Motivational system approach to understand ad processing following various game outcomes

ABSTRACT In this study we test how audience emotions induced by televised sports interact with the emotional tone of advertisements to influence ad processing. Past research exploring this carry-over effect has either neglected the arousal induced by the sporting event or failed to present positive and negative ads to participants. In this study we use a 2 (sports-induced valence: positive/negative) x 2 (sports-induced arousal: calm/arousing), x 2 (ad valence: positive/negative) mixed-design experiment. Participants had psychophysiological measures of cognitive resource allocation and emotional response measured throughout. We found that positive advertisements performed best in cognitive resource allocation in a congruent arousing/positive programming context, whereas negative advertisements worked better following an incongruent calm/positive programming context. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed. HIGHLIGHTS We use the theory of dual-motivation systems to undersatnd program-ad matching. Different patterns of memory processing occurr as interacting functions of sport and ad-induced emotions. Positive ads perform best in a congruent situation (i.e., a close win). Negative ads worked best following an incongruent situation (i.e., a lopsided win).