Feelings Evoked by Warm, Erotic, Humorous or Non-Emotional print Advertisements for Alcoholic Beverages."

Academy of Marketing Science Review, 1998 by De Pelsmacker, P

The prediction of the intention to buy by means of a regression analysis of a similar structure leads to very low determination coefficients. This confirms earlier findings (Walker and Dubitsky (1991)) regarding the limited effect of likability on purchase intention. Only the variables "interest" and "having an improved impression of the brand" seem to have a limited explanatory power. When the attitude towards the brand is added as an explanatory variable, R[sup 2] not surprisingly raises to 70%, and Ab is by far the most important explanatory factor.

Research question RQ5b addresses the problem of the explanatory power of feelings, cognitions and advertising content for different emotional executions. To answer this question separate (path C) regression analyses were conducted for each emotional stimulus. The regression results do not markedly differ between the various advertising stimuli (warm, erotic, humorous) and are quite similar to the general model. The explanatory power of the models for Ab are also strikingly low for all stimuli. Shift and slope dummy variables to test the differences between the various models for each ad type are not significant. All in all, the explanatory power of the models is too low to warrant any meaningful conclusion.

Conclusions and Suggestions for Further Research

Humorous, warm and erotic appeals do not lead to significant differences in ad-evoked feelings but all types of emotional appeals lead to more positive feelings than non-emotional ones. Positive feelings - more particularly, interest, lack of irritation and cheerfulness - exert a positive influence on ad and brand recognition. This is especially true for humorous and, to a lesser extent, for erotic and non-emotional ads. However, ad and brand recognition of warm stimuli are not significantly influenced by evoked feelings.

Furthermore, the same feelings of interest, lack of irritation and cheerfulness seem to play an important role in enhancing a positive impression of the brand. Lack of irritation and level of interest exert an important influence on brand impression especially in the case of humorous and, to a lesser extent, erotic ads. Ad-evoked feelings as well as the level of humor and warmth contribute to the explanation of Ab, Aad, and to a far lesser extent of PI. The model does not differ substantially between different types of ads. The significance of ad-evoked feelings as well as emotional content for the explanation of Aad, and the lack of importance of cognitive factors, is a remarkable result in that it demonstrates the important role of emotions and evoked feelings in the communication process. The relevance and the importance of those feelings depend on the emotional execution used.

Although this study supports previous research the findings should not be extrapolated without caution. First of all, only students were included in our research sample. Secondly, only one product category has been studied. Thirdly, the ads used in this study all promoted existing products and existing brands. For new brands and new products, emotional advertising may be less suited and an informational appeal is perhaps more appropriate. Fourthly, only print ads were studied. Other media like television and radio may require different advertising executions from magazines.