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>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-85359 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Birgestam, Christoffer, Koel, Jakob, Öman, Camilla |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för marknadsföring (MF) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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