Emotional Persuasion: When the Valence versus the Resource Demands of Emotions Influence Consumers’ Attitudes

Abstract

Can properties of emotions other than valence influence consumers’ responses to emotional ads? We show that consumers’ processing motivation moderates whether their attitudes are based on the valence of or the resource demands imposed by the emotion featured in an ad. When motivation is low, consumers respond more favorably to positively versus negatively valenced emotional ads. However, when motivation is high, attitudes are more favorable when the magnitude of allocated resources matches that required to process the ad. Three studies identify three distinct properties of emotions (univalence, purity, and self-consciousness) that can influence the resource demands of an ad.