My Bui

The role of advertising in consumer emotion management

Consumer research has demonstrated that emotions play an important role in the decisionmaking process. Individuals may use consumption or purchasing as a way to manage their emotions. This research develops a model to help explain the process by which individuals engage in consumption to manage their emotions, and examines the efficacy of an advertisement for a hedonic product that uses affect-laden language to stimulate such a process. Results suggest that favourable emotional responses from an advertisement can lead to positive attitudes towards the advertisement, prefactual thinking in the form of hedonic rationalisations and greater behavioural intentions. Additionally, guilt from consuming and purchasing these hedonic products can be mitigated, which is also associated with greater behavioural intentions. Findings have implications for marketers and advertisers of hedonic products.

Hold the Salt! Effects of Sodium Information Provision, Sodium Content, and Hypertension on Perceived Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Purchase Intentions

Excessive sodium intake is a major cause of hypertension, a significant risk factor for several forms of cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure. Despite this finding, the average intake among Americans is 150% of the maximum recommended level. The goal of this research is to obtain greater consumer insight into this important public health issue. The authors analyze data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2006 and conduct two experiments using a nationwide panel of consumers. The results indicate that hypertension status has a significant effect on consumers’ attention to sodium on the Nutrition Facts panel (Study 1) and moderates the influence of sodium disclosure on perceived cardiovascular disease risk and purchase intentions for restaurant items (Study 2). In addition, the authors find that sodium level on a Nutrition Facts panel interacts with the provision of health-related sodium educational materials to influence disease risk perceptions and purchase intentions (Study 3). They offer potential implications of their findings for public policy makers, the public health community, and consumers.

The Fight Against Obesity: Influences of Self-Efficacy on Exercise Regularity

Given the current social problem of obesity, past and current research efforts have examined consumer choice and decisionmaking regarding food consumption. However, preventative health behaviors such as exercise are also instrumental in combating the obesity epidemic. Limited studies in the marketing literature have explored how internal and psychological characteristics influence physical activity and exercise regularity. Thus, this study seeks to examine how individual self-efficacy impacts exercise behavior. Findings indicate that in order to fully explain the relationship between perceived self-efficacy and exercise regularity, significant mediating factors such as health consciousness, goal progress, attitude toward exercise, and satisfaction with current weight must be included in the decision-making process. Implications for consumers, social marketers, and public policy makers are discussed.

Making Small Food Units Seem Regular: How Larger Table Size Reduces Calories to Be Consumed

People compensate for small food-unit sizes by eating more units compared to regular-sized units, but the aggregate of calories people consume of smaller versus regular units is still less because each unit consumed increases perceptions of overindulgence and impulsivity. This suggests that if perceptions of a food unit’s smallness could be disrupted, people may not need to compensate, resulting in a further reduction in aggregate food chosen and consumed. In a lab and field experiment, people took the fewest calories when presented with smaller versus regular-sized pizza slices (i.e., from the same pizza pie diameter) placed on a larger table that distracted their attention away from the smallness of the pizza slices. We show that unit-size effects can be altered by food frame-size mechanisms like table diameter.

Fear advertisements: influencing consumers to make better health decisions

From a goal-theoretic framework, this paper proposes that fear-based framing of health messages can lead to positive decision intentions, thus helping consumers make better future health-related choices. Across two experiments, findings demonstrate that the type of advertisement (fear versus hope) and food prime (indulgent versus non-indulgent) interact to determine goal-related choice focus – such as subsequent indulgence intention or intention to implement an exercise health goal. Research implications include the suggestion that if marketers properly execute fear-primed promotional messages with non-indulgent food offerings, they can satisfy the notion that ‘One good health decision can lead to another.’

When Kiosk Retailing Intimidates Shoppers: How Gender-Focused Advertising Can Mitigate the Perceived Risks of the Unfamiliar

ABSTRACT This study addresses kiosk-based shopping behavior among female consumers. The authors sought to build upon existing promotional retail research that showed and explained gender differences in experiential shopping environments. Upon confirming extant literature findings of gender differences as they apply to perceptions of shopping risk in kiosk environments, the current study manipulates levels of anticipated regret for males and females when shopping in kiosks versus traditional department stores in a between-subjects experimental design incorporating a diverse non-student sample. The robust gender difference indicates that targeted promotions for kiosks are critical to the reduction of possible regret and risk perceptions, especially for females.

Understanding the power of hope and empathy in healthcare marketing

Purpose The dynamic landscape of healthcare has seen significant changes in marketing by the various types of healthcare providers. This research aims to explore the impact of emotions in healthcare advertising. Design/methodology/approach Two consumer panel experiments investigate the role of hope and empathy appeals in fostering positive evaluations toward healthcare providers (medical centers for serious illnesses). Findings Study 1 shows that two types of emotion-based healthcare appeals are more effective than non-emotional appeals. Study 2 compares the relative effectiveness of hope versus empathy appeals with medical expert or typical person (patient) testimonials. Research limitations/implications Findings demonstrate that in a healthcare context, an expert testimonial enhanced the persuasiveness of a hope-based appeal, whereas testimonials from unknown patients were not effective. Originality/value Understanding the role of emotions in healthcare advertising is increasingly important as healthcare providers compete on care and quality outcomes and advertising agencies vie for the attention of consumers.

The Power of Promoting Healthy Brands: Familiarity in Healthy Product Decision Making

This research investigates consumer decision making and brand commitment for brands promoted as “healthy.” The authors examine the relationship of brand familiarity to brand credibility, brand quality, purchase intentions, and brand commitment. The findings indicate that familiarity can help increase purchase intentions and brand commitment for healthy brands with low credibility. However, to go beyond a transactional exchange to one that is relational in nature, familiarity, credibility, and quality are all crucial for fostering brand commitment.