Background: The fundamental aim of utilizing a message strategy is to develop advertising content that captures consumer attention and thereby generates favourable consumer behaviour. Two common approaches in advertising are (i) emotional appeals and (ii) rational appeals. Literature has found emotional appeals to be the superior alternative, but are yet to fully grasp the dynamics of the different emotional appeals as several researchers have called for further establishment and knowledge in the area. In this study, a new approach to emotional appeals has been taken in terms of including a wider range of emotions than has been previously done, and the aim is therethrough to receive a more nuanced and complete understanding of the phenomenon emotional appeals. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the different effects of emotional message appeals on purchase intention. Methodology: This study utilized an explanatory purpose along with a deductive, quantitative research approach, as well as a cross-sectional research design to test a conceptual model based on six hypotheses. The data collection method was completed through the distribution of a self-administered questionnaire in various online forums. The questionnaire received 212 valid responses. Findings: The hypotheses for four out of the six basic emotions were tested. The Happiness appeal showed to have the most positive effect on purchase intention (0.412), whilst Fear (0.269) and Sadness (0.273) also displayed positive tendencies, even though the Sadness appeal had been hypothesized to have negative effects on purchase intention. Furthermore, the Disgust appeal was - as hypothesized - suggested to have a negative influence on purchase intention (-0.277). The Surprise and Anger appeals displayed insignificant F-values and could thereby not be further investigated. Conclusion: Based on the four remaining emotions an adjusted conceptual model was presented in which one can observe the varying effects of emotional message appeals on purchase intention. This model can be valuable for marketers and marketing practitioners looking to apply emotional appeals as part of their marketing strategies, as well as to researchers looking to more fully understand the dynamics of emotions and emotional appeals in marketing contexts. Last, this study calls for further establishment within the field of emotional appeals in terms of gathering insights into the fluidity of emotions. / <p>Appendix 3 is in a separate file.</p>

Att blanda matrester med vanligt hushållsavfall har negativ inverkan på miljön. Men trots detta visar den senaste statistiken att enbart 25,5 % av matavfallet från svenska hushåll sorteras ut. Det verkar bland annat bero på en negativ inställning, och kan indikera ett behov av information som övertygar om vikten att sortera ut. Därför efterfrågade Eskilstuna Strängnäs Energi &amp; Miljö ett material som motiverar boende till en ändrad attityd. Studiens syfte var att komma fram till hur information om att sortera ut matavfall kan utformas för att positivt påverka mottagarnas inställning. Arbetet utgick från teori inom retorik, budskapsstrategier och användarcentrerad design, vilket tillsammans med empirisk data blev grunden för ett gestaltningsförslag. Empirisk data samlades in genom fyra metoder: en intervju med en ämnesexpert för att rama in problemet, en retorisk textanalys för att resonera kring om befintlig information bidragit till att problemet kvarstår, en enkätundersökning för att definiera målgruppens informationsbehov, attityd och mediepreferens samt två utvärderande tester för att undersöka om gestaltningsförslaget fick avsedd inverkan. Genom detta kunde flera slutsatser dras. Bland annat att en blandad budskapsstrategi, metaforer, bilder och att tilltala läsaren som ”du” kan ha positiv inverkan på mottagarens inställning, utifrån vilka en slutgestaltning skapades. / The environment is impacted in a negative way when food waste is commingled with other waste from the household. Still, the latest statistics show that only 25,5 % of the food waste from Swedish households is sorted out. This seems to be caused by a negative attitude among other things, and can indicate a need for convincing information about the importance of sorting out. Therefor, Eskilstuna Strängnäs Energi &amp; Miljö requested a material meant to motivate residents to change their attitude. The study’s purpose was to find out how information about sorting out food waste can be formed to make a positive impact on the receiver’s attitude. The study emanated from theories within rhetoric, message strategies and human centered design, which along with empirical data became the foundation for a design proposal. Empirical data was collected through four methods: an interview with a expert within the subject to frame the problem, a rhetorical text analysis to discuss if existing information have contributed to that the problem still remain, a questionnaire survey to define the target group’s information need, attitude and preferred medium, and two evaluative tests to examine if the design proposal had the intended impact. Through this, multiple conclusions could be drawn. For instance that a combined message strategy, metaphors, images and addressing the reader as “you” can have a positive impact on the receiver’s attitude, by which a final design was created.