5. Narrative & Emotional Advertising

Question 1

Emotional Advertising Messages

Answer 1

Attempt to create pleasant feelings, emotions or moods and to transfer them to the brand.

Development of self-brand connections through:

• Emotional flow: extent to which emotions that
are represented in an advertisement can be perceived as dynamic and associated with own life experiences
• Emotional integration: actors‘ change of feelings can be attributed to the use of the advertised brand

Question 2

Narrative Advertising Messages

Answer 2

Advertising that “conveys product information in a story-like format and contains specific details regarding event actions, setting, and characters”.

Factors: Image

Question 3

Aristotle’s three types of appeals

Answer 3

Logos:

• Objective proof; I.e., arguments for or against a position
• Example: Energy consumption, price, guarantee

Ethos:

• Ethical proof; i.e., a speaker’s character and credibility (Heuristics)
• Example: Attractiveness, Number of arguments, Expensive=Good

Pathos:

• Emotional proof; i.e., the experience of emotions
• Example: Positive emotion (babies), Drama ads, Sadness ads

All these components may contribute to persuasion

Question 4

Narrative Advertising - Theoretical explanation

Answer 4

1. Transportation Imagery Model (Green/Brock 2002)

The recipient “becomes absorbed in the narrative world, leaving the real world, at least momentarily, behind. Transportation is a basis for persuasion through narrative material.

2. Extended Elaboration Likelihood Model (Slater/Rouner)

Narrative processing: central route processing requires high cognitive effort but in a receptive way, not analytical (transportation)

• Peripheral route processing of heuristic appeals (►ELM)
• Gilbert (1991): All information, factual or not, is (if it is processed at all) processed with cognitive effortStories are accepted as true and considered as “real” information

3. Imagery

4. Effect of feelings

Question 5

The effects of narratives

Answer 5

Transportation:

mental journey into the world of the narrative”
Intensive, mental condition where attention, imagery, and feelings are jointly activated and focused

• credibility

• identification/self-referencing
• imagination

• emotions

• less counterarguments

Empirical studies:

Convincing drama in commercials leads to less counterarguments, higher feelings, and higher verisimilitude in comparison to convincing arguments (significant at p<.05 or p<.07)

„Good” dramas are more convincing than “bad”

Question 6

Humor in Advertising

Answer 6

Components:

• Playful ease
• Positive surprise; due to incongruence with expected outcome
• Speed; by which incongruence is dissolved

Typical effects:

• Gains attention
• does not impair the understanding of the advertising message 

• increases liking of the advertising 

• is not always more effective regarding a positive attitude towards the brand and purchase intention

–> effect of humor depends on target group