Deze blog is een van de twee winnaars van de SWOCC x BrandCom blogwedstrijd 2025 (1e editie) in samenwerking met het master keuzevak Brand Communication aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Don’t read this blog. Don’t click on this article. While these commands seem to direct you to certain behavior, you might notice that you want to do the exact opposite. This reaction is explained by psychology, and is utilized in advertising, such as within the Super Bowl ad of Nike. This ‘So win.’ ad shows controversial statements, like ‘You can’t fill that stadium’ and ‘You can’t win’, which provoke rebellion and stimulate defying those claims. Other examples where reactance is being evoked are The Walrus Magazine and Volkswagen, where they promote certain behavior, with the idea the opposed behavior will be conducted. How effective is this use of strategic self anticonformity (SSA) in advertising? And does it actually increase attention and purchase intention?
WHAT IS THIS BLOG ABOUT?
- The use of strategic self anticonformity (SSA) in advertising, e.g. the ‘So win.’ Nike advertisement
- Effectiveness of SSA based on reactance theory
- The use of SSA leads to increased attention and purchase intention with attitude as a mediator and product involvement as a moderator
THE STUDY
The study by Rawal et al. (2024) examines strategic self-anticonformity (SSA) as an effective tool within advertising on consumer behavioral intentions. They suggest that incorporating this strategy, where the opposite of the desired behavior is promoted, leads to an increase in attention and purchase intention. They propose that the underlying reason for the effectiveness of this technique is the natural tendency of resisting a persuasive attempt (reactance theory) and thereby behaving in the opposite manner.
To examine this, they conducted two studies. The first study had 160 respondents participating in an online survey. They were randomly assigned to advertisements of cereal representing either traditional advertising (Do’s) or self-anticonformity communication (Don’ts). Subsequently, the participants were asked to give answers on a scale that measured customer’s attention, attitude towards the ad and purchase intentions. With this study, the goal was to measure the effect of SSA on attention and the effect of attention on purchase intention and the mediating role of attitude.
The second study conveyed an online survey with 318 participants. Here, they examined the moderating role of product involvement on the relationship between SSA and attention. The respondents were randomly exposed to cereal advertisements containing one of four conditions, based on two factors: type of advertising (Do’s vs Don’ts) and the level of product involvement (high: laptop, low: sunscreen). Then, the questionnaire asked to give answers on a scale measuring customers attention, attitude toward the ad, purchase intention and involvement.
THE RESULTS
The results indicated that the use of SSA led to increased attention compared to traditional persuasion attempts, since the surprise element and unconventional wording led to increased curiosity. Also, SSA incorporation led to enhanced purchase intention. This is due to the triggering of psychological reactance, leading to consumers conducting in opposite behavior than was promoted to regain autonomy. The study also indicated that the impact of SSA is higher, when there is high involvement towards the product, since this ensures deeper cognitive thinking, which stimulates reactance. In addition, SSA leads to positive attitude development and therefore increased purchase intention, in which attitude thus plays a mediating role.
CONCLUSION
The ad by Nike focusses on female athletes and displays them together with statements suggesting their success can only be limited. These limitations evoke a response where people want to prove them wrong and overcome those doubts. The alignment with reverse psychology becomes evident, since the promotion of the opposite of the wanted behavior inspires people to behave in the intended manner.
Thus, brand marketers should make use of the human tendency to go against what is being advertised by promoting counter behavior. Unexpected and counterintuitive messaging makes brands set themself apart from the competition and help them reach their intended goals.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
This blog is based on the following article:
Rawal, M., Torres, J. L. S., Bagherzadeh, R., Bhattarai, A., & Zaad, A. (2024). Do not buy this! Strategic self-anticonformity as an advertising tool to increase attention and boost purchase intention. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2024.2397586