Sinfully decadent: priming effects of immoral advertising symbols on indulgence
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Sinfully decadent: priming effects of immoral advertising symbols on indulgence Jasmina Ilicic 1
& Stacey
M. Brennan 2 & Alicia Kulczynski 3
Accepted: 29 September 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract This research introduces an immorality-indulgence priming effect, whereby the presence of immorality symbols (i.e., devil, hell, serpent) versus morality symbols (i.e., angel, heaven, saint) in advertising increase consumer indulgence. Study 1 examines the priming effect of morality symbols on indulgent consumption, controlling for religiosity and belief in afterlife. Study 2 and Study 2b investigate the role that activation of mental representations of rebelliousness has in explaining the immorality-indulgence effect. Study 3 explores the role of immorality symbols on actual indulgent choices. Findings from Study 1 indicate that immorality symbols prime consumer indulgence. Study 2 provides evidence of rebelliousness as the process influencing indulgent product choice (indulgent intention, Study 2b), while ruling out the alternative explanation of imagemessage congruence. Study 3 provides evidence that immorality symbols increase actual indulgent behavior. This research has important implications for advertisers in the development of advertisements that can influence indulgent behaviors. Keywords Morality . Advertising . Priming . Rebelliousness . Congruence . Indulgence
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-02009544-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Jasmina Ilicic [email protected]
1
Monash Business School, Monash University, 26 Sir John Monash Drive, Caulfield East, VIC 3145, Australia
2
The University of Sydney Business School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
3
Newcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Marketing Letters
1 Introduction In most cultures, religious symbols are seen as moral symbols (Desai and Kouchaki 2017). The devil, serpent, and hell are symbols of immorality, associated with negativity, darkness, evil, sin, rebellion, desire, and temptation (Lewis 2001; Tresidder 2011). On the other hand, angels, saints, and heaven are representations of morality, related to goodness, light, purity, compliance, innocence, truth, and wisdom (Oliver and Lewis 2008; Tresidder 2011). Brands regularly utilize these morality symbols in their marketing communications. Research has found that the use of morality symbols has increased in magazine advertising over the last 40 years, rising from 0.5% in 1969 to 2.9% in 2013 (Nardella 2014), and has had a 170% increase television advertising to 3.4% in the 10 years from 1998 to 2008 (Weatherby and Pugh 2008). Typically, morality symbols in advertising emphasize the afterlife (i.e., depicting images of heaven/hell or figures closely related to these places such as angels, devils, saints, and serpents) and appear in advertising across a
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