Feelings of uncertainty and powerlessness from Covid-19: Implications for advertising appeals in the restaurant industry
Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic has exerted a detrimental influence on people’s psychological states (Wang et al., 2020). For instance, people tend to feel highly uncertain about their health, work, finances, and socializing (Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020, Nicola et al., 2020). Moreover, the overload of information about Covid-19 induces feelings of uncertainty since people are unable to process all the information (Farooq et al., 2020). Another negative psychological consequence of Covid-19 is a sense of powerlessness due to an increasing number of confirmed cases and deaths, the lack of widespread distribution of Covid-19 vaccine, the fear of food shortages and the difficulty in acquiring accurate information (Dastagir, 2020, Enders and Uscinski, 2020, Kirk and Rifkin, 2020, Wiederhold, 2020). Recent research on Covid-19 suggests that feelings of uncertainty and powerlessness influence consumer spending and social distancing behaviors (Biddlestone et al., 2020, Leduc and Liu, 2020).
However, how feelings of uncertainty and powerlessness during the Covid-19 pandemic influence consumers’ responses to advertising appeals remains unknown, especially in the restaurant context. This gap is vexing because the restaurant industry invests a tremendous amount of money in advertising campaigns (Hsu and Jang, 2008, Kim et al., 2019a). For instance, McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza spent $624 billion and $467 billion on advertising in 2019, respectively (Statista, 2020). In 2020, many restaurant chains (e.g., McDonald's, Starbucks and Chipotle) ramped up advertising spending during the pandemic (Kalogeropoulos, 2020). Given these enormous advertising expenditures and increasingly more competitive business environment, it is essential for restaurant managers to understand how to increase advertising effectiveness (Hyun et al., 2011).
To address this knowledge gap, the present study draws on the advertising literature (Andreu et al., 2015, Zhang et al., 2014) and compares two types of message appeals (i.e., rational vs. emotional). Rational appeals communicate utilitarian benefits of products such as quality, performance, and value, while emotional appeals emphasize emotional or experiential benefits (Zhang et al., 2014). Both of these advertising appeals are commonly adopted in the restaurant industry. For example, Panera Bread uses rational appeals (e.g., “Our new low-fat all-natural chicken noodle soup”) while Burger King utilizes emotional appeals (e.g., “Deliciously flame-grilled”). Subway takes advantage of both types of advertising appeals (e.g., “Healthy and Best” and “Tastes Good. Feels Good”) to promote its sandwiches.
Previous literature has documented the congruency (matching) effect between appeal type and product category (Drolet et al., 2007, Johar and Sirgy, 1991, Kim et al., 2019b). Specifically, rational (emotional) appeals are more congruent with utilitarian (indulgent) products, and such a congruency drives advertising effectiveness (Johar and Sirgy, 1991, Kim et al., 2019b). However, a few studies fail to identify this congruency effect (Klein and Melnyk, 2016, Stafford and Day, 1995). In order to help reconcile these inconsistent findings, this paper aims to ascertain boundary conditions under which the congruency effect is attenuated. Specifically, the present study draws on prior research showing that uncertainty increases individuals’ attention to and reliance on emotional information (Faraji-Rad and Pham, 2017, Motoki et al., 2019) and that power influences people’s information processing strategies (Fischer et al., 2011, Fiske, 1993, Goodwin et al., 2000). We thus propose that feelings of uncertainty (Study 1) and powerlessness (Study 2) can serve as boundary conditions for the congruency effect.
Across the two studies, a quasi-experimental design was employed. Appeal type was manipulated while feelings of uncertainty and powerlessness were measured. Previous research suggests that quasi-experimental designs have a higher level of scientific validity than non-experimental designs (Thompson and Panacek, 2006). We did not use a true experimental design because it is difficult to manipulate participants’ feelings of uncertainty and powerlessness during the Covid-19 pandemic. Study 1 indicates that individuals with low levels of uncertainty find rational (vs. emotional) appeals of a healthy food item more attractive, whereas individuals with high levels of uncertainty do not show such a tendency. Study 2 suggests that powerful people respond more favorably to emotional (vs. rational) appeals of an indulgent food item, while powerless people show no preference.
Section snippets
Advertising appeals: rational vs. emotional
An advertising appeal is regarded as a persuasive argument, serving as the basis for attracting consumers’ attention and affecting their purchase intention (Holmes and Crocker, 1987, Leonidou and Leonidou, 2009). Two types of message appeals (i.e., rational and emotional) are commonly used in advertising goods and services (Leonidou and Leonidou, 2009, Zhang et al., 2014). Specifically, characterized by factual and objective information, rational appeals are linked to consumers’ safety and
Sampling and design
An appeal type (emotional vs. rational) × state of uncertainty quasi-experimental design was adopted to test H1. Appeal type was manipulated and uncertainty was measured. Participants (n = 187) were US consumers recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). MTurk is a crowd-sourced online consumer panel. Previous research demonstrates that the data from MTurk meet the psychometric standards established by the data from other sources such as student sample (Buhrmester et al., 2011).
Sampling and design
An appeal type (emotional vs. rational) × sense of power quasi-experimental design was adopted to test H2. Appeal type was manipulated as in Study 1 and power was measured. Participants (n = 188) were US consumers recruited from MTurk and were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions (see Table 1 for cell size). Similar to Study 1, participants were instructed to complete two unrelated studies pooled out of convenience. The first part was titled “Understanding the effect of
Conclusion and discussion
The findings from Study 1 indicate that the congruency effect between rational appeals and healthy foods occurs among people with low levels of uncertainty, whereas this effect is not observed among people with high levels of uncertainty. The proposed underlying mechanism is that uncertainty increases people’s attention to and reliance on emotional information in their information processing and decision-making (Faraji-Rad and Pham, 2017). Thus, people feeling high levels of uncertainty may not
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University under Grant 1-BE33.
References (103)
- et al.
Characteristics of TV commercials perceived as informative
J. Advert. Res.
(1982) - et al.
An international analysis of emotional and rational appeals in services vs goods advertising
J. Consum. Mark.
(1999) - et al.
Power, optimism, and risk‐taking
Eur. J. Soc. Psychol.
(2006) - et al.
Effects of message appeal and service type in CSR communication strategies
J. Bus. Res.
(2015) Uncertainty and the utility function
Econ. J.
(1948)- et al.
Work and/or fun: measuring hedonic and utilitarian shopping value
J. Consum. Res.
(1994) - et al.
The feeling of uncertainty intensifies affective reactions
Emotion
(2009) - et al.
Cultural orientation, power, belief in conspiracy theories, and intentions to reduce the spread of COVID-19
Br. J. Soc. Psychol.
(2020) - et al.
Amazon’s mechanical turk: a new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data?
Perspect. Psychol. Sci.
(2011) - et al.
Hedonic ratings and consumption of school lunch among preschool children
Food Qual. Prefer.
(2009)
Regulatory fit and persuasion: transfer from“ feeling right”
J. Personal. Soc. Psychol.
Information handling styles, advertising and brand attitude: a Chinese brand case study
Int. J. China Mark.
The role of power and incentives in inducing fake reviews in the tourism industry
J. Travel Res.
Positioning rationality and emotion: rationality is up and emotion is down
J. Consum. Res.
The effectiveness of regulatory (in) congruent ads: the moderating role of an ad’s rational versus emotional tone
Int. J. Advert.
Effects of COVID-19 on business and research
J. Bus. Res.
Age-related differences in responses to affective vs. rational ads for hedonic vs. utilitarian products
Mark. Lett.
Promoting health or promoting pleasure? A contingency approach to the effect of informational and emotional appeals on food liking and consumption
Appetite
Social class, power, and selfishness: when and why upper and lower class individuals behave unethically
J. Personal. Soc. Psychol.
The theory of decision making
Psychol. Bull.
Outcome dependency and attention to inconsistent information
J. Personal. Soc. Psychol.
Uncertainty increases the reliance on affect in decisions
J. Consum. Res.
Impact of online information on self-isolation intention during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional study
J. Med. Internet Res.
Empower my decisions: the effects of power gestures on confirmatory information processing
J. Exp. Soc. Psychol.
Controlling other people: the impact of power on stereotyping
Am. Psychol.
Post-disaster consumption: analysis from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake
Int. Rev. Retail, Distrib. Consum. Res.
Emotional advertising: revisiting the role of product category
J. Bus. Res.
Are scarce products always more attractive? The interaction of different types of scarcity signals with products’ suitability for conspicuous consumption
Int. J. Res. Mark.
Anxiety, advice, and the ability to discern: feeling anxious motivates individuals to seek and use advice
J. Personal. Soc. Psychol.
Happy and sad TV programs: how they affect reactions to commercials
J. Consum. Res.
The impact of sensory preference and thinking versus feeling appeals on advertising effectiveness
ACR North Am. Adv.
Redefining rational and emotional advertising appeals as available processing resources: toward an information processing perspective
J. Promot. Manag.
Power can bias impression processes: stereotyping subordinates by default and by design
Group Process. Inter. Relat.
When arousal influences ad evaluation and valence does not (and vice versa)
J. Consum. Psychol.
Emotional or rational? The determination of the influence of advertising appeal on advertising effectiveness
Sci. Ann. Econ. Bus.
Power affects basic cognition: increased attentional inhibition and flexibility
J. Exp. Soc. Psychol.
Signaling status with luxury goods: the role of brand prominence
J. Mark.
Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach
Uncertainty–identity theory
Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol.
Beyond attitude structure: toward the informational determinants of attitude
J. Mark. Res.
Predispositions and the comparative effectiveness of rational, emotional and discrepant appeals for both high involvement and low involvement products
J. Acad. Mark. Sci.
Comparison of price change and health message interventions in promoting healthy food choices
Health Psychol.
Advertising expenditure, intangible value and risk: a study of restaurant companies
Int. J. Hosp. Manag.
Effective nutrition labeling of restaurant menu and pricing of healthy menu
J. Foodserv.
The impact of advertising on patrons’ emotional responses, perceived value, and behavioral intentions in the chain restaurant industry: the moderating role of advertising-induced arousal
Int. J. Hosp. Manag.
Names versus faces: examining spokesperson-based congruency effects in advertising
Eur. J. Mark.
Value-expressive versus utilitarian advertising appeals: when and why to use which appeal
J. Advert.
Cited by (18)
Can AI fully replace human designers? Matching effects between declared creator types and advertising appeals on tourists’ visit intentions
2024, Journal of Destination Marketing and ManagementImpact of destination advertising on tourists’ visit intention: The influence of self-congruence, self-confidence, and destination reputation
2024, Journal of Destination Marketing and ManagementHow sensory perceptions and sensory brand experience influence customer behavioral intentions in the context of cartoon-themed restaurants
2023, International Journal of Hospitality ManagementHow should cities communicate? The interaction effect of city stereotypes and advertising language on travel intention
2023, Journal of Destination Marketing and ManagementEmotional or rational? The congruence effect of message appeals and country stereotype on tourists' international travel intentions
2022, Annals of Tourism ResearchCitation Excerpt :The effectiveness of an advertising campaign is often determined by the message content; accordingly, managers may communicate the safety of a destination that has faced a recent crisis through reassuring messages that encourage tourists to return (Wut et al., 2021). Message appeal is a primary factor affecting the persuasiveness of tourism advertising (Lwin & Phau, 2013; Wang et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2021). Tourism studies have generally distinguished two types of message appeal: emotional and rational appeals (Gursoy et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2021).
Influence of solitary or commensal dining advertisements on consumers’ expectations of and attitudes toward foods and restaurants
2022, International Journal of Hospitality ManagementCitation Excerpt :The different results we observed for the ratings of hedonic attributes and healthiness of the foods also were in line with the dissociation between the perception of the healthiness and tastiness of the food (Raghunathan et al., 2006). Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic may have induced perceived uncertainty regarding the safety and quality of restaurants and food products (Kim et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2021), and their concern about the uncertainty could lead to a shortage of cognitive resources (Xiao et al., 2020). Therefore, the participants of Study 2 who were exposed to priming for COVID-19 salience might have had fewer cognitive resources available to process advertisements compared with the participants of Study 1.