The impact of construal level on brand preferences: Ad metaphors and brand biography as moderators

This research attempts to explore the moderating roles of ad metaphors and brand biography in the impact of consumers' construal level on brand preferences. This article was designed to examine the main effects and the interaction effects of consumers' construal level, ad metaphor and brand biography on brand preferences. Results indicate that, low-level construal consumers are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for brands accompanied with no brand biography than those with brand biography; conversely, high-level construal consumers are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for brands with brand biography than those with no brand biography. Moreover, low-level construal consumers are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for brands advocated by low metaphorical ads than highly metaphorical ads; in contrast, high-level construal consumers are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for brands advocated by highly metaphorical ads than low metaphorical ads. Furthermore, when the ad is low metaphorical, low-level construal consumers are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for brands with no brand biography than those with brand biography. In contrast, when the ad is highly metaphorical, low-level construal consumers are likely to engender no differential brand preferences for brands with brand biography over those with no brand biography. Moreover, when the ad is low metaphorical, high-level construal consumers are likely to engender no differential brand preferences for brands with brand biography over those with no brand biography. Lastly, when the ad is highly metaphorical, high-level construal consumers are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for brands with brand biography than those with no brand biography.