The effect of consumer-perceived COVID-19 ad value on health-protective behavior: Mediating role of engagement

Abstract

Though the pandemic has passed, social media-based messaging continues to exhibit COVID-19-related cues (e.g., wearing a face mask to stay safe), continuing to foster consumers’ health-protective behavior. However, it remains unclear how social media communications (e.g., advertising) affect such behavior, exposing an important literature-based gap. Addressing this gap, we deploy Ducoffe’s advertising value model to examine how pandemic-related advertisements (e.g., those urging consumers to stay safe, including post-the pandemic) impact their health-protective behavior. We also examine how consumer engagement (CE) mediates these associations. To explore these issues, we collected data from a sample of 301 Gen Z consumers, which was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). We find that informative, credible, irritating, and obtrusive ads raise consumer engagement and health-protective behavior. Engagement was also found to strengthen these associations, revealing their strategic value. We conclude by outlining important theoretical and practical implications that arise from our analyses.

Keywords:

• Advertising value
• consumer engagement
• COVID-19
• Ducoffe’s advertising model
• health-protective behavior

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.