Is negative affect in advertising general or specific? A comparison of three functional forms

More than one type of negative affect is experienced by a consumer exposed to an ad. Some types of the affect are persuasive; others are dissuasive. The present study, motivated by these observations, explores the internal relations of negative affect. Three functional forms are derived from two competing theoretical views and their measurements of negative affect. The superiority of the three forms is examined in terms of their parsimony and precision of estimation for the variances in consumers' attitudes toward ads. Results suggest that in predicting the persuasiveness of negatively affective ads, researchers need to consider the specific nature of the different types of negative affect and their directions of persuasiveness. More controlled and more effective negative-affect-inducing executions will then be made possible. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.