دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی استیناف عاطفی در تبلیغات خدمات مالی کسب و کار به کسب و کار در بریتانیا - امرالد 2017

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyse the use of emotional appeals in B2B bank advertisements; and to understand business owners’ perceptions of such appeals. Design/methodology/approach: In Study 1, 834 print advertisements collected from British newspapers were content analysed. In Study 2, semi-structured interviews with 17 business owners operating a business current account with a British bank were carried out. Findings: Emotional appeals are embedded in B2B financial services advertisements, business owners acknowledge the presence of emotional appeals however the perceived congruency between emotional appeal and financial services could not be established as participants reported a largely utilitarian, need- and benefit-driven decision-making process. Research limitations/implications: Accurately measuring emotions aroused through advertisements is considered a limitation. In addition, the sample of participants considered for this research project was small and medium-sized business owners. Practical implications: Emotional appeals should be used in conjunction with detailed rational information about financial products, as emotional appeals only arouse interest. Relationship is considered crucial in capitalising on the emotionally-appealing advertisements. Customers must feel appreciated and loyalty should be rewarded. Originality/value: The paper responds to numerous calls for more research into the role of emotional influences on the relationships in B2B context and on the behaviour of business customers.

7. Conclusion

This research utilized the content analysis of B2B banks’ advertisements to establish what emotional appeals featured in such advertisements and semi-structured interviews to identify consumers’ perceptions of emotional appeals in bank advertisements. The results indicate that UK banks use emotional appeals to reach out to business consumers and that these appeals are acknowledged by the consumers. However, there was no evidence to support the effectiveness of aroused emotions on financial decision-making as such decisions are more likely to be based on rationally appealing information. There is, however, good evidence to support the effectiveness of emotional appeals in generating attention and interest in B2B bank advertisements which offers a starting point for more rationally based information search activities by consumers.

The study makes a theoretical contribution in enhancing the understanding of the role of emotions in B2B financial service advertisements by uncovering how meanings embedded within bank advertisements are understood by the target consumers. Whilst consumers recognise emotional advertising appeals, this study has found that decision-making about which banks to use, is based on more than emotions. This study supports the idea that “practitioners should consider the use of emotional appeals both for utilitarian and experiential services” (Mortimer, 2008, p. 110), as such appeals were found to be liked by business customers for banking services in this study. However, emotions played only a partial role in the decision-making, and after initial interest in an emotional advert, interviewees sought detailed information; hence, we suggest that the use of emotional appeals in advertisements for financial services needs to be coupled with providing detailed information either in an advertisement or in other promotional materials.