A systematic review of applications, manipulations and manipulation checks of construal level theory in advertising

Advertising research has increasingly applied construal level theory (CLT) to predict advertising effectiveness. This study systematically reviews and synthesizes CLT-based advertising research by focusing on the theoretical tenets of CLT, construal-level manipulations, and construal-level manipulation checks applied in this research domain. This is the first systematic review of CLT-based advertising research involving psychological distance, which is the distance from self, here, and now. The review identified 86 relevant articles published in top-ranked journals between 2009 and 2023, retrieved from seven electronic academic databases. It found that CLT-based advertising studies are primarily anchored on the theoretical tenets of matching effect, categorization effect, and psychological distance. It further identified and classified the construal-level manipulations used in CLT-based advertising research into three categories: psychological-distance dimensions, psychological manipulations, and marketing-related factors. Finally, this review highlights the critical gaps in existing research and offers avenues for future research.