THE IMPACT OF MESSAGE FRAMING WITH ADVERTISING APPEALS ON CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND BRAND CHOICE

Author

Monika Rawal, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

8-1-2019

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Business Administration

First Advisor

Adjei, Mavis

Abstract

An advertisement is meant to persuade consumers by using different message framing (gain or loss) within advertising themes also known as appeals, broadly classified into rational and emotional appeals. Previous research has studied the impact of either message framing or advertising appeals on consumers’ attitudes. Because message framing and advertising appeal both are an intrinsic part of an advertisement, it is important to understand the combined impact of message framing and advertising appeals on consumer attitudes. Hence, this research examines the effect of gain versus loss message framing with advertising appeals on consumers’ attitudes toward the advertisement the and advertised brand, leading to their choice of brand. The study also examines if reactance acts as a mediator between message framing with advertising appeals and consumer attitudes. Finally, this study investigates the relationship between attitude toward ad, attitude toward brand, and brand choice in current context. The results of this study suggest that for rational and positive emotional appeals, messages with gain frame lead to more positive consumer attitudes, as compared to messages with loss frame. In addition, the results suggest that for negative emotional appeals, there is no significant difference between loss frame and gain frame messages as they relate to consumer attitudes. The results from mediation analysis suggest that reactance does not mediate the relationships between message framing with any of the advertising appeals, but has an indirect effect between message framing with negative emotional appeals and consumers attitudes. Finally, the results show that attitude toward ad is positively related to attitude toward brand, which is further positively related to brand choice. These findings can help advertisers in using appropriate combination of message frames with advertising appeals, which can have a significant impact on consumers’ attitudes and finally their brand choice.