IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i11p5954-d567253.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Advertising Effectiveness in Driving Action: A Study of Positive, Negative and Coactive Appeals on Social Media

Author

Listed:
  • Murooj Yousef

    (Social Marketing @ Griffith, Nathan Campus, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia)

  • Timo Dietrich

    (Social Marketing @ Griffith, Nathan Campus, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia)

  • Sharyn Rundle-Thiele

    (Social Marketing @ Griffith, Nathan Campus, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia)

Abstract

Background: Social media offers a cost-effective and wide-reaching advertising platform for marketers. Objectively testing the effectiveness of social media advertising remains difficult due to a lack of guiding frameworks and applicable behavioral measures. This study examines advertising appeals’ effectiveness in driving engagement and actions on and beyond social media platforms. Method: In an experiment, positive, negative and coactive ads were shared on social media and promoted for a week. The three ads were controlled in an A/B testing experiment to ensure applicable comparison. Measures used included impressions, likes, shares and clicks following the multi-actor social media engagement framework. Data were extracted using Facebook ads manager and website data. Significance was tested through a series of chi-square tests. Results: The promoted ads reached over 21,000 users. Significant effect was found for appeal type on engagement and behavioral actions. The findings support the use of negative advertising appeals over positive and coactive appeals. Conclusion: Practically, in the charity and environment context, advertisers aiming to drive engagement on social media as well as behavioral actions beyond social media should consider negative advertising appeals. Theoretically, this study demonstrates the value of using the multi-actor social media engagement framework to test advertising appeal effectiveness. Further, this study proposes an extension to evaluate behavioral outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Murooj Yousef & Timo Dietrich & Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, 2021. "Social Advertising Effectiveness in Driving Action: A Study of Positive, Negative and Coactive Appeals on Social Media," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-19, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5954-:d:567253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5954/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5954/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Melanie Davern & Robert Cummins & Mark Stokes, 2007. "Subjective Wellbeing as an Affective-Cognitive Construct," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 429-449, December.
    2. Shahbaznezhad, Hamidreza & Dolan, Rebecca & Rashidirad, Mona, 2021. "The Role of Social Media Content Format and Platform in Users' Engagement Behavior," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 47-65.
    3. Dokyun Lee & Kartik Hosanagar & Harikesh S. Nair, 2018. "Advertising Content and Consumer Engagement on Social Media: Evidence from Facebook," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5105-5131, November.
    4. Ruiz, Salvador & Sicilia, Maria, 2004. "The impact of cognitive and/or affective processing styles on consumer response to advertising appeals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(6), pages 657-664, June.
    5. Ferrier, Adam, 2014. "The Advertising Effect: How to Change Behaviour," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195593921.
    6. Petty, Richard E & Cacioppo, John T & Schumann, David, 1983. "Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 10(2), pages 135-146, September.
    7. Thakor, Mrugank V. & Goneau-Lessard, Karine, 2009. "Development of a scale to measure skepticism of social advertising among adolescents," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 1342-1349, December.
    8. David Hudson & N. Susan Laehn & Niheer Dasandi & Jennifer vanHeerde‐Hudson, 2019. "Making and Unmaking Cosmopolitans: An Experimental Test of the Mediating Role of Emotions in International Development Appeals," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 100(3), pages 544-564, May.
    9. Lee, Jieun & Hong, Ilyoo B., 2016. "Predicting positive user responses to social media advertising: The roles of emotional appeal, informativeness, and creativity," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 360-373.
    10. Jiewen Hong & Angela Y. Lee, 2010. "Feeling Mixed but Not Torn: The Moderating Role of Construal Level in Mixed Emotions Appeals," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(3), pages 456-472, October.
    11. Shawky, Sara & Kubacki, Krzysztof & Dietrich, Timo & Weaven, Scott, 2020. "A dynamic framework for managing customer engagement on social media," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 567-577.
    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. Kim, Minseong & Kim, Jihye, 2024. "From empathetic hearts to digital hands: A study of compassion and donation behavior in social media advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(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. Valentina Nicolini & Fabio Cassia, 2022. "The influence of PSA's likeability on children’s intentions to eat healthy food," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(1), pages 15-36, March.
    2. Syrdal, Holly A. & Myers, Susan & Sen, Sandipan & Woodroof, Parker J. & McDowell, William C., 2023. "Influencer marketing and the growth of affiliates: The effects of language features on engagement behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Junpeng Guo & Siyuan Gou & Wenhua Li, 2024. "Helpful advertising messages reach consumers through user-generated videos: an empirical study from the audience involvement perspective," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(2), pages 290-306, June.
    4. Diandian Xiang & Leinan Zhang & Qiuyan Tao & Yonggui Wang & Shuang Ma, 2019. "Informational or emotional appeals in crowdfunding message strategy: an empirical investigation of backers’ support decisions," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 1046-1063, November.
    5. Dong Hoo Kim & Doori Song, 2019. "Can brand experience shorten consumers’ psychological distance toward the brand? The effect of brand experience on consumers’ construal level," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(3), pages 255-267, May.
    6. Tibert Verhagen & Daniel Bloemers, 2018. "Exploring the cognitive and affective bases of online purchase intentions: a hierarchical test across product types," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 537-561, September.
    7. Zheng Shen, 2024. "Shall brands create their own virtual influencers? A comprehensive study of 33 virtual influencers on Instagram," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Lim, Weng Marc & Rasul, Tareq, 2022. "Customer engagement and social media: Revisiting the past to inform the future," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 325-342.
    9. Vasu Unnava & Ashwin Aravindakshan, 2021. "How does consumer engagement evolve when brands post across multiple social media?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 864-881, September.
    10. Donatas Cvirka & Elzė Rudienė & Mangirdas Morkūnas, 2022. "Investigation of Attributes Influencing the Attractiveness of Mobile Commerce Advertisements on the Facebook Platform," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    11. Zhao, Lu & Zhang, Mingli & Ming, Yaxin & Niu, Tao & Wang, Yu, 2023. "The effect of image richness on customer engagement: Evidence from Sina Weibo," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Sardar, Sainaz & Tata, Sai Vijay & Sarkar, Subhro, 2024. "Examining the influence of source factors and content characteristics of influencers' post on consumer engagement and purchase intention: A moderated analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Xiao, Lin & Li, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Yucheng, 2023. "Exploring the factors influencing consumer engagement behavior regarding short-form video advertising: A big data perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    14. Federico Mangiò & Giuseppe Pedeliento & Daniela Andreini & Lia Zarantonello, 2024. "How persuasive is woke brand communication on social media? Evidence from a consumer engagement analysis on Facebook," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(4), pages 345-381, July.
    15. Avneet Kaur & Sujata Khandai & Jones Mathew, 2023. "Mapping the Field of Social Media Engagement: A Literature Review Using Bibliometric Analysis," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(4), pages 368-385, December.
    16. Razzaq, Ali & Shao, Wei & Quach, Sara, 2024. "Meme marketing effectiveness: A moderated-mediation model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Schaefers, Tobias & Falk, Tomas & Kumar, Ashish & Schamari, Julia, 2021. "More of the same? Effects of volume and variety of social media brand engagement behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 282-294.
    18. Blanca I. Hernández-Ortega & Michael A. Stanko & Rishika Rishika & Francisco-Jose Molina-Castillo & José Franco, 2022. "Brand-generated social media content and its differential impact on loyalty program members," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(5), pages 1071-1090, September.
    19. Pragya Keshari & Sangeeta Jain, 2016. "Effect of Age and Gender on Consumer Response to Advertising Appeals," Paradigm, , vol. 20(1), pages 69-82, June.
    20. Mahsa Akbari, 2015. "Different Impacts of Advertising Appeals on Advertising Attitude for High and Low Involvement Products," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 16(3), pages 478-493, June.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5954-:d:567253. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.