Implicit theories of creatives

Abstract

Advertising creatives (i.e., copywriters and art directors) are known to use implicit theories to connect with their audiences, but little work has been done to connect those philosophies with research in academia. This research explores further the academic-practitioner gap that exists. The findings show there are some implicit theories being used by creatives that overlap with academic research, such as attitude toward the ad leads to attitude toward the brand and breaking through the clutter. There were also implicit theories used by practitioners that did not line up clearly with theories and constructs from academia. These varying levels of overlap are used to suggest future research and ways to bridge the gap in the educational process.