Image effects of newspapers: How brand images change consumers’ product ratings

Brand image is supposed to influence consumers’ product evaluations. The goal of this study was to enlighten this phenomenon. A total of 220 participants rated fictitious but realistic articles from newspapers that have different images: Blick, a popular tabloid newspaper and NZZ, a traditional quality newspaper. Articles were created that appeared as if they were copied from Blick or NZZ but, in fact, both contained the same text. The main hypothesis that product ratings would differ as a result of the manipulation of image was confirmed. Participants evaluated the fictitious articles completely differently. As expected, product ratings were in line with the related brand images. Also, more salient stimuli elicited stronger image effects. The effect persisted at general as well as detailed product-rating levels. Next to product ratings, image effects also influenced participants’ consumption experiences. Involvement, knowledge, and usage did not moderate the image effect.