Attributes Versus Benefits: The Role of Construal Levels and Appeal Type on the Persuasiveness of Marketing Messages

When should marketers emphasize attributes or benefits in their communications? Grounded in construal-level theory, the results of four studies suggest that when a purchase is planned for the distant future or when construal levels are high, benefit-based appeals are more persuasive than attribute-based appeals. By contrast, when a purchase is planned for the near future or when consumers are predisposed to low construal levels, attribute-based appeals are equally as persuasive as benefit-based appeals. However, when low construal levels are temporarily induced using a mind-set manipulation, attribute-based appeals are found to be more persuasive than benefit-based appeals. Moreover, we demonstrate how these effects occur only when processing fluency is uninhibited. This research establishes an important link between these appeal types and construal levels, subsequently demonstrating when marketers should use these appeals.     

Is sexy better than funny? Disentangling the persuasive effects of pleasure and arousal across sex and humour appeals

Although it is well known that sex and humour can help sell products, hardly any research has examined whether there is something particular about sexual advertisements that makes them more persuasive than other appeals. The present research proposed an empirically robust way to test the persuasiveness of different emotional appeals (sex, humour, control) by matching them on pleasure and arousal levels. Two experiments (N = 162; N = 301) examined the combined persuasive effects of different levels of pleasure (moderate, high) and arousal (moderate, high) for sexual and nonsexual appeals. Study 1 used a 3 (appeal: sexual, humorous, control) × 2 (pleasure level: moderate, high) between-subjects design. Study 2 employed a 2 (appeal: sexual, control) × 2 (arousal level: moderate, high) × 2 (pleasure level: moderate, high) design. The main dependent measures were attitudes towards the ad, attitudes towards the brand, and purchase intentions. The results showed that highly pleasant ads increased persuasion regardless of arousal and content, and that sexual appeals outperformed nonsexual appeals only under conditions of moderate pleasure and high arousal.     

Readings in Public and Nonprofit Marketing. Lovelock,Christopher H., and Charles B. Weinberg. Palo Alto,Calif.: The Scientific Press,the Stanford Barn, 1978

Abstract

In a recent paper, Johar and Sirgy have proposed a hypothesis that value-expressive advertising appeals are persuasive when the product is value-expressive, whereas utilitarian appeals are persuasive when the product is utilitarian. Johar and Sirgy suggested that future research be directed at testing these hypotheses. This comment points out that direct support for these hypotheses already exists. The experimental evidence in support of these and related predictions is discussed. Suggestions for future research on the effectiveness of utilitarian versus value-expressive appeals are offered.     

Selling through entertaining: The effect of humour in television advertising in Hong Kong

Considerable research evidence has indicated that humour has a positive impact on attention but no consensus is reached with regard to the persuasive effect of humour in advertising. Two hundred and fifty-four university students were recruited to watch five television commercials and respond to a structured questionnaire in this study. Results show that humour secures attention getting while disrupts message processing. Humour enhances message persuasiveness when the moderating variable need for cognition (NFC) is controlled. Participants with low NFC are easier to be persuaded by humorous commercials than participants with high NFC do. It is also found that repeated exposure to the same humorous commercial does not harm its persuasive effect. Male audiences regard humorous commercials as more persuasive while female audiences are the opposite. The study provides guidelines for advertisers/advertising practitioners who would like to employ humour in their communication at the same time it draws ethical concerns towards the increased application of entertainment-coated persuasion.     

A content analysis of television food advertising to children: comparing low and general‐nutrition food

Television food advertisements targeted at children were content analysed. Data were collected on four major children's cable television channels in the United States aired during the hours of 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. over the period of 23 August to 5 September 2012. Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion, the study identified a variety of persuasive appeals with central and peripheral cues in the child‐targeted food commercials. Further, it investigated how the central and peripheral cues in the appeals were differently associated with low‐nutrition and general‐nutrition food commercials. Overall, the findings showed that general‐nutrition food commercials used persuasive appeals with central cues more frequently than low‐nutrition food commercials. Theoretical, practical and regulatory implications are discussed.     

Fear appeals and coping appeals for health product promotion: Impulsive purchasing or psychological distancing?

The prevalence of online health communities (OHCs) motivates health product companies to manipulate persuasion-based marketing strategies, including fear appeals and coping appeals, to promote health products. However, whether such a practice is effective remains unclear. Respondents may either impulsively purchase the recommended health products or simply distance themselves psychologically from the information. Building on protection motivation theory (PMT), this study uncovers the mechanisms behind these two coping responses to persuasive messages, namely, the impulsive purchasing and psychological distancing of OHC users. Correspondingly, we evaluated 366 valid questionnaires, and the results reveal that (1) when encountering fear appeals, perceived health threat can evoke cyberchondria, leading to psychological distancing; and (2) when encountering coping appeals, perceived response efficacy leads to product affection, fostering impulsive purchasing. This study provides new insights into the effects of persuasive messages for health product promotion in social commerce. Marketers should design appropriate persuasive messages to foster impulsive purchasing by generating individuals’ product affection and avoiding cyberchondria.     

Affect intensity revisited: Individual differences and the communication effects of emotional stimuli

The influence of a measure of individual differences with regard to the experience of emotions, more specifically affect intensity, on communication effects of different emotional (warm, humorous, and erotic) and nonemotional advertising appeals is tested. Although affect intensity is claimed to be generalizable across moods, the results lend tentative support for the recently raised criticism that affect intensity appears to be mood specific. Indeed, the predicted effects of affect intensity seem to occur more in the case of warm and humorous appeals, and only to a lesser extent in response to erotic ads. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Brand familiarity as a moderating factor in the ad and brand attitude relationship and advertising appeals

Studies examining the effects of advertising appeals have yielded conflicting results. Some have found that an emotional appeal is more persuasive than an informational appeal, while others have demonstrated the opposite. The objective of the current study was to explore a theoretical explanation for the conflicting results in advertising appeal research. The findings of this study support the theory that brand familiarity determines the effectiveness of advertising appeal. The study results additionally support the theory that attitudes toward the ad predict the consumer’s attitude toward the brand. In addition, the study found that brand familiarity moderates the strength of the relationship between ad attitude and brand attitude. Other aspects and the implications of these findings are discussed in this paper.     

Guilt Appeals and Prosocial Behavior: An Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Anticipatory Versus Reactive Guilt Appeals on the Effectiveness of Blood Donor Appeals

This study investigates the effectiveness of guilt-arousing communication in promoting prosocial behavior. By analyzing the distinct effects of anticipatory versus reactive guilt appeals, we contribute to the discussion of guilt appeals as drivers of prosocial behavior, especially blood donation. Research on persuasive communication provides the theoretical basis of our study and we validate our hypotheses by means of two 2?×?2 factorial between-subjects designs. We find that anticipatory rather than reactive guilt appeals are more effective in generating prosocial action tendencies. Compared to noninformational reference group influences, messages endorsed by members of informational reference groups yielded more favorable attitudinal responses. Besides their significant main effect, two-sided messages reinforce the favorable impact of anticipatory guilt appeals. The study concludes with practical implications for nonprofit organizations and public blood donor services as well as avenues for future research.     

The interaction of message frames and reference points in prosocial persuasive appeals

This research seeks to reconcile inconsistent results obtained in prior framing research in prosocial persuasion contexts by proposing that the reference point (self or self‐other) invoked in a persuasive appeal moderates the impact of a particular message frame (positive or negative) on attitudes and behavioral intentions. Two experiments were conducted in which frame and reference point were manipulated in persuasive messages promoting either recycling or prevention of HPV, a sexually transmitted disease. The results indicate that in persuasive social contexts, negative frames may be most persuasive with self‐referencing appeals while positive frames work best when benefits to self as well as others are emphasized. This suggests that developers of prosocial communications should be cognizant of both the message frame and the reference point invoked in these messages in order to have maximum persuasion impact. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Effects of Guilt-Appeal Intensity on Persuasive and Emotional Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Sponsor Motive

Studies examining the persuasive effects of guilt appeals have yielded mixed results. The current study hypothesizes that source motive (profit versus not for profit) is a key moderating variable underlying these inconsistences. A controlled experiment tested the moderating role of sponsor motive on the relationship between guilt-appeal intensity and persuasiveness of the appeal and ad liking. Findings confirmed the notion that sponsor motive moderates the effects of guilt appeals: When guilt appeals are commercially oriented there is a relative failure of high-intensity guilt appeals compared to moderate-intensity guilt appeals. Moderate-intensity guilt appeals cause more-positive brand attitudes than high-intensity appeals. Yet, when guilt appeals are nonprofit, increases in intensity of guilt communicated lead to positive results. As the guilt-intensity increased, ad liking and persuasiveness increased. It appears that guilt-appeal intensity did not have an effect on brand attitudes when the message was nonprofit.     

The Effect of Consumer Persuasion Knowledge on Scarcity Appeal Persuasiveness

Past research identifies demand-related scarcity appeals and supply-related scarcity appeals as effective persuasive influences on consumer behavior. The present research uses a persuasion knowledge approach to examine the persuasiveness of demand- versus supply-related scarcity appeals in advertising messages. Study 1 shows that supply-related scarcity appeal ad messages are less likely to activate persuasion knowledge than demand-related scarcity appeal messages. Study 2 demonstrates that message specificity moderates this effect. In line with an elaboration likelihood model perspective, results show that stating the appeal in specific (versus vague) terms decreases the persuasiveness of supply-related scarcity appeal ad messages.     

Using virtual reality to increase charitable donations

Marketer interest in using virtual reality (VR) as a persuasion tactic continues to rise. Notably, one sector at the forefront of utilizing this tactic for persuasive means is nonprofit marketing. Many charities have devoted considerable resources to creating VR appeals under the assumption that this medium will increase donations over and above present tactics. However, research has not yet examined the persuasive consequences VR may provide over more traditional channels. This research seeks to understand the opportunities and limitations this emerging tactic can offer marketers. Specifically, we examine the donation effectiveness of three real VR charitable appeals by assessing actual donation behaviors, and find that VR appeals increase donations compared to a two-dimensional (2D) format. This work addresses a timely and relevant issue for practitioners and opens doors to future research investigating VR’s applications to marketing.

     

Targeting the over Sixty-Five Vote in Political Campaigns

Abstract

Older voters are demonstrated to be more Republican and more interested in politics than younger voters. In Arizona, they are also more likely to contribute to political campaigns, particularly when candidate-oriented direct mail appeals are used. Campaign strategies that assume people over 65 are dramatically different in the way they react to persuasive messages may dilute their effectiveness. Age is seen to be an important factor in processing campaign communications when the candidates or issues are clearly perceived as having relevance for older people.     

Evolution in the usage of localized appeals in Japanese and American print advertising

Based on global consumer culture theory, this empirical investigation examines how the usage of local appeals in Japanese and American advertising content has shifted over a period of nearly three decades. It replicates and improves upon Mueller’s investigation (Journal of Advertising Research, 1987, 27(3)). Content analysis determined the existence or absence of five traditionally Japanese appeals vs five traditionally Western appeals in 2005 issues of women’s, general interest, business and sports magazines published in each country. A total of 899 US ads and 853 Japanese ads were collected. Japanese advertisers appear to have turned to a rather more direct and persuasive selling approach, but continue to maintain a tradition of Japanese subtlety. American ads have shifted from a hard-hitting and aggressive strategy to a more benefit-orientated strategy with a distinctly softer touch. Appeals employed, however, were found to vary with the product category promoted. Overall, findings suggest that while Japanese advertising may have become somewhat more ‘American’, American advertising appears to have become significantly more ‘Japanese’. Possible future convergence between Eastern and Western advertising has implications for international marketers as they craft messages to appeal to these audiences.     

Moral Emotions and Self-Construal in Charity Advertising: Communication on Focus

Many charity organizations face ongoing challenges to promote monetary donations and other helping behaviors. Integrating the literature on the role of emotion in persuasive communication and intercultural communication, two studies were conducted to explore the impact of moral emotions and self-construal in charity advertising. A survey investigated the extent to which moral emotions with different referent of focus operated differently among individuals with varying self-construal in affecting the intent to donate. An experiment examined the impact of ego- versus other-focused emotional appeals in the processing of charity advertising. Results indicated that moral emotions significantly influenced participants' purchase intention towards social-cause products. In addition, self-construal moderated the influence of positive moral emotions on purchase intention, as well as the influence of positive emotional appeals on the intent to donate. Specifically, the persuasive effectiveness was enhanced when independents were associated with ego-focused emotions or ego-focused emotional appeals; and interdependents with other-focused emotions or other-focused emotional appeals. These two studies expanded the knowledge on the effects of emotions on communication and persuasion, and provided relevant implications for practitioners in creating effective messages to promote social causes. Limitations and directions for future research were also outlined.     

Introversion-extraversion and loud commercials

The introversion-extraversion dimension of Hans Eysenck's personality theory, combined with the theory proposed by Daniel E. Berlyne that hedonic value changes with changes in arousal level, are used to examine the effect that high intensity advertising appeals have on the audience. It was hypothesized that advertising appeals presented at a higher stimulus intensity than the program in which they are imbedded (e.g., commercials presented at a higher volume) would have a differential effect on individuals due, in part, to whether they were introverts or extraverts. In a preliminary test of this hypothesis, participants were exposed to either a radio commercial played at the same volume as the program or to one that was played at a higher volume. Their attitudes toward the commercial and the product were assessed. The results indicate that there is a difference between introverts and extraverts in the resulting attitude toward the product based on the type of appeal to which they were exposed.     

The Role of Beneficiaries’ Group Identity in Determining Successful Appeal Strategies for Charitable Giving

What types of message appeals in charity advertisements are most likely to convince people to donate? Using university rivalry (Studies 1 and 2), nationality (Study 3), and freely chosen groups (Study 4), this research proposes that the beneficiaries’ group identity moderates the relative effectiveness of three benefit foci of message appeals in charity advertisements. The results indicate that other‐benefit appeals produce greater donation intentions than external self‐benefit appeals for in‐group beneficiaries, whereas external self‐benefit appeals produce greater donation intentions than other‐benefit appeals for rival (Studies 1–3), dissociative (Study 4), and neutral (Study 4) out‐group beneficiaries. Emotional‐benefit appeals are more effective than external self‐benefit appeals for in‐group beneficiaries, and are more effective than other‐benefit appeals for neutral out‐group beneficiaries, whereas they are less effective than external self‐benefit appeals for dissociative out‐group beneficiaries (Study 4). Empathy and belief in personal benefits mediate the interaction effect of benefit focus and beneficiary group on donation intentions (Studies 3 and 4). Theoretical and managerial implications of the current findings are discussed.     

Do Cold Images Cause Cold-Heartedness? The Impact of Visual Stimuli on the Effectiveness of Negative Emotional Charity Appeals

Previous research shows that negative emotional charity appeals tend to be more effective than other emotional charity appeals because they evoke sympathy. However, feelings of loneliness reduce individuals' ability to sympathize with others. Based on grounded cognition research, we propose that exposure to images of cold objects will lead to feelings of physical coldness, which in turn will increase perceptions of loneliness, such that negative emotional charity appeals that are viewed following exposure to cold (versus neutral or warm) images will be less effective at eliciting donations. Findings from four studies provide support for this hypothesis and delineate the link between the presence of certain commonplace visual images in the media and their influence on the effectiveness of embedded negative charity appeals, and identify a new context effect that attenuates the effectiveness of charity appeals.     

Cultural Meaning,Advertising, and National Culture: A Four-Country Study

Cultural meaning transfer theory and GLOBE dimensions were employed in this comparative study to examine the extent to which cultural meaning presented in advertisements reflected national cultures of the target countries. Content analysis was applied to advertisements from four countries to investigate whether the use of advertising appeals presented in these advertisements mirrored variations in cultures as described by GLOBE Society Values. Results revealed that, in line with the hypotheses, there were similarities and differences in the use of appeals, and only some of them mirrored the cultural variations. GLOBE Society Values were more likely to predict the use of appeals than GLOBE Society Practices, but not for all appeals. Advertisers can draw on national cultures for cultural meanings to be used in advertisements only to a limited extent. It may be that advertisements mold rather than mirror societal values, or that only certain cultural traits are important for advertisers.