Abstract
A review of the existing literature revealed inconsistencies in the development of guilt appeals and the understanding of how guilt appeals persuade. Therefore, I aim to advance research in guilt appeals. In this dissertation, I define effective guilt appeals as persuasive messages which induce guilt by presenting a morality component, a responsibility component, and an efficacy component. I also investigate the complex landscape of guilt and persuasion. A total of 1401 participants are recruited for three experimental studies.
In Studies 1 and 2, the advertised product is a laundry detergent. Study 3 used the same design as Study 2 to promote a different product: a dog harness. The findings of Study 1 and 2 revealed that: 1) a combination of a morality component and a responsibility component in guilt appeals elicited the strongest guilt; 2) a combination of a morality component, a responsibility component, and an efficacy component in guilt appeals achieved maximum advertising effectiveness; 3) the guilt appeals were as effective as the non-guilt appeal; 4) co-activated emotions including fear, hope, and anger at the advertiser influenced the effectiveness of guilt appeals; 5) appraisals of morality, responsibility, and efficacy constituted the fundamental persuasive processes of guilt appeals; and 6) issue involvement moderated the fundamental persuasive processes.
The findings of Study 3 only supported the moderation effect of anger at the advertiser. Other findings revealed that 1) the morality, responsibility, and efficacy components had no effect on guilt and advertising effectiveness; 2) the guilt appeals were less effective than the non-guilt appeal; 3) fear and hope did not influence the effectiveness of guilt appeals; 5) there was no consistent effect of morality, responsibility, and efficacy appraisals on advertising effectiveness; 6) issue involvement had no moderation effect, and 7) efficacy appraisal attenuated the positive impact of morality and responsibility appraisals on backfire responses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.