Projecting authenticity through advertising: Consumer judgments of advertisers' claims

Purpose - Investigates how consumers interpret advertisements to form judgements of authenticity. Design/methodology/approach - Highlights how authenticity in advertising is difficult to operationalize when advertising is perceived by consumers as being contrived rather than authentic. Examines how advertising can successfully create and maintain images of authenticity by identifying (1) the different types of authenticity that consumers perceive when they view advertisements and (2) those elements of advertising that are integral to the communication of these types of authenticity. Adopting an interpretive approach describes interviews with Belgium and Dutch beer consumers, marketers and business industry associations. Findings - Reports how three forms of authenticity were discovered: pure authenticity, approximate authenticity and moral authenticity. Highlights how informants drew on different indexical or iconic cues when forming their judgments; puts forward, among other things, how the advertisements were required to draw direct connections between the cues and the production of beer to be regarded as authentic, and effective; illustrates with examples. Research limitations/implications - Explore other product, brand and cultural contexts. Originality/value - Identifies a relationship between consumer motives and responses to single and multiple advertising cues