The allure of starting afresh: the effects of mortality-related sadness on the effectiveness of fresh start appeals

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine how mortality-related sadness, as compared to other emotions such as fear, anger and happiness, can leverage the effectiveness of fresh start appeals. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon the consumption-based affect regulation principle, this paper investigates how sadness associated with mortality can elicit the appraisal of irretrievable loss, which subsequently increases the effectiveness of fresh start appeals. These predictions are tested across three experimental studies. Findings Findings demonstrate that mortality-related sadness enhances donation allocations (Study 1), willingness to pay (Study 2) and favorable attitudes (Study 3) toward an advertisement promoted with a fresh start appeal. This effect is mediated by an appraisal of irretrievable loss (Studies 1–3). Moreover, the emotion’s effect only emerges among consumers who believe that their emotional experiences are stable (vs malleable) (Study 3). Research limitations/implications This paper investigates the effects of negative (vs positive emotions). It would thus be of interest to explore whether different discrete positive emotions may also enhance favorable evaluations of fresh start appeals. Practical implications While fresh start appeals have been widely used by marketers and organizations, the extant literature in this area has yet to identify how marketers can leverage the effectiveness of such appeals. This paper highlights how a specific negative emotion can be beneficial to marketers in leveraging the effectiveness of fresh start appeals. Originality/value The findings of this research suggest a novel potential strategy for the regulation of sadness. Specifically, consumers experiencing mortality-related sadness show favorable evaluations of fresh start appeals, indicating they are seeking to dissociate themselves from the past.

The temperature dimension of emotions

“…Finally, further research should address the relationship between emotional temperature and other underlying emotional appraisals such as uncertainty, legitimacy/fairness and goal consistency as well as its effect on marketing outcomes (Klein and Melnyk, 2016; Septianto, 2020).…”

Discrete emotions effect on consumer evaluation and behaviour: A contextual perspective and directions for future research

“…moderators have been less studied in extant research. Notwithstanding that scarcity,Septianto et al (2021) found that individual differences in the extent to which emotional states are perceived as malleable can moderate the effect of anger on the evaluation of specific affect regulation appeal. They found that individuals with…”

“…Moreover, certain contextual factors, such as temporal focus, can increase self-regulation across positive emotions (Winterich & Haws, 2011). Similarly, malleable belief and process accountability can yield similar behaviour across negative emotions (Garg et al, 2017;Septianto et al, 2021).…”

“…In contrast, a thank‐you tone message attenuates the effect of sadness over the donation. Additionally, individual differences in the perception of the malleability of emotion moderate the effect of sadness on the evaluation of fresh start appeal, as the consumer who believes their sadness to be stable evaluates fresh start appeal more positively than those with malleable beliefs (Septianto et al, 2021).…”

“…Fostering that, our analysis suggests that anger moderators have been less studied in extant research. Notwithstanding that scarcity, Septianto et al (2021) found that individual differences in the extent to which emotional states are perceived as malleable can moderate the effect of anger on the evaluation of specific affect regulation appeal. They found that individuals with malleable beliefs can regulate emotions, thereby attenuating anger's effect; they evaluate fresh start appeal more positively than those with stable beliefs.…”