Did You Get It? Factors Influencing Subjective Comprehension of Visual Metaphors in Advertising

This research examines how the degree of incongruity of a metaphor, need for cognition (NFC), and type of processing affect the subjective comprehension of visual metaphor ads. Across three studies, involving different manipulations of incongruity, we find an inverse relationship between the degree of incongruity in a visual metaphor and subjective ad comprehension, as well as a positive relationship between NFC and subjective ad comprehension. Furthermore, we show that NFC becomes more consequential for subjective ad comprehension at higher levels of incongruity. Similarly, the beneficial effects of relational (versus item) processing on subjective ad comprehension are greater for higher incongruity visual metaphor ads.