Advertising during COVID-19: Exploring Perceived Brand Message Authenticity and Potential Psychological Reactance
This study seeks to examine under what circumstances brand advertising that advocated for socially desirable behaviors (e.g., mask wearing) during the COVID-19 pandemic may be successful in increasing the intention to engage in such behaviors. In doing so, we examine the effectiveness of real brands...
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| Published in | Journal of advertising Vol. 50; no. 3; pp. 253 - 261 |
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| Main Authors | , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
Abingdon
Routledge
21.07.2021
Taylor & Francis Ltd |
| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Abstract | This study seeks to examine under what circumstances brand advertising that advocated for socially desirable behaviors (e.g., mask wearing) during the COVID-19 pandemic may be successful in increasing the intention to engage in such behaviors. In doing so, we examine the effectiveness of real brands' persuasive attempts via activist advertising, focusing on messages used in real advertisements that may cause psychological reactance. Using a 2 (message type: threat to freedom vs. no threat) × 2 (brand: Uber vs. Heineken) between-subjects design, our study confirms that threat to freedom messages lead to lower ad attitudes, lower intention to engage in socially responsible behaviors, and greater psychological reactance. Brands should be careful when using "threat to freedom" language in their advertising. Further, our results suggest that perceived authenticity of a brand's messaging is key to the success of activist advertising. |
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| AbstractList | This study seeks to examine under what circumstances brand advertising that advocated for socially desirable behaviors (e.g., mask wearing) during the COVID-19 pandemic may be successful in increasing the intention to engage in such behaviors. In doing so, we examine the effectiveness of real brands' persuasive attempts via activist advertising, focusing on messages used in real advertisements that may cause psychological reactance. Using a 2 (message type: threat to freedom vs. no threat) × 2 (brand: Uber vs. Heineken) between-subjects design, our study confirms that threat to freedom messages lead to lower ad attitudes, lower intention to engage in socially responsible behaviors, and greater psychological reactance. Brands should be careful when using "threat to freedom" language in their advertising. Further, our results suggest that perceived authenticity of a brand's messaging is key to the success of activist advertising. |
| Author | Sun, Yuan Shoenberger, Heather Kim, Eunjin (Anna) |
| Author_xml | – sequence: 1 givenname: Heather surname: Shoenberger fullname: Shoenberger, Heather organization: Penn State University – sequence: 2 givenname: Eunjin (Anna) orcidid: 0000-0003-4007-4461 surname: Kim fullname: Kim, Eunjin (Anna) organization: University of Southern California – sequence: 3 givenname: Yuan orcidid: 0000-0002-0752-1402 surname: Sun fullname: Sun, Yuan organization: Penn State University |
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| SubjectTerms | Activists Advertisements Advertising Authenticity Behavior Between-subjects design Brands Coronaviruses COVID-19 Freedoms Pandemics Psychological reactance Threats |
| Title | Advertising during COVID-19: Exploring Perceived Brand Message Authenticity and Potential Psychological Reactance |
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