An Investigation of the Relationship Between Need for Affect and Responses to Alcohol Public Service Announcements

ABSTRACT

The study investigates the impact of the Need for Affect personality construct on the processing of advertisements. The purpose of the present study is to gain a better understanding of how need for cognition, sensation seeking, and affect intensity as well as prior product use influence consumer responses to public service announcements. Specifically, the study attempts to improve the understanding of factors that should be considered in efforts to successfully demarket alcohol abuse among college students. The variables of need for cognition, sensation seeking, affect intensity, prior product use, memory of the advertising message, attitude toward the ad, intention to behave, and behavior are linked to create a multidimensional model. Results of the study indicate that high levels of sensation seeking and prior product use are the best predictors of behavior involving the specific product of alcoholic beverages. Need for cognition and affect intensity are not good predictors of behavior involving the specific product of alcoholic beverages. Sensation seeking is also an important indicator for prior product use of alcoholic beverages and intention to buy and consume alcoholic beverages. Although affect intensity does not have a significant effect on behavior, it does have a significant effect on memory of the advertising message.