• (The) Korean Journal of Advertising
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.7-25
• /
• 2016

According to recent studies, the location of visual information has a significant impact on consumers' interpretation and judgment in various contexts. In particular, vertical positioning is relevant to the perception of weight: consumers tend to interpret that products are heavier when information is placed at the bottom of a page or section rather than the top. This is due to the common perception that heavy things would sink to the bottom and light things would float up. Consistent with this research stream, the current study investigates how the vertical location of freebie information influences promotion evaluation. We hypothesize that consumers assume that the complimentary product is heavier when the information about it is displayed at the bottom compared to when the information is displayed at the top. Two experiments were conducted. In experiment 1, we show how the location of "get one free" information impacts the evaluation of the sales promotion in a "Buy two and get one free" context. When the complimentary information was displayed below rather than above the main product information, consumers evaluated the sales promotion more favorably. Experiment 2 tests the generalizability of the vertical location effect by using a different type of information and product: a visual picture of vitamin tablets rather than the numeric information as in Experiment 1. The dependent variable was also extended to the perceived amount of the promoted product. We suggest the boundary condition that the proposed effect is moderated by the presence or absence of an explicit message about the amount. Without an explicit message about the amount of the product, the results were similar to those of experiment 1 in that consumers perceived that the product offered a greater amount when the complimentary information was displayed at the bottom rather than at the top. However, the location effect disappeared with an explicit message about the amount. This confirms the moderating effect that presenting an explicit message about the amount is a crucial boundary condition for location effect in a value added promotion. Marketers can use this knowledge to formulate strategies in a variety of sales promotion conditions.