Battle of the Brand: Brand Attachment Inoculates Against the Negative Effects of Ad Repetition

Substantial research has shown the negative effects of repeated ad exposures. The present research contributes to this literature by introducing an important moderator: personal attachment to the brand. Our results provide new insight by considering how ad wearout could threaten one’s relationship with an important brand, and demonstrating that stronger personal brand attachment slows ad wearout. Three studies show this using both natural measures and controlled manipulations of personal brand attachment. A final study links this effect to differences in the underlying cognitive thoughts, rather than direct affective responses. People with a stronger attachment generated more positive thoughts to counter negative thoughts, which could reflect a response to combat threats to their brand connection. Overall, our results introduce an important moderator of wearout effects, and provide further insight into why stronger brand attachment can buffer the negative of repeated ads.