Emotional appeals in UK business-to-business financial services advertisements

Emmanuel Mogaji,Barbara Czarnecka,Annie Danbury

doi:10.1108/ijbm-09-2016-0127

Emmanuel Mogaji, Barbara Czarnecka + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbm-09-2016-0127

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Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyse the use of emotional appeals in business-to-business (B2B) bank advertisements and to understand business owners’ perceptions of such appeals.Design/methodology/approachIn Study 1,834 print advertisements collected from British newspapers were content analysed. In Study 2, semi-structured interviews with 17 business owners operating a business current account with a British bank were carried out.FindingsEmotional appeals are embedded in B2B financial services advertisements, and business owners acknowledge the presence of emotional appeals; however, the perceived congruency between emotional appeal and financial services could not be established as participants reported a largely utilitarian, need- and benefit-driven decision-making process.Research limitations/implicationsAccurately measuring emotions aroused through advertisements is considered a limitation. In addition, the sample of participants considered for this research project was small and medium-sized business owners.Practical implicationsEmotional appeals should be used in conjunction with detailed rational information about financial products, as emotional appeals only arouse interest. Relationship is considered crucial in capitalising on the emotionally appealing advertisements. Customers must feel appreciated and loyalty should be rewarded.Originality/valueThe paper responds to numerous calls for more research into the role of emotional influences on the relationships in a B2B context and on the behaviour of business customers.

Highlights

Purchase decisions in a business-to-business (B2B) context are often thought to be driven by rational processes
Santander Bank had the highest number of advertisement featuring emotional appeals (N=124, 24%), while Allied Irish Bank had the least amount of advertisements featuring emotional appeals (N=11, 2.1%)
UK banks use emotional appeals to reach out to business consumers and that these appeals ou are acknowledged by the consumers

Summary

Introduction

Purchase decisions in a business-to-business (B2B) context are often thought to be driven by rational processes. Researchers have been calling for a greater acknowledgment of how emotions influence the behaviour of business customers (Lynch and de Chernatony, 2004). B2B brand communications (Lynch and de Chernatony, 2007), as such encounters are based on the emotional behaviour of individuals in organisational decision-making units (Andersen and Kumar, 2006). Advertising is one of the key channels of communication used by brands in B2B markets, and the use of emotional appeals, widely researched in B2C ou contexts, has not been addressed in the context of B2B financial service markets. Researchers are still exploring its suitability for certain services nk (Matthes et al, 2014; Akbari, 2015) Both practitioners (Mowat, 2014) and academics alike have called for more research into the role emotions play in B2B encounters (Lynch and de Chernatony, 2007). This paper has responded to these calls by carrying out two studies which have been sequentially explored in order to develop a deeper ke understanding of emotional appeals in UK bank B2B advertisements, as well as consumer perceptions of such appeals

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