Positive or negative vibes: Does mood affect consumer response to controversial advertising?

ABSTRACT

Mood management theory posits that people try to maintain intensity of good moods and diminish intensity of bad moods. This study uses mood management theory to examine the interplay between mood and controversial advertising in a social and political context.

An online experiment was conducted that manipulated participants’ moods and then exposed them to either a controversial or non-controversial ad. Afterwards their attitudes and behaviors were measured. The results suggest people in positive moods have more positive attitudes toward non-controversial ads and less positive attitudes toward controversial ads. Conversely, people in negative moods have more favorable attitudes toward controversial ads and less favorable attitudes when evaluating non-controversial ads.

KEYWORDS:

• Mood
• controversial advertising
• immigration
• mood management theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chris R. Noland

Chris Noland is a PhD student at the University of South Carolina. His research focuses on emotions and their interactions with consumer behavior.