How Advertising Influences Consumption Impulses

Abstract

This paper examines some of the key factors that determine how hedonic advertising appeals influence consumption impulses. Study 1 demonstrates that when advertising appeals vividly describe the pleasures of consumption rather than the utilitarian functions of the product, message recipients are able to visualize the emotions they are likely to experience during the consumption process. These anticipated emotions, once activated, may be so overwhelming that a tug-of-war between impulse and self-restraint occurs, prompting message recipients to generate excuses to justify yielding to their consumption impulses. Study 2 replicates this process and goes further by showing how hedonic appeals influence taste anticipation and consumption impulses. Ideas for future research and implications for advertising researchers and practitioners are also discussed.