EMOTIONAL APPEALS 223among low-involvement consumers, whereas high-involvement consumers show superior
attitudes and purchase intent towards non-sexual appeals.^80 Further, in general, men respond
signifi cantly more positively to eroticism than women.^81 However, in most of the studies, ads
with seductive or naked women were used. Handsome men as product endorsers might have
completely altered the picture. In fact, lately more and more advertisers are using men as sex
objects to please women. Examples are the Cola Light 11.30 break commercial, the Australian
ad for Underdaks men’s underwear in which two female airport offi cers have a man stripped
to his underwear by sounding a false alarm each time he passes through the control gate, the
Gini ad in which a female passionately grabs a guy, starts opening the buttons of his shirt,
unhooks his belt, pulls the belt out of his trousers and... uses the belt to open her bottle of
Gini. However, the diff erences between men and women cannot be fully explained by the sex
of the model. Women seem to respond favourably to erotic ads only when there is a strong
fi t between the ad and the brand. Men, on the other hand, respond favourably to eroticism
irrespective of the level of fi t.^82
To conclude, among marketing practitioners there seems to be agreement that sex sells, but
some are wondering for how much longer. According to them, sex is becoming a commodity
that is no longer able to shock or convey indulgent sensuality.^83Warmth
Warm advertising can be described as advertising that consists of elements evoking mild,
positive feelings such as love, friendship, cosiness, aff ection and empathy. Although warmth
now seems to be used less than it was a few decades ago, it is still a frequently used emotional
technique.^84 Is this frequent use of warmth justifi ed? Th e answer is, clearly, yes. Although
mixed results have been reported as to the eff ect of warmth on message and brand recall and
recognition, warmth leads to more positive aff ective responses, less negative feelings such as
irritation, a more positive attitude towards the ad and towards the brand, and sometimes an
enhanced purchase intention.^85 Target groups most responsive to warm appeals are females,
emotional individuals and individuals with a lot of cognitive empathy (meaning that they can
understand the situation of others).^86Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating, incurable disease. The disease pathway is typically characterised by a long
pre-clinical phase in which patients experience mild cognitive impairments. Medical research states that through
early diagnosis of symptoms the disease process can be slowed down.^87 The main concern is then to make the
population at risk aware of the importance of early diagnosis and stimulate them to take responsible actions at the
earliest stage of the onset of the disease. Very little is known about the role of affective communication stimuli in
the domain of a fatal disease, where one can merely intervene in order to lengthen the time period in which the
patient can still enjoy a reasonable quality of life.
Forgas’s Affect Infusion Model (AIM) distinguishes four judgemental strategies, two low-affect infusion strate-
gies (direct access and motivated processing) and two high-affect infusion strategies (heuristic and substantive
processing). Affect should have an effect when heuristic or substantive processing is used.^88 Two underlying
mechanisms of affect infusion are affect-as-information and affect priming. The affect-as-information theory
suggests that rather than computing a judgement on the basis of recalled features of a target, individuals may ask
themselves ‘How do I feel about it?’ and, in doing so, may be guided by their feelings to judge a message. In theRESEARCH INSIGHT
The role of affect in Alzheimer’s disease message processingM07_PELS3221_05_SE_C07.indd 223M07_PELS3221_05_SE_C07.indd 223 6/5/13 3:01 PM6/5/13 3:01 PM