Social advertising effectiveness in driving action : A study of positive, negative and coactive appeals on social media

Journal article


Yousef, Murooj, Dietrich, Timo and Rundle-Thiele, Sharyn. (2021). Social advertising effectiveness in driving action : A study of positive, negative and coactive appeals on social media. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18(11), p. Article 5954. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115954
AuthorsYousef, Murooj, Dietrich, Timo and Rundle-Thiele, Sharyn
Abstract

Background: Social media offers a cost-effective and wide-reaching advertising platform for marketers. Objectively testing the effectiveness of social media advertising remains difficult due to a lack of guiding frameworks and applicable behavioral measures. This study examines advertising appeals’ effectiveness in driving engagement and actions on and beyond social media platforms. Method: In an experiment, positive, negative and coactive ads were shared on social media and promoted for a week. The three ads were controlled in an A/B testing experiment to ensure applicable comparison. Measures used included impressions, likes, shares and clicks following the multi-actor social media engagement framework. Data were extracted using Facebook ads manager and website data. Significance was tested through a series of chi-square tests. Results: The promoted ads reached over 21,000 users. Significant effect was found for appeal type on engagement and behavioral actions. The findings support the use of negative advertising appeals over positive and coactive appeals. Conclusion: Practically, in the charity and environment context, advertisers aiming to drive engagement on social media as well as behavioral actions beyond social media should consider negative advertising appeals. Theoretically, this study demonstrates the value of using the multi-actor social media engagement framework to test advertising appeal effectiveness. Further, this study proposes an extension to evaluate behavioral outcomes.

Keywordsemotional appeals; social advertising; behavior change; social media; advertising effectiveness; charity advertising; environmental advertising
Year2021
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Journal citation18 (11), p. Article 5954
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI AG)
ISSN1661-7827
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115954
PubMed ID34206119
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85106965446
PubMed Central IDPMC8199559
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Page range1-19
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online01 Jun 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted24 May 2021
Deposited07 Nov 2023
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