IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v64y2022ics096969892100391x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ad creativity in a negative context: How a thanking message frame enhances purchase intention in times of crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Demsar, Vlad
  • Sands, Sean
  • Rosengren, Sara
  • Campbell, Colin

Abstract

Traditionally, advertising relies on creativity to increase its effectiveness. However, little is known about the use of creativity in negatively-valenced situations. For instance, in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, how should retailers engage in advertising? Should they strive to deliver creative advertising, or not? We investigate the role of ad creativity during times of crisis, based on 43,459 consumer responses to 49 retail and service brand ads. To do so, we investigate the separate effects of the two dimensions of ad creativity: originality and appropriateness. Results indicate that creativity works differently in a crisis context, with originality and appropriateness having different effects on consumers. Further, we find that originality and appropriateness trigger emotions in opposite ways. However, ads that engage thanking - be it of employees, customers, or frontline emergency workers - strengthen these effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Demsar, Vlad & Sands, Sean & Rosengren, Sara & Campbell, Colin, 2022. "Ad creativity in a negative context: How a thanking message frame enhances purchase intention in times of crisis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:64:y:2022:i:c:s096969892100391x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102825
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096969892100391X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102825?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keane, Michael & Neal, Timothy, 2021. "Consumer panic in the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 220(1), pages 86-105.
    2. Pham, Michel Tuan & Geuens, Maggie & De Pelsmacker, Patrick, 2013. "The influence of ad-evoked feelings on brand evaluations: Empirical generalizations from consumer responses to more than 1000 TV commercials," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 383-394.
    3. J.J. Brakus & B.H. Schmitt & L. Zarantonello, 2009. "Brand Experience: What Is It? How Do We Measure It? And Does It Affect Loyalty?," Post-Print hal-00799102, HAL.
    4. Lee, Michael S.W. & Septianto, Felix & Frethey-Bentham, Catherine & Gao, Esther, 2020. "Condoms and bananas: Shock advertising explained through congruence theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. Sheth, Jagdish, 2020. "Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 280-283.
    6. Farah, Maya F. & Newman, Andrew J., 2010. "Exploring consumer boycott intelligence using a socio-cognitive approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 347-355, April.
    7. Marcus Phipps & Julie L. Ozanne, 2017. "Routines Disrupted: Reestablishing Security through Practice Alignment," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(2), pages 361-380.
    8. Xiaojing Yang & Robert E. Smith, 2009. "Beyond Attention Effects: Modeling the Persuasive and Emotional Effects of Advertising Creativity," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 935-949, 09-10.
    9. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Macinnis, Deborah J & Park, C Whan, 1991. "The Differential Role of Characteristics of Music on High- and Low-Involvement Consumers' Processing of Ads," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(2), pages 161-173, September.
    11. Ketron, Seth, 2016. "Consumer cynicism and perceived deception in vanity sizing: The moderating role of retailer (dis)honesty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 33-42.
    12. Campbell, Colin & Sands, Sean & Ferraro, Carla & Tsao, Hsiu-Yuan (Jody) & Mavrommatis, Alexis, 2020. "From data to action: How marketers can leverage AI," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 227-243.
    13. Mansur Khamitov & Yany Grégoire & Anshu Suri, 2020. "A systematic review of brand transgression, service failure recovery and product-harm crisis: integration and guiding insights," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 519-542, May.
    14. Dahl, Darren W. & Frankenberger, Kristina D. & Manchanda, Rajesh V., 2003. "Does It Pay to Shock? Reactions to Shocking and Nonshocking Advertising Content among University Students," Journal of Advertising Research, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(3), pages 268-280, September.
    15. Michael B. Beverland & Francis J. Farrelly, 2010. "The Quest for Authenticity in Consumption: Consumers' Purposive Choice of Authentic Cues to Shape Experienced Outcomes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(5), pages 838-856, February.
    16. Holbrook, Morris B & Batra, Rajeev, 1987. "Assessing the Role of Emotions as Mediators of Consumer Responses to Advertising," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(3), pages 404-420, December.
    17. Demsar, Vlad & Sands, Sean & Campbell, Colin & Pitt, Leyland, 2021. "“Unprecedented,” “extraordinary,” and “we're all in this together”: Does advertising really need to be so tedious in challenging times?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 415-424.
    18. Elaine Wallace & Isabel Buil & Leslie Chernatony, 2020. "‘Consuming Good’ on Social Media: What Can Conspicuous Virtue Signalling on Facebook Tell Us About Prosocial and Unethical Intentions?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 577-592, March.
    19. Jiemiao Chen & Xiaojing Yang & Robert E. Smith, 2016. "The effects of creativity on advertising wear-in and wear-out," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 334-349, May.
    20. Hirschman, Elizabeth C, 1980. "Innovativeness, Novelty Seeking, and Consumer Creativity," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 7(3), pages 283-295, December.
    21. Edell, Julie A & Burke, Marian Chapman, 1987. "The Power of Feelings in Understanding Advertising Effects," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(3), pages 421-433, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Konuk, Faruk Anıl & Otterbring, Tobias, 2024. "The dark side of going green: Dark triad traits predict organic consumption through virtue signaling, status signaling, and praise from others," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Zheng, Han & Chen, Kai & Ma, Zhuoyuan, 2023. "Interactive effects of social norms and information framing on consumers' willingness of food waste reduction behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. Kumar, Prashant & Utkarsh,, 2023. "Effects of in-store information quality and store credibility on consumer engagement in green retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Hongxu Shi & Peihua Ma & Yinchu Zeng & Jiping Sheng, 2022. "Understanding the Interaction between Regulatory Focus and Message Framing in Determining Chinese Consumers’ Attitudes toward Artificial Meat," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Suci, Afred & Wang, Hui-Chih & Doong, Her-Sen, 2023. "Relax Your Fear—The role of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) in green advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Barta, Sergio & Belanche, Daniel & Fernández, Ana & Flavián, Marta, 2023. "Influencer marketing on TikTok: The effectiveness of humor and followers’ hedonic experience," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gaetano Miceli & Maria Antonietta Raimondo, 2020. "Creativity in the marketing and consumer behavior literature: a structured review and a research agenda," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2020(1), pages 85-124, March.
    2. Ursavas, Baris & Hesapci-Sanaktekin, Ozlem, 2013. "What happens when you're lost between happiness and sadness?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(7), pages 933-940.
    3. Maria Mercanti-Guérin & Christophe Bezes, 2010. "La créativité publicitaire représente-t-elle un danger pour les marques ?," Post-Print hal-02056938, HAL.
    4. Lunardo, Renaud & Mouangue, Emilie, 2019. "Getting over discomfort in luxury brand stores: How pop-up stores affect perceptions of luxury, embarrassment, and store evaluations," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 77-85.
    5. Zha, Dongmei & Marvi, Reza & Foroudi, Pantea, 2023. "Synthesizing the customer experience concept: A multimodularity approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Lee, Seunghwan & Kim, Yukyoum & Heere, Bob, 2018. "Sport team emotion: Conceptualization, scale development and validation," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 363-376.
    7. Yoo, Changjo & Park, Jonghee & MacInnis, Deborah J., 1998. "Effects of Store Characteristics and In-Store Emotional Experiences on Store Attitude," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 253-263, July.
    8. Hilke Plassmann & Peter Kenning & Michael Deppe & Harald Kugel & Wolfram Schwindt, 2005. "Neural correlates of the affect heuristic during brand choice," Experimental 0509004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Couwenberg, Linda E. & Boksem, Maarten A.S. & Dietvorst, Roeland C. & Worm, Loek & Verbeke, Willem J.M.I. & Smidts, Ale, 2017. "Neural responses to functional and experiential ad appeals: Explaining ad effectiveness," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 355-366.
    10. Pham, Michel Tuan & Geuens, Maggie & De Pelsmacker, Patrick, 2013. "The influence of ad-evoked feelings on brand evaluations: Empirical generalizations from consumer responses to more than 1000 TV commercials," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 383-394.
    11. Liu, Hongfei & Liu, Wentong & Yoganathan, Vignesh & Osburg, Victoria-Sophie, 2021. "COVID-19 information overload and generation Z's social media discontinuance intention during the pandemic lockdown," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    12. Boukis, Achilleas, 2023. "Storytelling in initial coin offerings: Attracting investment or gaining referrals?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Kevin Lane Keller, 2023. "Looking forward, looking back: developing a narrative of the past, present and future of a brand," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(1), pages 1-8, January.
    14. Heribert Gierl & Roland Helm & Michaela Satzinger, 2000. "Die Wirkung positiver und negativer Aussagen in der Werbung vor dem Hintergrund des Message Framing," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 234-256, May.
    15. Babin, Barry J. & Darden, William R. & University, Louisiana State & Shreveport & Lousiana & Babin, Laurie A., 1998. "Negative Emotions in Marketing Research: Affect or Artifact?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 271-285, July.
    16. Kunz, Werner & Schmitt, Bernd & Meyer, Anton, 2011. "How does perceived firm innovativeness affect the consumer?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(8), pages 816-822, August.
    17. Chen Yang & Jing Hu, 2022. "When do consumers prefer AI-enabled customer service? The interaction effect of brand personality and service provision type on brand attitudes and purchase intentions," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(2), pages 167-189, March.
    18. Mazerant, Komala & Willemsen, Lotte M. & Neijens, Peter C. & van Noort, Guda, 2021. "Spot-On Creativity: Creativity Biases and Their Differential Effects on Consumer Responses in (Non-)Real-Time Marketing," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 15-31.
    19. Erevelles, Sunil, 1998. "The Role of Affect in Marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 199-215, July.
    20. Wen Zhang & Daniel R. Fesenmaier, 2018. "Assessing emotions in online stories: comparing self-report and text-based approaches," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 83-95, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:64:y:2022:i:c:s096969892100391x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.