The hidden power of shame: how feeling ashamed enhances advertisement recall and positive attitude

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of shame on subsequent advertisement processing. Consumers often experience shame in various advertising contexts, such as digital media contexts, TV advertisements, or even daily lives. However, it remains unclear how feeling shame affects consumers’ processing of subsequent advertisements that are unrelated to the shame-inducing situations. In three experiments, we find that consumers who feel shame show increased cognitive processing (e.g. greater recall of advertisements) compared with those who do not feel shame or those who feel guilt. We further show that this increased cognitive processing leads to a more positive response toward the product. Furthermore, we find that the effect of shame on subsequent advertisement processing is stronger for high self-monitors than for low self-monitors.

Keywords:

• Shame
• advertisement processing
• recall
• attitude
• emotions
• social media

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jane So

Jane So is at the Department of Business Administration, Sejong University, South Korea.

Youjae Yi

Youjae Yi is a Distinguished Professor at the College of Business Administration, Seoul National University, South Korea.

Nidhi Agrawal

Nidhi Agrawal is the Michael G. Foster Professor of Marketing and International Business at the Foster School of Business, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.