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