How are we tempted into debt? Emotional appeals in loan advertisements in UK newspapers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of emotional appeals in advertisements for loans and explored consumers’ perceptions of advertisements featuring such appeals in order to explore how emotional meanings are transferred to consumers via advertising. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 employed content analysis to examine the use of emotional appeals in loan advertisements. Over 2,900 editions of eight British newspapers were monitored for advertisements for loans containing emotional appeals. Study 2 employed 33 semi-structured interviews to explore consumers’ perceptions of emotional appeals in loan advertisements. Findings Loans were positioned as services providing relief, security and excitement. The use of negative emotional appeals such as guilt, fear and sorrow was sporadic. Loans that carried the most risk were advertised with positive emotional appeals the most frequently. Five dimensions of perceptions of emotional loan advertisements were conceptualised from the reported data in Study 2. Originality/value This is the first study in the UK to examine the use of emotional appeals in loan advertising and to explore consumers’ perceptions of loan advertisements featuring emotional appeals. The study identified five dimensions of perceptions of emotional appeals.

Nurtured and sorrowful: Positive and negative emotional appeals in COVID-19 themed brand communications

“…After examining positive emotional appeals in tourism TV commercials, Li (2019) argued that adventure and excitement are the most effective appeals to relate with consumers. Further authors found that positive appeals can also enhance the consumer's attention (Chang & Chang, 2014;Czarnecka & Mogaji, 2019;Hornik, Ofir & Rachamim, 2017;Panda, Panda & Mishra, 2013;Wu et al, 2018).…”

“…They found that pride appeals are more effective for promoting cause-related actions in individuals, while guilt works in promoting actions and prevention awareness. Czarnecka & Mogaji (2019) examined positive and negative emotional appeals in advertisements for financial loans. Their results convey that these ads use positive emotions such as relief, security or excitement, and that negative emotional appeals were employed occasionally.…”

“…Their results convey that these ads use positive emotions such as relief, security or excitement, and that negative emotional appeals were employed occasionally. In their review of the literature, Czarnecka & Mogaji (2019) identify 15 types of positive and negative emotional appeals used in advertising. Wu et al (2018) analyzed a sample of positive and negative emotional appeals in click intention on digital advertisements.…”

“…The presence of negative emotional appeals is smaller among advertising messages, as research reveals that positive ones have a wider range of marketing benefits (Czarnecka & Mogaji, 2019;Deborah & Nicole, 2009;Dens & De Pelsmacker, 2010;Zheng, 2020) (see Table 2). The literature is divided about the effectiveness of negative emotional appeals, some authors assert that they might produce negative associations with the brand (Berger & Milkman, 2012;Evans, Adamo & Czarnecka, 2019), while others explain that negative feelings can bring good advertising appraisal and attitudes towards the product (Brennan & Binney, 2010;Coleman, Royne & Pounders, 2020;Coulter & Pinto, 1995;Grossman & Wood, 1993).…”

“…Individual print and TV advertisements were defined as the coding units. Researchers used the inventory of emotional appeals proposed by Czarnecka & Mogaji (2019) as the set of a priori categories for analysis. These 15 appeals are divided into two types: positive and negative emotional appeals, as exhibited in Table 3.…”