0.545 * 0.958 * 0.823 *
7. Mens’ magazines – 2 0.652 * 0.852 * 0.717 *
8. Direct mail – 1.503 * 1.368 *
9. Radio – 2 0.135 *
10. Broadcast TV –
Note: *Significant at the p , 0.05 level

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Table VI Hierarchical regression analysis: predicting advertising skepticism from self-esteem

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Independent variables b t b t b t
Demographics
Gender 2 0.151 22.160 * 2 0.131 2 1.871 20.083 2 1.312
Income (dummy 1) 2 0.280 23.724 * * * 2 0.282 2 3.775 * * * 20.210 2 3.074
Income (dummy 2) 0.082 1.003 0.105 1.273 0.115 1.547
Education 0.213 2.652 * * 0.183 2.262 * * 1.115 1.555
Age (dummy 1) 0.021 0.186 0.052 0.457 0.164 1.562
Age (dummy 2) 0.040 0.372 0.033 0.310 20.040 2 0.406
Control
Social desirability 0.137 2.055 * 0.068 1.118
Main predictor
Self-esteem 0.438 6.650 * * *

R2 0.195 0.212 0.360

Adjusted R2 0.170 0.183 0.333
Std. error of estimate 0.728 0.762 0.688
F equation 7.778 7.382 13.442
DR2 0.195 0.017 0.148
F for DR2 7.778 * * * 4.224 * 44.228 * * *
Notes: b = standardized beta coefficient; *significant at the p , 0.05 level; * *significant at the p , 0.01 level; * * *significant at the p , 0.001 level

positively related with skepticism towards advertising (after advertisements for other products and services. The
controlling for socially desirable responding) was supported. explanation for this finding may be that these products are
From Table VI, it is apparent that self-esteem explained categorized as improving or enhancing physical attractiveness,
14.8 percent of the variance in skepticism towards advertising and advertisers of these appearance improvement products
over and above that explained by socially desirable and services rely heavily on verbal claims rather than specific
responding, with the latter explaining only 1.7 percent of numerical claims to indicate in the ads the effects of their
the variance in the dependent variable. Demographic products or services. Studies have shown that consumers feel
variables explained the largest portion of the variance (19.5 that verbal claims provide a wider margin for deception than
percent). An examination of the interactions between more specific numerical claims (Mohr et al., 1998).
demographic variables and self-esteem revealed no Radio, broadcast television and cable television were found
significant results. to be the more credible than other media as advertising
channels. This general finding may be explained by the
advertising regulations established by the Hong Kong
5. Discussion Broadcasting Authority to police advertising in the
Before discussing the findings, several limitations need to be broadcast media. Consistent with this theorizing, the
recognized. First, the list of products and services was not (unregulated) print media were perceived as being less
exhaustive (for instance, automobiles were not included). credible than the broadcast media. Therefore, in terms of
Second, there may have been distractions inherent in the mall attempting to limit consumer exposure to misleading
environment during the survey that could have affected the advertising, this finding would offer support for arguments
responses (McDaniel and Gates, 1996). Third, the study did that the print media in Hong Kong are in need of greater
not examine how frequently the interviewees were exposed to advertising regulation. It is interesting that within the
each medium, which may have an effect on their perceptions broadcast media group, radio had the highest credibility.
of ad credibility. In future research, it would be useful and This finding may be explained by creativity restrictions
interesting to investigate how the level of ad credibility varies (specifically, the inability of radio to visually mislead).
when an ad for a less credible product/service (e.g. a weight- The internet and direct mail were perceived as the least
loss product) is placed in a credible advertising medium (e.g. credible advertising media. This may be a result of the
radio). Also, it would be interesting to investigate whether pervasiveness of junk mail, giving people a perception that all
there are other consumer personality traits aside from self- direct mail is junk mail. For the internet, this finding may be
esteem that predict advertising skepticism. explained by its freewheeling and unregulated nature.
Despite these limitations, this study has built on the Consistent with the findings of Calfee and Ringold (1994),
previous work related to advertising credibility and offers new the interviewees generally believed that advertising is not a
insights about the relationship between advertising credibility reliable source of information about products and services,
and product type, medium type, and consumer self-esteem. i.e. they were generally skeptical. Boush et al. (1994) showed
Advertisements for weight-loss products, weight-loss services, that adolescent self-esteem was positively related to
hair regrowth products, and cosmetic and beauty products skepticism towards television advertising, but they did not
were generally ranked with lower levels of credibility than study skepticism towards advertising in general, nor did they

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Gerard Prendergast, Po-Yan Liu and Derek T.Y. Poon Volume 26 · Number 5 · 2009 · 320 –329

control for socially desirable responding. This study has credibility of various media has also been shown to vary, and
compensated for that shortcoming and showed that, after self-esteem has been shown to be correlated with skepticism
controlling for socially desirable responding, someone with towards advertising. All of these findings should be of use to
higher self-esteem will be more skeptical towards advertising advertisers in formulating their strategies. The findings should
in general. also be useful to policy makers trying to combat non-credible
and deceptive advertising.
6. Managerial implications
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Appendix

Table AI Questionnaire items

Variable Questions
Advertising credibility and product type 1. I feel that the claims made in XXX advertisements are credible
Media credibility 1. The advertisements in XXX are credible
2. I think the advertisements in the XXX are exaggerateda
3. I think the advertisements in the XXX are unbelievablea
Advertising skepticism 1. We can depend on getting the truth in most advertising
2. Advertising’s aim is to inform the consumer
3. I believe advertising is informative
4. Advertising is generally truthful
5. Advertising is a reliable source of information about the quality and performance of products
6. Advertising is truth well told
7. In general, advertising presents a true picture of the product being advertised
8. I feel I’ve been accurately informed after viewing most advertisements
9. Most advertising provides consumers with essential information
Self-esteem 1. I feel good about myself as a person
2. I can do many things well
3. I am looking forward to the future
Socially desirable responding 1. I’m always willing to admit it when I make a mistake
2. I always try to practice what I preach
3. I never resent being asked to return a favor
4. I have never been irked when people expressed ideas very differently from my own
5. I have never deliberately said something that hurt someone’s feelings
6. I like to gossip at times *
7. There have been occasions when I took advantage of someonea
8. I sometimes try to get even rather than forgive and forgeta
9. At times I have really insisted on having things my own waya
10. There have been occasions when I felt like smashing thingsa
Note: aReverse scored

About the authors significantly in recent years. As in many other nations, those
relating to beauty, health and weight loss are among the ones
Gerard Prendergast is Professor of Marketing at Hong Kong
to attract most criticism.
Baptist University. Previously he held positions at Aston
Business School, Henley Management College and the
National University of Singapore. He has published in
journals such as Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Factors that shape perceptions of advertisement
Research, Psychology and Marketing, International Journal of credibility
Advertising, Public Relations Review and the Journal of In most countries, a mixture of government control and self-
Marketing Communications. Gerard Prendergast is the regulation ensures that claims made about products or
corresponding author and can be contacted at: services are valid. While similar measures are in place within
gerard@[Link] Hong Kong, the rigidness and clarity of legislation remains
Po-yan Liu is a marketing executive with Knife Ltd, Hong highly questionable. Advertisers are consequently able to
Kong’s leading producer of cooking oils. exploit loopholes, among which is the fact that claims made
Derek T.Y. Poon is a research officer with the Hong Kong with regard to slimming foods and health food supplements
Productivity Council. are unregulated. And though marketers are forced to make
certain that advertisements do not flout trade description
Executive summary and implications for laws, this obligation applies only to products but not services,
accommodation or facilities.
managers and executives Hong Kong’s TV Advertising Code is similarly flawed. It is
This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives stated that commercials must not mislead or make false
a rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those with a claims but marketers flout this requirement by using celebrity
particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in endorsement for their products in sponsored TV shows.
toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the These testimonials are not classified as advertisements and are
research undertaken and its results to get the full benefits of the therefore outside the jurisdiction of the Advertising Code.
material present. Furthermore, the print media is subject only to a voluntary
code of practice that analysts believe is largely ineffective.
Misleading or deceptive advertising is generally perceived as Consumer perception of advertising credibility significantly
commonplace. In Hong Kong, for instance, doubts about the influences attitude towards a brand and purchase intention.
truthfulness of many advertisements have increased This perception of credibility varies depending on the product

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Gerard Prendergast, Po-Yan Liu and Derek T.Y. Poon Volume 26 · Number 5 · 2009 · 320 –329

or service category in question. It has, for instance, been The study revealed:
alleged that dubious claims exist within a substantial .
a strong link between self-esteem and skepticism towards
percentage of advertisements for weight-loss products that advertising;
are “unproven” or even “unsafe”. Marketers post these ads .
evidence of correlation between self-esteem and an
online and also utilize print and broadcast media to reach a inclination for socially desired responding;
sizeable audience and exploit the growing fascination with .
the internet and direct mail were perceived as least
dieting that now includes many people who are not even credible media;
overweight. .
that respondents considered broadcast media to be the
In previous studies, the medium used to convey the most trustworthy; and
advertisements has received little attention. But scholars .
interviewees regarded advertisements for weight-loss
argue that the choice of media can itself impact on how products as less credible than those promoting other
trustworthy a particular advertisement is perceived to be. This products or services.
point is perfectly illustrated by the internet and the
widespread posting of unverified information. One study Advertisements for weight-loss services and hair growth were
concluded that a print advertisement would be considered far respectively considered the second and third least credible.
more credible than the same message appearing online. The Trust was also typically lower for ads concerning cosmetic and
low credibility of the internet is mirrored by direct mail, often beauty products. According to Prendergast et al., this may be
derogatively regarded as “junk” by recipients. Such due to the fact that these types of advertisement tend to use
perceptions are especially salient in Hong Kong, where only verbal claims to signal product effectiveness. Participants in
a voluntary code of ethics exists in relation to this form of other studies have indicated a belief that verbal claims provide
marketing. And while advertising through TV and radio is a “wider margin for deception” than statistical evidence.
closely monitored, fewer legal restrictions apply to the Current legislation is believed to influence perceptions of
corresponding use of print media. media credibility. Radio was deemed the most credible
Certain consumer characteristics have also been identified broadcast media and the authors suggest that the absence of
as potentially shaping consumer perceptions of ad credibility. any possibility to “visually mislead” the consumer may be a
Skepticism is one such characteristic and it is accepted that factor. Attitudes towards direct mail and online advertising
highly skeptical consumers are more suspicious of advertising served to corroborate previous research.
claims and pay less attention to advertisements in general.
Some researchers believe that these consumers are likelier to Marketing implication and further research
respond more positively to emotional appeals rather than Wherever possible, advertisers are urged to support claims
information-based alternatives. about product performance by including empirical evidence.
Analysts have likewise noted the correlation between self- Perceived credibility can also be enhanced through
esteem and advertising skepticism. Marketers invariably find endorsement by reliable sources when insufficient evidence
it much harder to persuade consumers with high self-esteem exists. The authors advise against advertising via direct mail
as these individuals are more demanding and have greater and the internet but recognize that smaller companies may
confidence in their own judgment. This makes them less likely
have to rely on such media. These organizations could
to conform. On the contrary, evidence exists to show that
perhaps boost their credibility rating by offering attractive
people with a lower opinion of themselves lack self-belief and
money-back guarantees or providing customers with the
will rely more on the view of others.
address of a physical office.
Study and findings Findings are also taken as evidence that more regulation is
Prendergast et al. build on previous research by exploring needed for certain media and product categories. Prendergast
these factors within a study of consumer perception of et al. likewise raise the question of whether marketers should
advertising credibility in Hong Kong. The authors used a aim their ads at consumers low in self-esteem. The inherent
structured questionnaire to obtain 200 responses from various morality of such an approach could be explored in future
shopping malls within three districts of the territory. A studies, which could also include a wider range of products
systematic intercept method was used with the aim being to and services. Frequency of exposure to each medium could be
obtain a sample reflective of the whole population. The another factor to consider alongside additional aspects of
majority of those interviewed were aged under 40 and just consumer personality. The authors suggest that the impact of
over half were male. the chosen medium on ad credibility as worthy of further
Participants were presented with fifteen advertisements for exploration. This may help to, for example, determine if the
different products and services and had to indicate how use of a highly credible medium such as radio could help to
credible they perceived each ad to be. In addition, the improve consumer perception of advertisements for less
respondents were invited to assess the credibility of various credible products or services that include those promising
media. The other sections of the questionnaire were used to weight-loss.
measure skepticism, self-esteem and the extent to which social
desirability influenced participant response. Demographic (A précis of the article “A Hong Kong study of advertising
information was also collected. credibility”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)

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