WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY: HOW COGNITIVE ABILITIES INFLUENCE POST-MESSAGE ATTITUDES IN AN ADVERTISING CONTEXT

Working memory capacity (WMC) reflects natural variability in individuals’ ability to maintain attention on a goal state or task in the face of interference from non-task relevant stimuli. Individuals with a lower-WMC experience higher rates of mind-wandering and increased fluctuations in task engagement, when compared to higher-WMC individuals. Although the use of cognitive theories is common to explain the processes that underlie advertising effects, research focused on how cognitive abilities, such as working memory capacity, impact the processing and outcomes of persuasive communications remains scant. The current study uses a classic consumer behavior framework to assess advertising outcomes, such as brand attitude, as a result of exposure to a persuasive communication; additionally, I include a pupillometry analysis that provides additional considerations on differences between higher- vs lower-capacity individuals. The results indicate that the interaction between brand name placement (first or last in a commercial) and working memory capacity on brand attitudes was marginally significant. The pattern of effects is such that for lower-WMC individuals, brand attitudes were most favorable when the brand name was revealed at the beginning of a commercial; while, brand name placement was not significantly related to brand attitudes for average and higher-WMC individuals. The pupillometry results demonstrate that for higher-WMC individuals, pupil diameter was the largest when the brand name is revealed last, and brand name placement was not related to pupil diameter for average or lower-WMC individuals. While the brand name placement and working memory interaction was significant for pupil diameter, there was no significant interaction for pupil variability. There was, however, a main effect of working memory capacity on pupil variability, such that as working memory capacity increased, pupil variability decreased. This thesis is the first study to show these pupillometry results in an applied context. The discussion presents limitations of the current study and provides considerations for future research.