When consumers are less knowledgeable about a product category, they tend to perceive the product as being more effective when:

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When evaluating how consumers with low knowledge react to product imagery, the options present different mechanisms by which perceived effectiveness can be influenced. 
Option 1: 'they critically evaluate message arguments in a brand's image.' For less knowledgeable consumers, critical evaluation of arguments is less likely because they may lack the background to assess argument quality, evidence, or logical strength. This makes this statement less plausible as the general tendency in low-knowledge contexts. 
Option 2: 'its image is distinct from the images of all competitor brands.' Distinctiveness can help brand recall or differentiation, but it does not directly tie to perceived effectiveness of the product promised results, especially for consumers who are not well-versed in the category; it addresses differentiation rather than credibility of promised outcomes. 
Option 3: 'its image varies to a great extent from the previous versions of the brand's images.' Frequent drastic changes in imagery may confuse or reduce trust, particularly for low-knowledge consumers who rely on consistency to form expectations, so this would unlikely increase perceived effectiveness. 
Option 4: 'they tend to link the information in a message to their existing beliefs.' This aligns with general heuristic processing where consumers map new information to prior beliefs; with low knowledge, people rely on heuristics and prior beliefs, which can influence perceived effectiveness but does not specifically address proximity to promised results. 
Option 5: 'its image is shown close to the image of the promised results.' This option suggests perceptual congruence between the product’s imagery and the promised outcomes, leveraging the affective-visual cue that reinforces efficacy when the visuals align with claimed results. For less knowledgeable consumers, such congruence can create a sense of plausibility and expectancy, increasing perceived effectiveness through the visual cue of promised outcomes. This mechanism is well-supported in advertising research as a simple, intuitive cue that boosts perceived efficacy when visuals mirror claims. 
In sum, each option offers a different route of influence, but the most direct and plausible driver of increased perceived effectiveness for a less knowledgeable audience is the alignment of imagery with the promised results, making option 5 the most compelling choice.

When consumers are less knowledgeable about a product category, they tend to perceive the product as being more effective when:

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