The carryover effect of national identity activation on consumers' evaluations of ads with patriotic appeals

Abstract

This study examined how the activation of national identity (NI) in diverse contexts influenced how consumers subsequently evaluated ads featuring patriotic appeals. Specifically, this study proposed that the activation of NI through different priming contexts would influence the comparative persuasiveness of patriotic ad messages framed by two different regulatory foci. Findings from this study suggest that (a) when a negative NI prime (Study 1) aroused fear (vs. sadness), consumers responded more favorably to patriotic ads with a prevention focused (vs. promotion-focused) patriotic appeal and that (b) when a positive NI prime (Study 2) aroused happiness or relief, consumers showed more favorable attitude toward the promotion-focused (vs. prevention focused) patriotic appeal. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.