The value and versatility of billboard advertising: management and consumer perspectives.

The capabilities of billboards have been largely neglected by the academic research community. This investigation explores the assumption among many managers that billboards serve primarily attraction roles at early stages of the effect hierarchies. In the first study, 1,640 consumers provide favorable views of billboards, with indications that billboards are also influential for later stage effects and for existing customers. Study 2 examines in more depth the views of 241 experienced marketing executives, indicating through structural modeling and regression analysis that the value of billboards is more widely recognized than their potential versatility. The findings suggest self-fulfilling beliefs among many managers, whereby billboards are largely deployed to generate awareness, which becomes the main focus of tracking studies, thus reinforcing conventional beliefs. As media proliferate and the intrusiveness of some antagonizes consumers, it is timely both for managers and researchers to re-examine the wider roles and potentials of billboards. References available upon request