The Impact of Soft-Sell Appeal in TikTok on the Attitude towards the Ads

Abstract

This research analyses the impact of soft-sell advertising dimensions (image, feeling, and implicitness) on TikTok’s viewers’ purchase intentions through a positive attitude toward the ads. While many studies about soft-sell appeals, this research adds external validity to those studies by using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework in the context of soft-selling in TikTok short videos. Since TikTok is now used for selling, the short video advertisements may drive purchase intention. We used a quantitative survey method with social media users in Indonesia. Data were collected using non-probability sampling with a purposive sampling method. We collected 209 usable responses and tested the hypothesis using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 4.0. Findings show that the data support all four hypotheses; the three soft-sell dimensions drive a positive attitude toward the ad and positively impact purchase intention. While all three soft-selling dimensions drive the positive attitude toward the ad, image plays the most crucial role. The study contributes to understanding advertising theory, especially theories about message appeal affecting viewers’ behaviour, offering practical implications for advertising content creators.