Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Empathetic responses to advertising: Testing a network of antecedents and consequences

  • Published:
Marketing Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It has been proposed conceptually that viewers respond to certain advertisements via Empathetic Responses; that is, by feeling with depicted characters. Such deep viewer engagement is especially valued in today’s media environment and is central to dramatic advertising strategies. Nevertheless, Empathetic Responses remain relatively understudied. We situate Empathetic Responses within a model comprising high-level personality domains (within the “Big Five”), lower-level personality facets (multidimensional Trait Empathy), and Perceived Ad Vividness, all as antecedents, as well as consequent Ad-Evoked Feelings. Our findings clarify the composition and function of Empathetic Responses, adding to both basic and applied understandings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The broad agreement that empathy relates to both negative and positive emotions (see, e.g., Davis1996, 2006) is, nonetheless, not universally accepted. Bagozzi and Moore (1994), for example, defined empathy as “the heightened awareness of another person in danger or distress [which] includes the urge to alleviate the other person’s plight” (p. 159); that is, as exclusively negative.

  2. Escalas et al. (2004) defined Being Hooked as “a viewer’s being drawn into, or pulled into, an ad” (2004, p. 105), a holistic construct including affective and cognitive “experiential involvement” in the ad. Thus, Being Hooked is the broader construct, conceptually and operationally superordinate to Empathetic Responses.

  3. Note that we have proposed no hypotheses regarding Empathetic Concern and relationships with Empathetic Responses. The existing measures for Empathetic Concern focus on sympathy and compassion (e.g., “I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me”). Since our research is focused on Empathetic Responses as distinct from Sympathetic Responses, the dimension was not included in this study.

  4. We agree with Escalas et al. (2004) and others that feelings are properties of the individual viewer, not of the ad. Nevertheless, and as these scholars acknowledge, advertisements can be characterized as typically evoking certain sorts of feelings. Hence, we refer to ours as “positive” and “negative” ads (or “conditions”) based on typical viewer responses.

References

  • Babin, L. A., & Burns, A. C. (1997). Effects of print ad pictures and copy. Containing instructions to imagine on mental imagery that mediates attitudes. Journal of Advertising, 26, 33–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babin, L. A., & Burns, A. C. (1998). A modified scale for the measurement of communication-evoked imagery. Psychology & Marketing, 15, 261–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagozzi, R. P., & Moore, D. J. (1994). Public service advertisements: Emotions and empathy guide prosocial behavior. Journal of Marketing, 58, 56–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumgartner, H. (2002). Toward a personology of the consumer. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 286–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boller, G. W., & Olson, J. (1991). Experiencing ad meanings: Crucial aspects of narrative/drama processing. In R. H. Holman, & M. R. Solomon (Eds.) Advances in consumer research (vol. 18, (pp. 172–175)). Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosnjak, M., Bratko, D., Galesic, M., & Tuten, T. (2007). Consumer personality and individual differences: Revitalizing a temporarily abandoned field. Journal of Business Research, 60, 587–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, G. C. , James, K. E., & Hensel, P. J. (2001). Marketing scales handbook: A compilation of multi-item measures (vol. 3). Chicago: AMA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, F. B., Yarnold, P. R., & Grimm, L. G. (1996). Toward a measurement model of the affect intensity measure: A three-factor structure. Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 223–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, A. C., Biswas, A., & Babin, L. A. (1993). The operation of visual imagery as a mediator of advertising effects. Journal of Advertising, 22, 71–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Business Week. "Now it's your web,” October 5, 1998, 164–170.

  • Costa Jr., P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1995). Domains and facets: Hierarchical personality assessment using the revised NEO personality inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64, 21–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H. (1996). Empathy: A social psychological approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H. (2006). Empathy. In J. Stets, & J. Turner (Eds.) The handbook of the sociology of emotions. New York: Springer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deighton, J., & Hoch, S. J. (1993). Teaching emotion with drama advertising. In A. A. Mitchell (Ed.) Advertising exposure, memory, and choice (pp. 261–282). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Efron, B., & Gong, G. (1983). A leisurely look at the bootstrap, the jackknife, and cross-validation. The American Statistician, 37, 36–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, S. (2007). And now, a commercial break that doesn’t seem like one. The New York Times, p. C5(L), March 21.

  • Escalas, J. E., Moore, M. C., & Britton, J. E. (2004). Fishing for feelings: A hook helps!. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14, 105–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escalas, J. E., & Stern, B. (2003). Sympathy and empathy: Emotional responses to advertising dramas. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 566–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Bookstein, F. L. (1982). Two structural equations models: LISREL and PLS applied to consumer exit-voice theory. Journal of Marketing Research, 19, 440–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funder, D. (2001). Personality. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 197–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hampp, A. (2007). Will a new currency devalue your ads?: Commercial ratings tell when viewers tune out, exposing weak creative. Advertising Age, 78(13), 4 March 25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansmann, K.-W., & Ringle, C. M. (2004). SmartPLS manual. Hamburg: University of Hamburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoggard, L. (2006). Business & Media: Is making drama an answer to the advertising crisis?: TV commercials are becoming a turn-off. The Observer, p. Business 10, June 25.

  • Hulland, J. S. (1999). Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: A review of four recent studies. Strategic Management Journal, 20, 195–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ives, N. (2004). Commercials have expanded into short films with the story the focus rather than the product. New York Times, April 21, C-8.

  • John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The five factor model trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin, & O. P. John (Eds.) Handbook of personality ((pp. 102–138)2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kassarjian, H. H. (1971). Personality and consumer behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 8, 409–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, P. A., & Block, L. G. (1997). Vividness effects: A resource-matching perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 24, 295–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, R. J., & Diener, E. (1987). Affect intensity as an individual difference characteristic: A review. Journal of Research in Personality, 21, 1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa Jr., P. T. (2003). Personality in adulthood: A five-factor theory perspective (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooradian, T. A. (1996). Personality and ad-evoked feelings: The case for extraversion and neuroticism. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24, 99–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mowen, J. C. (2000). The 3M model of motivation and personality. Boston: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nisbett, R. E., & Ross, L. (1980). Human inference strategies and shortcomings of social judgement. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paunonen, S. V., Haddock, G., Forsterling, F., & Keinonen, M. (2003). Broad versus narrow personality measures and the prediction of behaviour across cultures. European Journal of Personality, 17, 413–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saucier, G. (1994). Mini-markers: A brief version of Goldberg’s unipolar big-five markers. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63, 506–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, J. B., Konstan, J., & Riedl, J. (2001). Electronic commerce recommender applications. In R. Kohavi, & F. Provost (Eds.) Applications of data mining to electronic commerce. Norwell: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, B. B. (1994). Classical and vignette television advertising dramas. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 601–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D. (2000). Mood and temperament. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mason School of Business, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 23187-8795, USA

    Todd A. Mooradian & Lisa Szykman

  2. Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Kurt Matzler

Authors
  1. Todd A. Mooradian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kurt Matzler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lisa Szykman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Todd A. Mooradian.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mooradian, T.A., Matzler, K. & Szykman, L. Empathetic responses to advertising: Testing a network of antecedents and consequences. Market Lett 19, 79–92 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-008-9032-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-008-9032-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation