It is not about what you read, but how you read it: the effects of sequencing rational and emotional messages on corporate and product brand attitudes

Abstract

The study aims to examine the effects of message sequencing on attitudinal responses, namely on the effects of rational to emotional and emotional to rational message sequences on consumer attitudes toward the corporate and product brand. A between-subjects experiment was conducted using a stratified random sample. Participants were exposed to advertisements that communicate marketing messages either in a rational to emotional sequence or in an emotional to rational sequence for a product advertised by an organization. All attitudinal responses to the corporate and product brand were collected through a questionnaire that was given at the end of the experiment. The findings suggest advertisements that communicate marketing messages in an emotional to rational sequence produced more favorable attitudes toward the product brand among consumers as compared to advertisements that communicate in a rational to emotional sequence. However, no significant differences were found on consumer attitudes toward the corporate brand. These results remain true regardless of gender.

Keywords:

• Message sequencing
• attitudinal responses
• rational appeal
• emotional appeal
• corporate brand attitudes
• product brand attitudes

Notes

1. Some preliminary findings were presented and reported at a conference by Lim, Teh, and Ahmed (2015). The current paper is a substantial extension as it offers greater articulation on its theoretical underpinnings (more than 50% of new content), uses a larger sample size (consistency of findings indicates greater reliability and validity), increases scrutiny in data analysis (testing for gender effects), and extensively discusses the implications of its findings to theory, practice, and further research.