An experimental examination of mood effects on retrieval and evaluation of advertisement and brand information

To ascertain the effect of mood on information retrieval and evaluation of advertisements and brands, subjects were induced into one of three moods (positive, neutral, or negative) via a modified Velten procedure 72 hours after they were exposed to five fictitious advertisements. While delayed positive and negative mood states had opposite effects on memory-based recall of information, with subjects in the positive mood condition recalling significantly more information than those in the negative one, they had no significant effect on ad or brand evaluation. Recall data are consistent with previous reports in the literature and evaluation data can be explained according to the information processing goals of subjects as described by Keller (1991) or Srull (1990). Thus, it appears that inducing people into positive moods as much as 72 hours after they have seen an ad for a product can have a significant impact on their memory for ad copy. She received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Bowling Green State University and completed post-doctoral study in marketing at the University of Georgia. Dr. Knowles has published in journals which include theJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of Education for Business, Journal of Teaching in International Business, Psychological Reports, andJournal of International Consumer Marketing. Her research interests include psychological and physiological bases of consumer information processing and the underlying components of selling effectiveness of salespersons. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Texas Christian University and his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Grove is active in many research streams including services marketing, salesperson effectiveness, and environmental issues. Among his publications are articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Health Care Marketing, Journal of Marketing Education, and others. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Arizona State University. Dr. Burroughs’ research interests include rule-governed approaches to consumption, consumption symbolism, and social cognition in applied settings. He has published in theJournal of Consumer Research as well as in a number of psychology journals and has co-edited a book entitledApplied Psychology.