Message framing strategies for new and mature products

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of message framing and source credibility on attitudes, intentions and beliefs about attributes of teeth whitening products. Although each of these variables, message framing and credibility, has been explored individually, few attempts have been made to investigate them jointly. This study aims to base itself on a full factorial design that allows for testing of interaction effects. Similar investigations in marketing limit their inquiries primarily to attitudes and intentions as dependent variables. This study goes further in that it also aims to investigate the effect of framing and credibility on the salient attributes of products. Third, the market for whitening products is maturing, resulting in a target market that is gaining knowledge about these products. Thus, the paper seeks to use knowledge as a covariate in the above investigation to determine if the communication strategy should be changed as the product moves from introduction to maturity. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a 2 × 2 factorial design with framing (positive‐negative) and credibility (high‐low). The setting for the study is a hypothetical brand name of teeth whitening products. Findings – The results reveal that positive framing is more effective in changing attitudes and intentions. However, the effects of framing and credibility are significant in changing beliefs related to the product's attributes. Although the covariate knowledge is significant, the findings indicate that communication strategy need not change as the product moves from introduction to maturity. Research limitations/implications – Caution is advised in extrapolating the results beyond the issues investigated in the study. Practical implications – The findings help marketers in formulating effective strategies. Originality/value – The focus of most research studies in marketing is on changing attitudes and intentions. This research also includes the change in beliefs regarding the attributes of the product. Prior research on framing is tilted towards the use of negative framing. The findings of this study suggest using positive or gain‐framed messages.