International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Transit advertising in corporate branding: a multilevel study

Henrique F. Boyol Ngan, Fiona X. Yang,
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Henrique F. Boyol Ngan, Fiona X. Yang, (2019) "Transit advertising in corporate branding: a multilevel
study", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/
IJCHM-11-2017-0777
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Transit
Transit advertising in corporate advertising
branding: a multilevel study
Henrique F. Boyol Ngan and Fiona X. Yang
Tourism College, Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao, China

Received 30 November 2017

Abstract Revised 21 March 2018
Purpose – The purpose of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of tourist shuttle bus 28 June 2018
20 September 2018
advertising for the corporate brand image of gaming and hospitality operators. Accepted 15 November 2018
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Design/methodology/approach – Grounded in the theoretical framework of Message Response

Involvement (MRI) theory, a multilevel design with hierarchical modeling was adopted to examine the
hypothesized paths between consumers’ message processing components and corporate brand equity. The
moderating effects of shuttle bus design were also investigated. The data were collected via a self-
administered questionnaire from 595 tourists visiting Macao.
Findings – The results indicated that advertising effectiveness (i.e., corporate brand equity) was largely
dependent on consumers’ motivation and ability to process information. When design was included as a
moderator, it enhanced the influence of consumers’ motivation to process information on advertising effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications – The findings highlight the importance of tourist shuttle buses as
an advertising platform in the hospitality and gaming industry and depict important aspects of consumers
and executional cues that corporations should focus on improving shuttle bus advertising effectiveness.
Originality/value – This study examines an underexplored, yet frequently used, advertising channel – the
shuttle bus. Specifically, it offers a better understanding of transit advertising effectiveness from the
corporate level (design) and individual level (consumers’ motivation, ability and opportunity) in the tourism
and hospitality industry.
Keywords Advertising effectiveness, Advertising design, Corporate brand equity,
Message response involvement theory, Transit advertising
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Even when organizations are able to provide a superb service and deliver an excellent
product, their effort is to no avail if there is little or no awareness of it. To that end, gaming
and hotel operators have acknowledged the importance of communicating their products
and services to prospective customers. However, traditional advertising platforms (TV,
radio or local magazines) are unfavorable for reaching tourists, who are mostly keen to
engage in outdoor activities (Shoval et al., 2011). Emerging channels of advertisement, such
as online marketing, may also be far from satisfactory for this market segment due to the
limited internet access during the trip (Neuhofer et al., 2015). Out-of-home (OOH) advertising
platforms, by contrast, offer unparalleled coverage and are effective in attracting customers
on-the-go. As a subset of OOH, transit advertising is particularly effective in targeting
mobile consumers such as tourists, who spend more time outdoors than indoors during their
stay (Francese, 2003). In particular, the shuttle bus as an emerging form of transit
advertising is proliferating, with casino and resort operators actively seeking an avenue to
make the most of shuttle buses as means of both transportation and advertisement. This has International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality
Management
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0959-6119
This work was supported by the Institute for Tourism Studies (Grant No.: 241/EST/2016). DOI 10.1108/IJCHM-11-2017-0777
 IJCHM been shown to be an important attribute of a casino operation especially when public
transportation network is weak in tourism cities such as Macau (Wan, 2011). Thus, the
majority of gaming and hospitality operators provide free shuttle bus service to its guests on
a regular schedule (Loi et al., 2017). While existing research in tourism has provided
evidence of the influence of both public (Thompson and Schofield, 2007) and private
transportation (Loi et al., 2017) on destination image, satisfaction and revisit intention, its
significance as an advertising medium for corporations is largely unknown.
Existing research on outdoor advertising has centered on the Message Response
Involvement (MRI) theory for investigating the underlying psychological processes involved in
message processing and its consequences (effectiveness of advertisement) (MacInnis et al.,
1991). The MRI theory suggests three primary antecedents to message processing–motivation,
opportunity and ability (MOA). Results from earlier studies on billboard advertising
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demonstrate a strong and consistent association between the MOA and advertising
effectiveness (Donthu et al., 1993; Bhargava et al., 1994; Osborne and Coleman, 2008). However,
this is seldom examined in transit advertising media, and the existing evidence is limited to taxi
(Veloutsou and O’Donnel, 2005) and bus exteriors (Prendergast and Chan, 1999). Unlike taxis, a
shuttle bus system operates on a fixed route and schedule. In the context of shuttle buses, no
investigation has detailed the extent to which this advertising medium is indeed effective, there
is no clear understanding of how consumers process advertising information from this
medium. The lack of relevant studies has led to the following question:

RQ1. How do consumers process advertisements on shuttle buses? Are shuttle buses an
effective means to promote corporations?
Although the development of MOA is largely determined by consumer characteristics,
Alwitt and Mitchell (1985) also suggest that situational factors can enhance the impacts of
these antecedents on advertising effectiveness. Recognizing the importance of these
situational factors, companies are proactively improving the design of their advertisements
through strategic manipulation of the executional cues presented to the consumers. The
design of an advertisement refers to the visual artwork and the nonmessage components
(Donthu et al., 1993). Greater attention is paid to ads that can create visual saliency, such as
vivid colors, lighter backgrounds and higher contrast (van Meurs and Aristoff, 2009; Cheng
and Chan, 2014; Labrecque and Milne, 2012; Chan and Cheng, 2012). The legibility of text,
typically increased by font used and its size, is also evidenced to improve brand recall
(Bhargava et al., 1994). In addition, recent studies also suggest that the use of creative
execution facilitates the recognition of brands being advertised, and subsequently enhances
a deeper processing of the brand (Baack et al., 2008; Wilson et al., 2015).
These differences in design may determine variations in advertising effectiveness and how
MOA promotes corporate branding. Thus, it is imperative to examine the role of the advertising
executional design on shuttle bus advertising and the following research question is raised:

RQ2. How does shuttle bus design influence advertising effectiveness of corporate
branding?
The purpose of this research is to examine corporate branding through transit advertising
based on the MRI theory. The proposed framework examines the hypothesized paths
between consumers’ message processing components and casino brand equity. The
moderating effects of shuttle bus design are also investigated.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines advertising
effectiveness of shuttle buses in the tourism and hospitality industry. It also adds to the
 body of literature that examines the moderating role of advertising design, which has barely Transit
received scholarly attention in previous studies. It adds to the knowledge of the MRI theory advertising
and furthers the understanding of advertising effectiveness in transit mediums. Moreover,
most of the research in hospitality marketing focuses on traditional mediums or digital
platforms that target consumers prior to the travel experience, whereas transit advertising
may act as a secondary marketing channel during the on-site experience. Additionally, the
study offers managerial insights for hotel and gaming operators as to what influences
message processing in transit advertising, and what may assist in deciding advertising
executional cues emphasized in their advertorial design.

2. Literature review
2.1 Out-of-home advertising and transit advertising
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OOH advertising refers to advertising mediums located in highly visible and densely
populated areas, including billboards and signs, street furniture, and transit (Veloutsou and
O’Donnel, 2005). It is effective in targeting mobile consumers, such as tourists with limited
access to the internet during their trips (Cheng and Chan, 2014).
Despite the varied forms of OOH advertising, existing studies have predominately focused
on billboard advertising, while research on transit advertising remains underexplored (Wilson
and Till, 2011, 2008). Unlike conventional mediums of OOH, transit advertising relies on
vehicles’ exteriors and/or interiors which are constantly on the move to carry the advertisement
(Osborne and Coleman, 2008). Bus exterior advertising may have an advantage over taxi
exteriors in that the promotional materials are often larger in size, which increases the
likelihood of being seen and generates the most impressions possible (Prendergast and Chan,
1999). In contrast, unlike buses, taxis circulate freely around the city without having specific
routes, boosting the exposure to a broader range of consumers (Veloutsou and O’Donnel, 2005).

2.2 Advertising effectiveness and consumer-based Brand equity

Given the specific purpose designated to each advertising medium, its effectiveness will largely
depend on the objectives of the respective promotional campaign. As suggested by Beerli and
Santana (1999), advertising objectives are often related to communication, whereas commercial
objectives pertain to the improvement of company sales. In fact, quantifying sales volume
generated by an advertisement is fairly difficult (Kusumoto, 2002) as there are other factors that
may affect the results apart from the advertisement per se. Thus, a common practice in research
is to measure the effectiveness of an advertisement using consumer response at the cognitive,
affective, or conative level (Beerli and Santana, 1999). In the context of tourism and hospitality,
likewise, advertising effectiveness may include a range of affective and attitudinal aspects that
are closely related to the corporate brand equity (Kim et al., 2008).
Brand equity is conceptualized as the overall market value attributable to a brand (Keller,
1993), centering on the underlying brand utility as perceived by consumers, also referred to
as “customer-based brand equity” or CBBE (Boo et al., 2009; Hsu et al., 2012). The existing
body of research in the tourism and hospitality studies suggests a multidimensional
conceptualization of CBBE, outlining four main sources: brand awareness, brand image,
perceived quality and brand loyalty.
Brand awareness embodies the strength of the brand’s presence in the target audience’s
mind, and intensifies at three levels: recognition, recall and top-of-mind awareness (Aaker,
1996). Atop the pyramid is top-of-mind awareness which motivates customers to think of a
particular company first to fulfill their product or service needs. Brand image, or brand
associations, represents reasoned or emotional customer perceptions of specific brands as
reflected by a set of brand associations in their memory (Keller, 1993). Companies are compelled
 IJCHM to forge strong associations with desirable product features and increase the personal value
that customers attach to the company, which in turn enhances their overall evaluation of
the brand. Perceived quality is conceptualized as the customer’s assessment of the overall
excellence of the product or service (Keller, 2003). This maps onto similar concepts in the areas of
service quality and customer value (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Perceived quality is instrumental
in the customer’s decision making process: it gives an edge to brand differentiation in the
competing market and entices customer re-patronage (Hsu et al., 2012). Finally, brand loyalty is
“a measure of the attachment that a customer has to a brand” (Aaker, 1991, p. 39) and is
considered as a major goal of brand management (Boo et al., 2009). Chen and Gursoy (2001)
suggest an adoption of the attitudinal measure in the tourism literature as tourists who are loyal
to a destination may not visit the place. Hence, the current study also supports the use of
attitudinal loyalty, centering on intentions to revisit and willingness to recommend.
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2.3 Hypothesis development

2.3.1 Message response involvement theory. Drawn from the framework of the message
response involvement (MRI) theory, advertising effectiveness is best understood by the
antecedents of advertisement processing, namely, motivation, opportunity and ability (MacInnis
et al., 1991). When consumers lack the opportunity, motivation and ability to view an
advertisement, the amount of attention allocated to the advertisement is generally low, resulting
in little to no influence on development of attitudes toward the ad and the brand. Despite being
mostly applied in marketing and advertising, there is a growing evidence of the adoption of this
model in tourism and hospitality research (Latip et al., 2018; Leung and Bai, 2013).
2.3.1.1 Motivation and advertising effectiveness. Motivation is defined as consumers’
desire to process information in an advertisement (Bayton, 1958). It has been conceptualized as:
1) the antecedents of motivation measured by the importance of the purchase decision
(Maheswaran and Sternthal, 1990), 2) the processing outcomes resulting from motivation, such
as recall and recognition rate upon ad exposure (Osborne and Coleman, 2008), and 3) the goal-
directed arousal interest and desire of processing brand-related information (Moorman, 1990).
Specifically, willingness to process product or brand related information (enduring
motivation) or the advertisement related information (stimulus-induced motivation) are two
measures of motivation that are found to influence consumers’ information processing
(Moorman, 1990). The extant literature in outdoor advertising has seamlessly
operationalized motivation as enduring motivation through a goal-directed arousal measure.
This typically addresses consumers’ general interest in an advertisement or a product that
not only affects cognitive processes, but also consumer behaviors (Veloutsou and O’Donnel,
2005; Chan and Cheng, 2012; Chan and Fung, 2013). Therefore, the present study adopts
enduring motivation (i.e. interest in gaming), seeing that stimulus-induced motivation is
usually used to investigate one particular advertisement of a given company.
In outdoor advertising research, individuals who are highly motivated in a given
product/brand or advertisement are often found to exhibit higher recall (Cheng and Chan,
2014) or recognition (Wilson et al., 2015). These results are replicated as well in transit
advertising through taxis (Veloutsou and O’Donnel, 2005) and buses (Prendergast and Chan,
1999). Evidence also suggests that brand image is affected by consumers’ motivation in
processing brand-related information (Chan and Han, 2014). In the context of the casino
industry, interest in gaming is also an important prerequisite for branding (Kneesel et al.,
2010). Therefore, consumers who are interested in gaming are more likely to process the bus
advertisement of a casino, and thus increase the likelihood to notice the information and
enhance brand awareness. Their interest helps them to better appreciate the offerings of the
casino, and subsequently forge a positive association between the ad and the brand image/
 quality. Finally, this turns into re-patronage intentions and positive word-of-mouth of the Transit
casino. Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed: advertising
H1. Interest in gaming (motivation) positively affects casino brand equity (CBE).
2.3.1.2 Opportunity and advertising effectiveness. Opportunity is defined as the conditions
(individual or situational) that facilitate or hinder the processing of advertisement
information. High opportunity implies a positive view of availability, while low opportunity
implies that the advertisement is presented either in a cluttered environment filled with
other advertisements (Shavitt et al., 2004) or with limited length of exposure (Donthu et al.,
1993). It is also possible that the location or placement of the advertisement limits its
visibility and subsequently lowers the likelihood of processing it (Wilson et al., 2015).
Another factor related to opportunity refers to the activity the consumer engages in.
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Performing other tasks simultaneously may distract or even disrupt the consumer from
processing the advertisement (MacInnis et al., 1991). Customers under time pressure are also
less able to process brand-related information (Chan and Fung, 2013). In the context of
gaming industry, information on shuttle buses could better capture the attention of tourists
who are not in a hurry, and therefore induce a higher degree of casino awareness, facilitate
brand association and promote loyalty. Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H2. Time pressure (a reverse score of opportunity) negatively affects casino brand
equity (CBE).
2.3.1.3 Ability and advertising effectiveness. Ability has been defined as the skills,
knowledge, or proficiencies necessary to process and interpret brand information of an
advertisement (van Meurs and Aristoff, 2009). Prior research has used experience-based and
knowledge-based measures to address consumers’ ability to process information. However, the
experience-based approach has been criticized for its insufficiency to account for information
processing. For instance, consumers with similar usage or prior experience may process
different amounts of information. Knowledge-based measures, in contrast, have been found to
influence directly the process of encoding information (Brucks, 1985). Individuals with
sufficient prior knowledge are able to recognize and process the advertisement more quickly
than they would otherwise, which influences advertising effectiveness (van Meurs and Aristoff,
2009). Low-knowledge tourists only assess a casino brand on a holistic basis without sufficient
attribute-based understandings or well-formulated decision criteria. Therefore, they exert more
cognitive effort when processing advertising information on the shuttle bus (Bian and
Moutinho, 2011). High-knowledge tourists, in contrast, are more aware of the casino, and could
better infer its quality and image on specific attributes conveyed in the bus advertisement,
leading to a higher casino brand equity (Aaker and Biel, 1993). Therefore, it is proposed that:

H3. Prior brand knowledge (ability) positively affects casino brand equity (CBE).
2.3.2 The design of transit advertising. Existing research has also suggested a number of
advertising design elements and executional cues that enhance the ad effectiveness (Donthu
et al., 1993; Bhargava et al., 1994). The design elements of an advertisement refer to the
visual artwork and nonmessage components, such as the color, logo and paintings on the
advertisement that augment consumers’ visual experience. Companies that convey their
value through visually appealing advertisements are able to outlast the competition and
entrench themselves in the market. For instance, color, an aspect of design, has been
consistently found to influence consumers’ first impression of a product (Singh, 2006) and
brand personality (Bottomley and Doyle, 2006), which subsequently influence purchase
 IJCHM intention (Labrecque and Milne, 2012). Similarly evidence from neuromarketing suggests
that a consumer’s purchase decision is influenced by a clear logo that is easily recognizable
(Radiological Society of North America, 2006). In the context of outdoor advertising, Donthu
et al. (1993) have provided evidence on a number of design-related factors that potentially
influence billboard advertising effectiveness, which is later confirmed in bus exterior
advertising (Prendergast and Chan, 1999). Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H4. Exterior shuttle bus design positively affects casino brand equity (CBE).
In addition to its main effect, the design of advertising also alters the way that other
individual or situational factors influence advertising effectiveness. First, the impact of
motivation on advertising effectiveness hinges on the design of the advertisement. Prior
studies have provided empirical evidence that brand recall is generally low and brand
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attitudes formation are unlikely to occur if the design is poorly executed, even for consumers
with high motivation to process brand information. For example, billboards that are black
and white (Baack et al., 2008; Chan and Cheng, 2012), not novel (Wilson et al., 2015) or wordy
(Bhargava et al., 1994) cannot capture consumers’ attention even when they are highly
motivated toward the product or brand being advertised, and thus may never move beyond
the pre-attentive processing stage (Pieters and Wedel, 2004).
Second, ad executions that are strategically performed can aid the access of relevant
brand knowledge and thus will enhance its effect on brand recall and recognition. This is
typically achieved by combining visual and verbal elements in an ad as consumers rely on
textual information to make interpretations of visual stimuli (Edell and Staelin, 1983).
Therefore, the use of pictorials along with a clear logo would enable consumers to retrieve
relevant information about the brand, leading to greater brand attitudes development. In
addition, the use of fewer words and a unique size decreases the message difficulty, making
the advertisement less convoluted, and enhances the impact of prior knowledge on brand
recall (Bhargava et al., 1994). At the absence of appropriate design execution, it is difficult
for consumers to recognize the ad even when they possess a high degree of brand familiarity
as it may be too ambiguous for interpretation, resulting in sub-par ad effectiveness.
Third, another advantage of using visual stimuli (e.g. pictures and images) is that it
provides greater redundancy of brand information, which enables higher levels of brand
processing, even with limited opportunities or time constraints. As evident in previous
studies, redundancy is increased by the use of images in an ad as they are processed
immediately and holistically (Holbrook and Moore, 1981). Other ad executional strategies,
such as using vivid colors (Baack et al., 2008; Chan and Cheng, 2012) and creative design
(Wilson et al., 2015) are found to reinforce the influence of MOA on advertising effectiveness.
Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed:

H5a. With better shuttle bus design, the positive relationship between interest in
gaming (motivation) and casino brand equity will be strengthened.

H5b. With better shuttle bus design, the negative relationship between time pressure (a
reverse score of opportunity) and casino brand equity will be weakened.

H5c. With better shuttle bus design, the positive relationship between prior brand
knowledge (ability) and casino brand equity will be strengthened.
Based on the above discussion, Figure 1 summarizes the hypothesized relationships.
 Transit
Corporate level
Shuttle bus design advertising

H5a (+) H5c (+)

H4 (+)
Interest in gaming
H5b (–)
H1 (+)

H2 (–)
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Individual level Casino Brand

Time pressure
Equity (CBE)

H3 (+)
Figure 1.
Prior brand The conceptual
knowledge model

3. Methodology
3.1 Sample and data collection
A survey was conducted in Macau Special Administrative Region of China that is known as
the gaming capital of the world. The gaming industry alone accounts for more than 50 per
cent of Macau’s GDP (Sheng and Gu, 2018). Thus, many of the integrated resorts and casino
operators provide free shuttle bus services for their guests. As of 2017, there are 454 shuttle
buses operating on 62 routes covering highly frequented tourist areas (Moura, 2017).
The data were collected using a convenience sampling method in Macau SAR. A
qualified respondent was a tourist who had seen casino shuttle buses during hihe/sher trip
to Macau. Self-administered questionnaires were delivered to the target respondents at the
ferry terminals, the airport, and the Border Gate Square when they were waiting at the
departure gates, with souvenirs provided upon the completion of the questionnaires.
The respondents were first asked to indicate the name of the company whose shuttles they
had last seen and completed a questionnaire accordingly. Finally, 595 usable questionnaires
were collected, in which the respondents indicated 17 corporates, representing the majority
of multinational corporates operating in Macao that provide free shuttle bus service to their
guests.
Most of the respondents were from mainland China (44 per cent), Hong Kong (21 per
cent), and Taiwan (7 per cent). The respondents had a wide range of travel frequency to
Macau, with 78 per cent being repeat visitors. Their main travel purposes were gaming (26
per cent), cultural heritage (19 per cent) and shopping (19 per cent), and most of them (73 per
cent) stayed in Macau for one or two days on this trip.

3.2 Measures
Two bilingual researchers first designed the questionnaire in English and then translated it
into Chinese. To ensure face validity, a back-to-back translation method was adopted.
Finally, a pilot test was performed with 60 respondents.
To measure motivation in the MRI model, i.e. the goal-directed arousal interest and desire
of processing brand-related information, a three-item scale was adopted to evaluate tourists’
 IJCHM interest in gaming (Moorman, 1990). Conditions of opportunity were measured via a three-
item scale of “time pressure” during the trip (Vermeir and van Kenhove, 2005), and the
scores were reversed in the analyses. To measure the ability and knowledge to process and
interpret the brand information, a five-time scale was adopted from prior literature (Lin and
Chen, 2006). CBE was measured as a second-order construct, including four items to
measure casino awareness, nine items for casino image, three items for casino quality, and
three items for casino loyalty (Hsu et al., 2012; Tsai et al., 2013; Tsai et al., 2010). A six-item
scale was adopted and modified from Prendergast and Chan (1999) to assess the exterior
design of casino shuttle buses. All the items were measured using a seven-point Likert scale
ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (7). In addition, respondents’
gender, age and monthly income were controlled in the model.
Prior studies (Hofmann and Gavin, 1998) have revealed that multilevel analysis is
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suitable for research with a nested structure, (e.g. respondents are nested within a
corporate). The assessment of casino shuttle bus design may be similar as the respondents
are evaluating a transit advertisement of the same corporate. Therefore, hierarchical linear
modeling (HLM) 6.02 was used to test the cross-level hypotheses.

4. Results
4.1 Validity and reliability of the measurement items
The current study adopted a second-order construct to measure brand equity, as suggested
by Tsai et al. (2013). A second-order factor model has several advantages over a first-order
one, in particular the parsimony in covariance explanation and the interpretation of
complicated measurement models (Chen et al., 2005). Therefore, a second-order confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA) on CBE was performed, along with other constructs: motivation,
opportunity, ability and design.
Results of the CFA test were represented in Table I, indicating a good model fit ( x 2/df =
1.91, CFI = 0.97, NNFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMR = 0.04). The values of composite
reliability (CR) ranged from 0.83 to 0.93, exceeding the of 0.70 cutoff value. In addition, alpha
values were all greater than 0.70, ensuring internal consistency reliability. Convergent
validity was also achieved, with all of the average variance extracted (AVE) greater than the
recommended criterion of.50. The standardized loadings were greater than or equal to 0.63,
all significant at the 0.01 level.
Finally, Table II presented the means, standard deviations and inter-correlations of the
study variables. For each construct, its square root of the AVE was greater than the
correlations between it and other constructs, and discriminant validity was assured.

4.2 Aggregation tests

To validate the aggregation of individual-level measures of shuttle bus design on a
corporate level, the intra-class correlations (ICCs) and the within-group agreement (rwg) were
calculated. The ICC(1) value for design was 0.13, higher than the suggested 0.12 threshold
(Bliese, 1998). The ICC(2) value for design was 0.82, exceeding the 0.70 criterion (Bliese,
1998). The average rwg was 0.92, which was higher than the suggested 0.70 value (Bliese,
1998). This evidence justifies aggregating responses at the corporate level for casino shuttle
bus design.

4.3 Hierarchical linear modeling results for the direct and cross-level effects
Results from HLM analyses to test the hypotheses are presented in Table III. Model 1
controlled for respondents’ gender, age and income variables. Model 2 included only level-1
variables with no level-2 predictors. Model 3 examined an intercept-as-outcomes model by
 Transit
Standardized
Scale items loadings a CR AVE
advertising
Individual-level
Interest in gaming (Motivation) 0.93 0.93 0.81
I am interested in looking for gaming information 0.89
I would like to receive additional gaming information 0.90
I intend to pay attention to gaming information 0.90
Time pressure (a reverse score of opportunity) 0.93 0.93 0.81
I found myself pressed for time when I saw the casino shuttle bus 0.86
I was in a hurry when I saw the casino shuttle bus 0.90
I had only a limited amount of time available when I saw the casino
shuttle bus 0.94
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Prior brand knowledge (Ability) Before the trip . . . 0.91 0.93 0.71
I knew this casino well 0.82
I was willing to understand this casino actively 0.79
I have actually stored in my memory about this casino’s information 0.86
I could discriminate the difference of product of this casino and
other companies 0.86
The accumulated level what I know about this product is high 0.89
Casino Brand Equity (CBE)
Casino Awareness 0.85 0.84 0.58
This casino has a good name and reputation 0.66
This casino is very famous 0.67
The characteristics of this casino come to my mind quickly 0.81
When I am thinking about gaming, this casino comes to my mind
immediately 0.87
Casino Image 0.89 0.90 0.52
This casino is luxurious 0.75
This casino has an exciting atmosphere 0.74
This casino is big and spacious 0.74
This casino has differentiated image from other casino brands 0.71
This casino brand has a long history 0.63
This casino has a welcoming atmosphere 0.74
This casino offers high level of service 0.77
This casino has courteous staff 0.69
Casino Quality 0.87 0.87 0.69
This casino is of high quality 0.82
I consider this casino’s quality to be of the highest standard 0.85
This casino is regarded as the leader in quality 0.84
Casino Loyalty 0.90 0.90 0.70
I will choose this casino over and over again without hesitation 0.86
I feel good and positive when I think about staying at this casino 0.86
Thinking about this casino makes me feel pleasant 0.82
I would not choose other casinos if this casino is available when I
need to gamble 0.80
Casino Brand Equity (second-order) 0.87 0.91 0.72
Casino awareness 0.79
Casino image 0.87
Casino quality 0.89 Table I.
Casino loyalty 0.84 Scale items and
(continued) validation
 IJCHM Standardized
Scale items loadings a CR AVE

Group-level
Design 0.86 0.86 0.51
The shuttle bus is eye-catching 0.69
The shuttle bus design is interesting 0.68
The company name can be identified clearly 0.70
The logo is familiar 0.71
The color scheme is attractive 0.78
The graphic is clear 0.69
Notes: x 2/df = 1.91; CFI = 0.97; NNFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.04; SRMR = 0.04; CR = composite reliability;
Table I. AVE = average variance extracted
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M Std 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Individual-level variables
1. Gender 1.47 0.50
2. Age 2.78 0.94 0.05
3. Income 2.39 1.24 0.04 0.29**
4. Motivation 3.73 1.64 0.11** 0.05 0.11** (0.90)
5. Opportunity 4.25 1.59 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.40** (0.90)
Table II. 6. Ability 4.42 1.41 0.04 0.06 0.03 0.55** 0.47** (0.85)
Means, standard 7. Casino brand equity 5.19 0.88 0.02 0.05 0.08* 0.46** 0.32** 0.59** (0.85)
deviations and Group-level variable
intercorrelations 8. Design 4.66 0.91 0.05 0.04 0.01 0.33** 0.23** 0.39** 0.33** 0.71
among study
variables Notes: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. Diagonal elements are the squared root of AVE for each construct

adding the direct effect of level-2 variables. Finally, a slope-as-outcomes model (Model 4) is
tested to evaluate the cross-level interactions.
Individual level predictors. H1-3 postulated that motivation, opportunity and ability will
positively influence CBE. The HLM results indicated that the hypothesized effects of
motivation (Model 2: b = 0.11, p < 0.001) and ability (Model 2: b = 0.29, p < 0.001) on
casino brand equity are salient, supporting H1 and H3. However, Opportunity only has a
weak impact on CBE (Model 2: b = 0.03, ns), rejecting H2.
Adding firm-level predictors. The study also explored whether the firm-level
variable (shuttle bus design) has a direct effect on CBE. The HLM result indicated a
significant relationship between Design and CBE (Model 3: g = 0.59, p < 0.05).
Therefore, shuttle bus design was another significant predictor of advertising
effectiveness, supporting H4.
Cross-level interactions. H4a-H4c postulated that shuttle bus design will positively
moderate the impact of motivation, opportunity and ability on CBE, respectively. The result
showed that design has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between
motivation and CBE (Model 4: g = 0.12, p < 0.05), supporting H5a. However, the
moderating effects on the opportunity-CBE (Model 4: g = -0.06, ns), and ability-CBE
(Model 4: g = -0.10, ns) paths were not significant. Therefore, H5b and H5c were not
supported.
 Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Transit
advertising
Intercept 5.12*** 5.08*** 5.07*** 5.07***
Individual level (Level 1)
Gender 0.01 0.07 0.07 0.06
Age 0.07 0.02 0.02 0.02
Income 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.02
Motivation 0.11*** 0.11*** 0.10***
Opportunity 0.03 0.03 0.04
Ability 0.29*** 0.29*** 0.32***

Cooperate level (Level 2)

Design 0.59* 0.61*
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Level 1  Level 2 interactions

Motivation  Design 0.12*
Opportunity  Design 0.06
Ability  Design 0.10
Deviance 1533.79 1261.76 1254.10 1250.83
Table III.
Pseudo R2 0.00 0.29 0.33 0.35 Results of
hierarchical linear
Notes: *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001. N = 595 for Level 1 measures; N = 17 for Level 2 measure modeling analyses

5. Discussion and conclusions

5.1 Conclusions
Using the MRI theory as a theoretical underpinning, the study developed a framework to
investigate advertising effectiveness and the moderating effects of design. The results
indicated that advertising effectiveness (i.e. corporate brand equity) was largely dependent
on consumers’ interest in gaming and prior knowledge of the corporate, while time pressure
did not have a salient impact. When design was included as a moderator, it enhanced the
influence of consumers’ motivation to process information on advertising effectiveness.

5.2 Theoretical implications

5.2.1 Determinants of transit advertising effectiveness. Building on the MRI theory, the
current study advances the literature of both advertising and gaming/hospitality marketing.
The results of the present study lend partial support to the MRI theory (MacInnis et al.,
1991). While the significant role of ability and motivation to process information is
consistent with results in previous advertising studies (Prendergast and Chan, 1999;
Veloutsou and O’Donnel, 2005), time pressure (opportunity) is less salient in determining the
advertising outcomes, a finding that differs from the results of previous studies (Wilson and
Till, 2008, 2011; Chan and Cheng, 2012). These differences in results may indicate that
consumers who have greater familiarity with the brand or higher gaming motivation are
more likely to follow a deeper message processing route, the central route of advertisement
processing that may not necessarily be restricted by the constraints of time or other
distractions (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). As shown by Pieters and Wedel (2004), stronger
brand familiarity offsets the negative effects caused by time pressure and insufficient
attention to process the advertisement information. Shuttle bus advertisements, being an
activation of previously developed and existing knowledge structures related to the brand,
lead to a greater brand attitude formation, development, and enhancement. This may,
however, only be viable for well-established products or brands that are close to the
 IJCHM maturity stage of the product life cycle, as in the case of casinos in the present study.
Products that are newly introduced in the market may still demand opportunities to process
the advertising information, as consumers need time to create the respective knowledge
structure and store it in the long-term memory during the first encounter. Thus, it is more
likely that consumers would process information via a “peripheral route” (Petty and
Cacioppo, 2012), which is the first stage of brand image building when advertising
campaigns aim to raise brand awareness or simply introduce “memorization.”
5.2.2 Shuttle bus as a medium of transit advertising. Moreover, this paper furthers the
understanding of advertising design as a moderator of advertising effectiveness, which has
not received much attention in the literature. In particular, a superior design induces a more
salient impact of motivation on corporate brand equity. Even if consumers are interested in
the activity/product/service being advertised, a monotonous or visually unattractive
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advertisement may hinder the processing of stimulus information. The processing occurs at
the lowest level that is limited to outward traits and feature analysis of the ad, i.e. the
structural processing in the levels of information processing diagram (Pieters and Wedel,
2004). Knowledge retention is therefore insufficient for customers to even recognize the
brand or further their brand attitude formation/development (Mehta, 1994). This echoes
prior research that highlights the importance of advertising executional cues (Donthu et al.,
1993; Bhargava et al., 1994).
By contrast, the effects of opportunity and ability on advertising effectiveness are
practically the same with differing executional designs. Ability or brand knowledge/
familiarity is gained through prior experiences with the casino, thus implying a deeper level
of information processing pertaining to the encoding of meaning, cognitive thinking and
semantic associations. A superior design, such as increasing redundancy or using vivid
colors (Baack et al., 2008; Chan and Cheng, 2012) and creative components (Wilson et al.,
2015) remains at the visual level and does not seem to enhance effectiveness of a stimuli that
induces deep information processing.
5.2.3. Tourists’ consumer behaviors. The study further contributes to the body of
literature on tourists’ consumer behaviors. While tourists and their consumer characteristics
have been a topic of continuing interest, little attention has been paid to their behaviors in
the context of advertising despite some studies on destination advertising (Stienmetz et al.,
2014). The current study has demonstrated that advertising effectiveness is significantly
influenced by tourists’ prior knowledge of the company and their interest in gaming. This
maps onto the discussion of prior experience/familiarity with a destination and attitudes
toward travel, similar concepts in destination marketing where the DMOs’ ultimate goal is
to entrench destination loyalty and fuel tourist growth (Sun et al., 2013). This has stressed
the importance of the exploratory stage in consumers’ decision-making process–prior
knowledge and attitude condition, the width and depth of information accumulation–a
prerequisite for the next stage when the implicit memory is activated and commitment is
reinforced.
The findings also advance the literature on tourists’ consumer behavior by elaborating
on the role of situational factors in transit advertising. The finding that time pressure only
exerts a weak influence on advertising effectiveness differs from prior studies, in which
tourists’ shopping behaviors were found to be significantly influenced by time pressure (Lin
and Chen, 2013), and higher advertising effectiveness was achieved in low time pressure
contexts (Jacoby et al., 1976). Tourists under time pressure are not able to toggle back and
forth the information in common advertising mediums, such as print and TV media. They
are therefore less likely to process the information or adopt a brand, vis-à-vis those who catch
a glimpse of advertisements on a transit vehicle. Transit advertising makes possible the
 delivery of a message to an audience in different situational contexts. Characterized by its Transit
high mobility, advertising by means of a transit vehicle is less subject to time constraints as advertising
it offers a long length of exposure and flexibility of location, and ensures market penetration.
It activates and catalyzes the absorption of information acquired in the exploratory stage,
and induces brand commitment in the next phase.

5.3 Practical implications

The present study also offers a number of suggestions for hospitality and gaming operators.
The study outlines the potential of transit advertising mediums in marketing a corporate
brand. First, the results suggest two critical message processing components, motivation
and ability, that could help enhance brand equity. Hotel and gaming operators are advised
to integrate shuttle bus advertising with complementary promotional strategies and
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mediums that would promote tourists’ interest in gaming and develop their
brand familiarity for maximum advertising effectiveness. Toward this end, marketers are
expected to establish the advertising objectives first, and subsequently decide whether
shuttle bus advertising would align with those objectives or not. For brands that are new,
the main advertising objective is generating brand awareness Beerli and Santana, 1999)).
Marketers could first develop brand associations and increase prior brand knowledge in
potential travelers prior to their visit to the destination, through digital marketing, e.g.
eWOM (Cantallops and Salvi, 2014), and online advertising banners (Baloglu and Pekcan,
2006). Corporates can also use the MOA model as a diagnostic tool to address consumers’
development of corporate brand equity. For instance, by providing free Wifi service in their
shuttle buses, companies can track consumers’ online activity trends and web-browsing
behaviors through cookies to examine their interest and prior knowledge. This way,
organizations may act through behavior targeting, displaying relevant online ads and other
marketing materials.
Second, it is important for the design of the advertisement to be able to catch travelers’
attention, which may be accomplished with a clear design, simple logo, catchy message, or
harmonized colors. Companies may also realize that a renowned designers would pay
dividends to their business and could come up with innovative ways of advertising on the
moving vehicles, e.g. 3D paintings of the logo that can create a striking optical effect, images
on the body of the bus that melt into the surrounding landscape, or a mascot that conveys
the value and spirit of the corporation. QR code on the shuttle bus exterior coupled with a
catchy slogan could also be an idea to instantly and effortlessly promote the official website
and activities of the company to a mobile audience.

5.4 Limitations and future research

A number of caveats need to be noted regarding the present study. First, it is acknowledged
that advertising effectiveness can be operationalized differently, for example with aided and
unaided recall and recognition measures. Future research could also include these objective
measures that may tap into different facets of advertising effectiveness and reduce self-
report bias. Second, the proposed model has been assessed in Macau–the gaming capital of
the world. Future study may test the model for other types of destinations or corporations to
generate a more robust result. Third, the current research centers on tourists, whose
perceptions and behaviors may be substantially different from those of non-tourists. Future
studies may compare the model across different customer segments and the downside of the
advertising effectiveness toward the local community as it nurtures gaming behaviors. Last,
this study is an initial attempt to investigate the effectiveness of transit advertising in the
tourism and hospitality fields; in-depth research could further examine disparities across
 IJCHM different mediums within the umbrella of this advertising form. Research on cooperative
advertising also sheds light on future studies (Chen and Wen, 2013), which may investigate
responsibilities and strategies of different stakeholders if cooperative advertising is adopted.
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About the authors

Dr Henrique F. Boyol Ngan is a Lecturer at the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macau, where he
lectures in organizational behavior and human resources management. His research interest include
price ending strategies and consumer behavior. Henrique F. Boyol Ngan is the corresponding author
and can be contacted at: henrique@ift.edu.mo
Dr Fiona X. Yang is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macau. Her
current research interests include tourism and hospitality marketing, organizational behavior and
supply chain management. Her research has been published in European Journal of Operational
Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research and Journal of Travel and
Tourism Marketing.

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