The Impact of Media Multitasking on the Cognitive and Attitudinal Responses to Television Commercials: The Moderating Role of Type of Advertising Appeal

In two studies, we explored the effect of media multitasking on viewers' cognitive and attitudinal responses to television commercials and the moderating role of advertising appeals. The limited capacity theory of Lang (2000 Lang, Annie (2000), “The Limited Capacity Model of Mediated Message Processing,” Journal of Communication, 50 (1), 46–70.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) that integrates both the motivational and cognitive ability aspects of information processing was used as the theoretical framework. The results of Study 1 show that, in line with previous findings, media multitasking negatively affects cognitive responses but has an overall positive effect on attitudinal responses to television commercials. The results of Study 2 suggest that this effect on attitudinal responses is present only for commercials that focus on the desirability (compared to the feasibility) of a product. The results indicate that in media multitasking contexts, television commercials that rely primarily on stressing the desirability of a product have both a cognitive and an attitudinal advantage compared to those that rely primarily on stressing the feasibility of a product.