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

Abstract

This study examines the prevalence of emotional appeals in COVID-19-themed brand advertisements from around the world in the months immediately following the World Health Organization’s declaration of the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic. The study analyses the frequencies of use of positive and negative emotional appeals in the content of the ads, and concurrent combinations of such appeals. A content analysis was conducted on a sample of 376 ads from the “Ads of The World” digital archive. The results reveal a preference for positive emotions, with nurturance and affiliation being the most frequent. Sorrow was the third most preferred emotional appeal, and the most used negative emotion. Some brands have compared the virus to a hurricane (Brazil), an assassin with a chainsaw (US) or the death personified (Peru). Advertisers should be careful when using negative emotional appeal content during COVID-19. According to the law of apparent reality, during times of stress the recommendation is to be cautious with negative emotions, as they may be felt more intensely by consumers. Advertising has a social responsibility, which can be directed at promoting consumer behaviours that leave a positive or negative impact on their communities. In a situation such as the pandemic, brand communication professionals must use emotions rigorously, employing this resource to contribute to society, avoiding giving rise to harmful attitudes or behaviours. The research findings are consistent with the literature and lead to future examination of emotional appeals in advertising in stressful and uncertain circumstances.

A Content Analysis of Persuasive Appeals Used in Media Campaigns to Encourage and Discourage Sugary Beverages and Water in the United States

“…The categories of analysis were determined a priori, and the content was present and observable at the surface level [47]. We developed an initial codebook using preexisting categories of emotional and rational appeals based on the published literature [18,29,48]. CW led the process to construct the codebook, and all co-investigators participated in a systematic and iterative approach to examine the relevant literature on rational and emotional message appeals and to code for the presence or absence of each appeal [49,50].…”

“…Hope included the concepts of aspiration, enthusiasm, motivation and optimism. The initial codebook defined pride as a "feeling of satisfaction or delight in something one has achieved and/or is able to do" [48] which may extend beyond a personal level to an organization, community or country [71]. Pride included the concepts of freedom, nationalism and patriotism.…”

Effect of negative emotions in consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic: A study from Peru

“…The covid_19 pandemic increased depression in people, and in this state receiving negative messages from news or advertisements caused a greater negative impact on people, causing them greater anxiety and panic or fear, which alters their consumption behavior [19]. The main changes in consumer behavior during the pandemic were: abnormal purchasing behavior, changes in product preferences, greater use of technology and digital media to make purchases [20].…”

Discurso emocional: el arte de generar valor de marca en la era del Covid-19

“…Por lo tanto, los mensajes publicitarios deben estar enfocados en despertar emociones que logren satisfacer los deseos y anhelos más profundos del consumidor, más allá del atractivo racional (Bhatia, 2019;Mateus, 2019). Esto ocurre, debido a que, durante la consideración previa al consumo, las personas suelen filtrar elecciones irrelevantes por medio de un sistema de pensamiento rápido que los lleva a confiar más en las emociones frente a una elección racional durante la toma de decisión de compra (Le et al, 2020;Mensa & Vargas-Bianchi, 2023).…”

“…Esto también se pudo ver reflejado durante la crisis de la década de 1930, con la Gran Depresión, donde la publicidad comenzó a dejar de lado una comunicación centrada en el aspecto funcional para dar paso a un mensaje enfocado en la emoción y la apelación de valores, con el fin de adaptarse al contexto del momento (Hirsch, 2020). Por ello, durante esta pandemia, es importante que las marcas comprendan la vida, los cambios en el comportamiento y las actitudes de sus consumidores, ya que así construirán una oportunidad de promover reacciones emocionales y actitudes favorables hacia la marca que los lleve a crear y otorgar valor nuevo (Kirk & Rifkin, 2020;Knowles et al, 2020;Mensa & Vargas-Bianchi, 2023).…”