Memory-based measures for assessing advertising effects: A comparison of explicit and implicit memory effects

Prior marketing studies investigating memory for advertisements have relied almost exclusively on examining effects contingent on explicit memory retrieval. This process involves a deliberate effort on the part of the consumer to think back to an advertisement in an attempt to recall the ad information. Studies in this area have shown that a lengthy delay between ad exposure and test, as well as divided attention during the ad exposure episode, hinder or even eliminate successful explicit memory retrieval. The premise of this paper is that an alternative retrieval process, implicit memory, may function differently. This form of memory retrieval is automatic in nature and does not rely on consumers deliberately searching their memory for a previously viewed advertisement. Comparisons with explicit memory retrieval suggest that implicit memory is preserved even in conditions of delay and divided attention, whereas explicit memory is affected detrimentally by those conditions. The two different forms of retrieval processes are validated with the use of a process dissociation procedure. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.