How to Implement Informational and Emotional Appeals in Print Advertisements: A Framework for Choosing Ad Appeals Based on Advertisers' Objectives and Targeted Demographics

Advertising nudges consumers along several steps to purchase, and each step necessitates that advertisers set different objectives and message strategy. This study offers a framework for the appropriate choice of advertising appeals based on advertisers' objectives and target group demographics. Using data from German magazine publishers, the study differentiates magazine advertisements' effects for five marketing objectives along the hierarchy-of-effects model, while accounting for the moderating effects of age and gender. Results show that emotional appeals were superior to informational appeals for most marketing objectives but not for achieving integration into the evoked set, a group of relevant brands that a prospective consumer is favorably familiar with when thinking about making a purchase. Consumers' age and gender significantly influenced the effects of advertising appeals and revealed interaction effects.