EFFECTS OF GENERIC ADVERTISING ON PERCEPTIONS AND BEHAVIOR: THE CASE OF CATFISH

An eight equation partially-recursive econometric model is specified to indicate the effects of catfish advertising on product awareness, beliefs, attitude and consumption. Results indicate that the ad campaign in its first year (i) increased consumer's awareness on farm-raised catfish 15 percent, (ii) improved consumers' perceptions of and attitude toward catfish 3 to 6 percent, and (iii) increased at-home and restaurant purchases of catfish 12 to 13 percent. The response to the ad campaign is broken down into an "attitude effect" and a "reminder effect" to determine the relative behavioral importance of the affective and cognitive components of the ad copy. Model simulations suggest primacy of the reminder effect, implying the factual content of the ads had less impact on behavior than the mere presence of the ads.