Drone images versus terrain images in advertisements: Images’ verticality effects and the mediating role of mental simulation on attitude towards the advertisement

Abstract Over the past decade, new techniques have been developed to entice and persuade advertisement viewers. One technique, which has grown in popularity, is the use of drones to capture images within an advertisement. While drones are particularly familiar to military use, new regulations have allowed businesses and amateurs to easily obtain and use drones to create images. With that in mind, this study aims to provide evidence that the verticality of images, i.e., those produced by the drone, can affect information processing of advertising, specifically, angles at which the images are being produced having a greater effect on the viewer than images produced at ground level. We propose a theoretical framework which suggests that mental simulation plays a mediating role between the advertisement watched and Attitude towards the Advertisement (Aad). By creating our own stimuli to eliminate outside discrepancies and focus on images, we were able to carry out an online experiment in which 67 university students participated. Results obtained show how drone images affect Aad as well as the mediating role of mental simulation. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.

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