Background: Due to increasing environmental issues, the social marketing efforts from organisations are increasing with the aim to push for more sustainable behaviour. One recurring issue in these campaigns is palm oil production. Generally, social marketing relies on negative emotional appeals, such as fear, shame, and guilt, to generate desired responses to the message. This paper focuses on the use of both positive and negative emotional appeals in social marketing within the area of environmental sustainability.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the elements of the theory of planned behaviour with the addition of the social marketing appeal and how it, in turn, affects the intention to avoid palm oil. Further, the research aims to study the effects of positive emotional appeals within pro-environmental social marketing.   Method: To conduct this study, a quantitative approach was taken. Two questionnaires were made with the aim to measure respondents’ motivational factors leading to an intention to behavioural change based on the marketing appeal. One questionnaire included an advertisement using a positive appeal whereas the other utilised a negative appeal.   Conclusion: Both marketing appeals show positive relationships between the elements in the adapted theoretical framework, with perceived behavioural control being the strongest predictor of the intention to behavioural change. Further, it was discovered that the financial factor can be important to consider when it comes to sustainable consumption.

In today’s society, companies engage in sustainable efforts to lower the impact consumption has on the environment. To emphasize these efforts, companies utilize sustainable marketing to gain consumers’ attention. The advertisements used in sustainable marketing often involves marketing appeals, and mainly the two appeals: self-benefit and other-benefit. Studies have shown that most consumers appear to want to consume sustainably, however, there is a gap between consumers’ willingness and their actions. As young consumers are generally more motivated to consume sustainably, the purpose of this study was to provide the reader with more information regarding young consumer’s attitudes towards these appeals and how they affect young consumers’ decisions when it comes to sustainable consumption. By conducting qualitative one-on-one interviews with young consumers, their thoughts and attitudes towards the two appeals were collected and then analyzed with the help of the hierarchy of effects model created by Lavidge and Steiner (1961). The findings were compared with previous research on the subject, which also added an understanding to what motivates young consumers to consume in a more sustainable manner. In conclusion, this study found that both appeals worked as a reminder to young consumers to engage in sustainable consumption, as they were already very aware of the issue. It also suggested that the respondents had more positive attitudes towards the self-benefit appeal, as it benefitted themselves as well as the environment, which resulted in positive attitudes to engage in sustainable consumption. The other-benefit appeal seemed too holistic and some respondents developed skepticism towards the product/brand.

Marketing appeals often capitalize upon nostalgia. By highlighting periods of the past, practitioners hope to elicit positive associations in the minds of consumers between the past and desired responses, from purchases to donations to political support. Though less often, marketing appeals also draw upon the future as a way of making the featured good or service more appealing to potential consumers. Could these different temporal distances into the future or into the past impact the reaction of consumers? Could the context of a product being either hedonic or utilitarian have an influence on the outcome of these past or future based appeals? Further, in the case of balanced products with relatively equal hedonic and utilitarian natures, could the pairing of appeals related to different lengths of time into the past or future with hedonic or utilitarian appeal influence consumers as well? Exploring these possibilities through qualitative in-depth interviews with practitioners and consumers offers the potential to find answers and add to the body of knowledge. The fundamental premise of Construal Level Theory (Trope and Liberman, 2000) comes into play in this pursuit. Construal Level Theory states that psychological distance, be it temporal, spatial, social, or hypothetical (Trope, Liberman, and Wakslak, 2007) has an impact upon the decision-making outcomes of individuals due to their perception of the issues involved as being either abstract or concrete. It is in this context that this dissertation investigates the use of past-based and future-based appeals of varying temporal distances in relation to products of either a hedonic or utilitarian nature, as well as appeals based on either utilitarian or hedonic motivations. As a result of this analysis temporal distance was revealed to play a role in consumer responses, but a different one than initially expected. Rather than the temporal direction of either past or future favoring hedonic or utilitarian products and messaging, the relative proximity to the present proved to be the more powerful influence. The nearuture and near-past advertising treatments offered advantages to hedonic products, and faruture and far-past advertising treatments offered advantages to utilitarian products.

無 / This study examines the strategies adopted by the global brand Dorito’s in Taiwan, and contrasts the communicative strategies with those used in Mexican market. The foundation of this analysis resided in Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. This research has sampled filmic advertisements used in previous and current campaigns in both countries available in social media and video sharing platforms. Cultural values, marketing appeals, and value paradoxes were analyzed, as well as other elements like product design and packaging have been assessed to understand the implications and the role that national culture plays when creating marketing strategies. Product localization and standardization have their implications in this study. Doritos’ brand communicative strategies have been modified to fit into the taste of Taiwanese buyers, adopting different appeals and values than those utilized in Mexican market. Recurrent use of value paradox, in harmony with Doritos’ brand values is found to be consistent in Mexico and Taiwan. One of the most remarkable value paradoxes adopted in branding is irreverence it extends the reach of campaigns, and brand memorability. Product standardization across markets has been a long-time strategy adopted by Doritos, although, some characteristics like flavor and spiciness level were modified in order to fit Taiwanese buyers’ taste. The data set utilized for the purposes of this study was constrained and dramatically reduced by the availability of video-based advertisements publicly available on social media channels of Doritos in each market. Doritos’ brand communicative strategies have been modified to fit into the taste of Taiwanese buyers, adopting different appeals and values than those utilized in Mexican market. Product standardization across markets has been a long-time strategy adopted by Doritos, although, some characteristics like flavor and spiciness level were modified in order to fit Taiwanese buyers’ taste.