The impact of program induced mood on the effectiveness of television advertisements

Abstract

The research investigated how moods influence reactions and evaluations to two different types of television commercials. Subjects viewed a television program segment designed to induce either a positive, neutral or negative mood, then watched a 30-second television commercial using either a soft-sell appeal or a hard-sell appeal. As in previous research, it was found that subjects in a positive mood rated the commercials as more effective and were more likely to purchase the advertised product than subjects in the neutral or negative mood. In contrast to previous findings, this study did not confirm that moods affect the amount of message recall or attitude toward the advertised product.