The Advertisement Puts Me Down, But I Like It

Abstract

Advertisements often use positive appeals to please consumers. One exception is an emerging device that uses negative messages to target audiences, which the current authors refer to as “audience-targeted negative advertisements.” Through in-depth interviews and two experiments, this research systematically explores the perceptions and feelings of audiences about audience-targeted negative advertisements (Study 1); empirically distinguishes these advertisements from humorous advertisements and other negative advertisements (Study 2); and investigates when audience-targeted negative advertisements are more likely to be effective for advertisers (Study 3). The results show that audience-targeted negative advertisements have unique features that include negativity, uniqueness, humor, realism, and emotional influences such as empathy. Findings include practical guidance for advertisers on degree of negativity and product-type conditions in which audience-targeted negative advertisements are most effective.