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Nurturedandsorrowful:PositiveandnegativeemotionalappealsinCOVID-19themedbrandcommunications Mensa, M. Instituto de Comunicación Social, Universidad Austral de Chile. marta.mensa@uach.cl (corresponding author) Orcid: 0000-0002-8239-3674 Vargas-Bianchi, L. Escuela de Posgrado, Universidad de Lima. lvargas@ulima.edu.pe Orcid: 0000-0002-9027-7673 Citation: Mensa, M. & Vargas-Bianchi, L. (2020). Nurtured and sorrowful: Positive and negative emotional appeals in COVID-19 themed brand communications.

Abstract.ThisstudyaimstoanalyzeemotionalappealsinbrandadvertisementsthemedinCOVID-19duringtheimmediatemonthsaftertheWorldHealthOrganizationdeclaredthecoronavirusoutbreakasapandemic.Thestudyfocusedonthefrequenciesofuseofpositiveandnegativeemotionalappealsinadcontents,andontheconcurrentcombinationsofthoseappeals.Researchersconductedacontentanalysisamongadsincludedinanonlinearchive,selectedbyindustryprofessionalsfortheircreativequality.Theresultsrevealapreferenceforpositiveemotions,asnurturanceandaffiliationshowthehighestfrequencyofuse.Theseappeals, along with sorrow, nostalgia and excitement, were preferred to be usedconcurrently. Research findings are consistent with the literature, and lead to futureexamination of emotional appeals in advertising under stressful and uncertaincircumstances.

Keywords:emotionalappeals,advertising,COVID-19,communication.

IntroductionThe coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak started in December 2019 in the Chinese city ofWuhan(Mejova&Kalimeri,2020).Sincethen,worldwidehealthhasbeenthreatenedasthevirusspreadfromonecontinenttoanother.Thiscircumstanceincreasesthelevelsofstressthatpeopleencounterastheyfacehealth,economicandemotionalrisks,inconcomitancewiththedifficultyofanticipatingevents intheshortterm.Anxiety,depressionandstressrelatedtoCOVID-19havebeenreported(Cowan,2020;Huang&Zhao,2020;Fitzpatrick,Harris&Drawve,2020).Inthisscenario,emotionsmayrunhighandplayanimportantroleintheconfigurationofconsumer’sattitudesandjudgments(Royo-Vela,2005).Accordingtothelawofapparentreality,themorevividthecontentofanadvertisement,themoreintenseand realwill be the emotions perceived by the consumer (Frijda, 1988). For instance, ifCOVID-19 has generated emotions such as fear or sorrow, admessages conveying theseaffections may intensify the consumers’ emotional experience and further stress them

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(Kemp, Kennett-Hensel & Kees, 2013; Poels & Dewitte, 2019; Royo-Vela, 2005). Adpractitioners prefer to match the emotions identified in target users with those in thecommunicationcontent,expecting thiswilldrive individuals’engagementwith thebrand(Mogaji,2016).Yet,advertisersoughttobecautiouswhenusingemotionsduringdifficultcircumstances,asmessagescanheightenasenseofanxietyandstressamongsttheirbuyersandothersubjects(Nabi,2003).

The academic literature encompasses studies about the use of emotions inadvertisements. However, the adoption of these resources in ads subjected on aphenomenon of such magnitude is unprecedented. It applies to deepen the knowledgeconcerningtheuseofemotionalappealsduringstressfulcircumstancessuchasthecurrentpandemic. This study aims to analyze these appeals in advertisements from around theworld themed in COVID-19 andproducedduring the immediatemonths after theWorldHealth Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic. It does so in thefollowingresearchquestions:

RQ1:Whatwerethefrequenciesofuseofpositiveandnegativeemotionalappealsfeatured in COVID-19 themed advertisements during the first months of thepandemic?RQ2: What were the preferred combinations of emotional appeals used byadvertisingagenciesintheCOVID-19themedadcontentsduringtheearlyperiodofthepandemic?RQ3:Howdidthefrequenciesofuseofemotionalappealsevolveduringtheinitialmonthsofthepandemic?Researcherscarriedoutaquantitativecontentanalysis,providingacomprehensive

study related toeachof the researchquestions. In theyears to come, emotionswill gainprominence inbrandcommunications (Kotler,Kartajaya&Setiawan2017).ParvathiandMariselvi(2017)predicttheappearanceofWeb4.0in2020-2030,whichwillrelatetotheconceptofEmotiveWeb,whereindividualsallowthemselvestosharetheiremotionsmoreopenly throughsocialnetworks(Almeida,2017;Polanska,2014).Forexample, thesocialnetworkFacebookintroducednewemojisasameansforitsuserstoexpresstheiremotionalstates (e.g. love, anger or sadness) (Tian et al., 2017). As the resource to emotions willproliferateinmarketingcontentsintheshortandmediumterm,itisconvenienttocontinuedeepeningtheknowledgeaboutitsuse.

LiteraturereviewAppeals are intentional resources to engage with potential customers’ needs, wants, orinterests(Bathia,2019).Theyareameansformotivatingsubjects’propensitytopurchasethe advertised goods or services, by driving interest to the product, building long-termloyalty, and creating a sense of belonging to a brand community (Bathia, 2019; Pinto &Yagnik,2016).Theacademicliteratureaddressestwotypesofadvertisingappeals:rationaland emotional (Kotler 2003; Pinto & Yagnik, 2016). Rational appeals are driven byinformation processing on a conscious level, while emotional appeals are so by theunconsciousmind or the persons’ feelings (Bhatia, 2019). Rational appeals focus on theindividual’sfunctionalneedsandemphasizeobjectivefeaturesoftheproductandtheservice(Rochford,2011;Zhangetal.,2014).Theseclaimsoftenfocusontheproduct’sutilitarian

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benefits, suchaspointing to a goods’ superiorquality, value,performanceand reliability(Johar&Sirgy,1991).Emotionalappealstrytoraiseeithernegativeorpositiveemotionsthat prompt consumers to ease brand recall and promote purchasing decisions (Albers-Miller& Stafford, 1999; Kotler&Armstrong, 1991;Marchegiani& Phau, 2013; Zhang etal.,2014).

Using positive emotional appeals assumes that consumers are emotionallystimulated,andso,marketerstrytostimulatethisvariabletocarryouttheirgoals(Pinto&Yagnik,2016)(seeTable1).Marketingandadexecutivesseektomaketheconsumerfeelgood about the product by linking positive emotions to it, resulting in increased brandlikeability and strengthened positive attitudes related to the brand (Hornik, Ofir &Rachamim,2017;Panda,Panda&Mishra,2013).Bathia(2019)identifiedlinguisticmarkersandstrategiesinemotionaladsandfoundthatthepositiveemotionalgroundingiscriticalfor brand recognition, the development of a positive attitude towards the brand, andcustomer loyalty. Lin (2011) conducted a study to find the impact of positive emotionalappealsusedinadvertisingonattitudesandpurchaseintentions.Hereportedthatemotionalappealsdoinfluenceindividuals’attitudestowardthead.AfterexaminingpositiveemotionalappealsintourismTVcommercials,Li(2019)arguedthatadventureandexcitementarethemosteffectiveappealstorelatewithconsumers.Furtherauthorsfoundthatpositiveappealscanalsoenhancetheconsumer’sattention(Chang&Chang,2014;Czarnecka&Mogaji,2019;Hornik,Ofir&Rachamim,2017;Panda,Panda&Mishra,2013;Wuetal.,2018).

Otherstudiescomparepositiveandnegativeemotionalappealsinadcontents.For

example, Coleman, Royne& Pounders (2020) focus on guilt and pride appeals in cause-relatedmarketingmessages.Theyfoundthatprideappealsaremoreeffectiveforpromotingcause-relatedactionsinindividuals,whileguiltworksinpromotingactionsandpreventionawareness.Czarnecka&Mogaji(2019)examinedpositiveandnegativeemotionalappealsin advertisements for financial loans. Their results convey that these ads use positiveemotionssuchasrelief,securityorexcitement,andthatnegativeemotionalappealswereemployedoccasionally.Intheirreviewoftheliterature,Czarnecka&Mogaji(2019)identify15typesofpositiveandnegativeemotionalappealsused inadvertising.Wuetal. (2018)analyzedasampleofpositiveandnegativeemotionalappeals inclick intentionondigitaladvertisements.Theirfindingsshowedapowerfuleffectrelatedtopositiveemotions,andaweakonetowardnegativeones.

Table 1. Positive emotional appeals.

Type of emotional appeal (Czarnecka & Mogaji, 2019)

Concepts comprised Authors in academic literature

Adventure Boldness, daring, bravery, courage, seeking adventure or, thrills.

Hetsroni (2000); Mogaji (2016); Pollay (1983).

Affiliation To be social, bond in friendship, companionship, cooperation, reciprocity; to conform to social norms, have manners, social graces, and decorum, tact and finesse.

Hetsroni (2000); Mogaji (2016); Pollay (1983).

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Beauty Beauty is a cognitive process accompanied by continuously upgrading affective states that results are appraised as an aesthetic emotion and/or judgment.

Hagtvedt & Patrick (2008); Leder et al. (2004); Zarzosa & Huhmann (2019).

Excitement Emotional, pleasure, satire, wit, relief, positive mood, it provokes amusement, joy and fun.

Chang & Chang (2014); Czarnecka & Mogaji (2019); Hornik, Ofir & Rachamim (2017); Li (2019).

Nurturance Nurturance appeal was defined as one which evoked the idea of caretaking, such as parents caring for their child’s health and well-being.

Bleakley et al. (2015); Meadows-Oliver & Hendrie (2013).

Popular Commonplace, customary, well-known, conventional. regular, ordinary, normal, standard, typical, universal, general, every day.

Hetsroni (2000); Mogaji (2016); Pollay (1983).

Relief (Relaxation) Relief can be conceptualized as warmth, a highly positive emotion that people enjoy in their relationships with family or friends, involving a moderate level of arousal.

Aaker, Stayman & Hagerty (1986); Abele & Gendolla (1999); Faseur & Geuens (2006).

Security Confident, secure, possessing dignity, self-worth, self-esteem, self-respect, peace of mind.

Hetsroni (2000); Mogaji (2016); Pollay (1983).

Sex

Emotional, physiological arousal, sensation, fantasy, dreams, self-esteem.

Hornik, Ofir & Rachamim (2017); Reichert & Lambiase (2014); Vargas-Bianchi & Mensa (2020).

Pride Pride is a feeling of satisfaction, delight, or pleasure in something one has achieved and/or one is able to do. Individuals experience pride when they appraise the self as being responsible for a positive outcome.

Coleman, Royne & Pounders (2020); Decrop & Derbaix (2010).

Nostalgia A preference (general liking, positive attitude, or favorable affect) toward objects (people, places, or things) that were more common (popular, fashionable, or widely circulated) when one was younger (in early adulthood, in adolescence, in childhood, or even before birth.

Havlena & Holak (1991); Holbrook & Schindler (1991); Marchegiani & Phau (2013); Stern (1992)

Youth Being young or rejuvenated, children, kids, immature, underdeveloped, junior, adolescent.

Hetsroni (2000); Mogaji (2016); Pollay (1983).

Thepresenceofnegativeemotionalappealsissmalleramongadvertisingmessages,asresearchrevealsthatpositiveoneshaveawiderrangeofmarketingbenefits(Czarnecka&Mogaji,2019;Deborah&Nicole,2009;Dens&DePelsmacker,2010;Zheng,2020)(seeTable2). The literature is divided about the effectiveness of negative emotional appeals,someauthorsassertthattheymightproducenegativeassociationswiththebrand(Berger&Milkman,2012;Evans,Adamo&Czarnecka,2019),whileothers explain thatnegativefeelingscanbringgoodadvertisingappraisalandattitudestowardstheproduct(Brennan&Binney,2010;Coleman,Royne&Pounders,2020;Coulter&Pinto,1995;Grossman&Wood,1993).Studiesevensuggestthatsometimesmessagesfeaturingnegativeappealsaremoreeffectivethanthosecontainingpositiveones(Basil,Ridgeway&Basil,2006;Giachinoetal.,2017;Kemp,Kennett-Hensel&Kees,2013;Krishen&Bui,2015;Wang,2008).Forexample,guiltinesscanworkforcharitiesandnonprofitsadvertisements,asKemp,Kennett-Hensel&

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Kees (2013) remarked, that feelings of guilt promote the intention to donate. Consistentresearchshowsthatguiltinessandsorrowareemotionalappealsthatstimulateadesiretohelpothers(Basil,Ridgeway&Basil,2006;Wang,2008).Anotherexamplerelatestofear,which has been reported to prompt the purchase of healthy products, as Krishen& Bui(2015) note. They found that, after seeing pictures of obese bodies in advertisements,participantsincreasedtheirpreferencefortheseproductsafterfearofobesity.Giachinoetal. (2017) suggested that fearwaseffective in reducinghigh-speeddrivingwhenused inadvertisingtargetedtodrivers.

The studies claim that emotional appeals can backfire when consumers perceive

themasmanipulative(Brennan&Binney,2010;Coleman,Royne&Pounders,2020;Coulter&Pinto,1995;Garfin,Silver,&Holman,2020).Brennan&Binney(2010)exploredguiltinessinadvertising,theyfoundthatmoderateorlow-levelappealsmayconnectwithconsumers,but if used in greater intensity guiltiness could be perceived as a blatant manipulationattemptsandmaycauseresponseslikeanger,offense,orirritation.Drakulich(2015)foundthat theexcessiveuseofnegativeemotions inadvertisingmayevenproducementalandphysical health problems, such as social withdrawal from others, and engaging inunnecessarysocialavoidanceandprotectivebehaviors.Table 2. Negative emotional appeals and description.

Type of emotional appeal (Czarnecka & Mogaji, 2019)

Concepts comprised Authors in academic literature

Fear Emotional, anxiety, tension, danger, threat that people have when facing risks or crisis.

Ahorsu et al. (2020); Drakulich (2015); Giachino et al. (2017); Krishen & Bui (2015); Rhodes (2015); Zheng (2020).

Guilt Individuals experience guilt when they feel their behavior has transgressed a personal or social moral standard

Basil, Ridgeway & Basil (2006); Brennan & Binney (2010); Coleman, Royne & Pounders (2020); Kemp, Kennett-Hensel & Kees (2013); Wang (2008).

Sorrow Sadness is an emotional response when people suffer from separation, loss and failure.

Basil, Ridgeway & Basil (2006); Durkin et al. (2018); Wang (2008); Zheng (2020).

MethodsTodiscusstheresearchquestions,researchersperformedaquantitativecontentanalysis.Inthismethod,messagesarethephenomenatobeexamined.Thisanalysisdistinguishesthetextasarealityproducedinawaythathasasignificanceforanotherperson(Krippendorff,2019).Thismethodallowstoshowfrequenciesandpatternswithinthemessagecontent,makingitadequateforthisresearchesgoal.Anaprioricodinganalysiswascarriedout.Inthisdesign,codesareestablisheddeductivelyandarethenappliedbycoders(Neuendorf,2018).Sampleselection.Researchersextractedthestudiedadvertisementsfromthedigitalarchive“AdsofTheWorld”.Thiswebsitereceivesthecreativeworksentbyadvertisingagenciesandotherprofessionalsourcesfromaroundtheworld,whoseauthorsconsidertheyareofprimequality,about theircreativitymessage,copy,artdirectionorsimilaraccomplishments. In

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March 2020, this catalog opened a special section for ads produced because of thecoronavirus pandemic (COVID-19Ads Collection). TV and print adswere chosen for theanalysis,because this formatcomprisesmostof theworkuploaded to thecatalogue.Theinclusion criteria for the selection of ads was: (i) they must be made by a professionaladvertisingagency,(ii)theymustbeformattedforaudiovisualorprintmedia,(iii)itmustadvertiseabrandedproductorservice,(iv)ifitincludesacopyitmustbewrittenusingLatinalphabet,(v)theyshouldhavebeenuploadedtothedigitalarchivebetweenMarchandJune2020.Thesamplecomprised376advertisements.Twoadswereexcludedas theyusedanon-Latinalphabet.Codingunitandcategories. IndividualprintandTVadvertisementsweredefinedasthecodingunits.ResearchersusedtheinventoryofemotionalappealsproposedbyCzarnecka&Mogaji(2019)asthesetofaprioricategoriesforanalysis.These15appealsaredividedintotwotypes:positiveandnegativeemotionalappeals,asexhibitedinTable3.Researchersanalyzedeachofthesecategoriesinthetextualand/orgraphicelementsofeachunit.Table 3. Positive and Negative emotional appeals categories (Czarnecka & Mogaji 2019).

Type of emotional appeal Emotional appeals

Positive

Adventure (Escape, Freedom) Relief (Relaxation) Affiliation Security Beauty (Aesthetics, Ornamental) Sex Excitement (Humour, Happiness, Joy) Pride

Nurturance Nostalgia

Popular Youth

Negative Fear (Danger, Embracement) Guilt Sorrow (Grief,

Suffering)

Codingprocedureand intercoderreliability.Bothresearchers independentlycodedthesampled ads. The codebook was constructed based on the categorization of emotionalappealsbyCzarnecka&Mogaji(2019)(Table3,seealsoTables1and2).Thecodingsheetswere also prepared and discussed by both researchers. They trained by conductingpreliminary coding with a small sample of ads to ensure understanding of the codes’definitions and consistency of the coding procedures established in the codebook.Discrepanciesinthecodingwerediscussedandre-assessed.Aftertworoundsoftraining,theintercoderreliabilityobtainedusingCohen’skappawas0.85,suggestingalmostperfectagreement. ResultsThe number of ads analyzed fromMarch to June was N=376. The selection of ads thatincorporated at least one emotional appeal was n=208, revealing that 55.3% ofadvertisements included in the sample comprised this resource.Most of those ads usedpositiveappeals(72%),asmallernumberemployedamixofpositiveandnegativeappeals(21%), and a few advertisements only used negative emotional appeals (7%). The datareveals that theappealswithhighestuse frequencywereNurturance,Affiliation,Sorrow,Nostalgia,ExcitementandPride(Figure1).

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Figure 1. Percentage of frequency of use of emotional appeals in advertisements

Regarding the concurrency of emotional appeals in each advertisement, 70 adsfeatured2appealsconcurrently;39adsfeatured3appeals;6adsfeatured4appeals,and3adsfeatured5emotionalappealssimultaneously(nadsusingconcurrentemotionalappeals= 118) (Table 4). The categories nurturance, affiliation, sorrow and nostalgia reveal thehighest concurrent frequencies (Figure 2). Preferred combinationswere nurturance andaffiliation(featuredin36concurrentopportunities);sorrow–nostalgia(17opportunities);nurturance–pride(16opportunities);nurturance–nostalgia,andnurturance–sorrow,andfear–sorrow(14opportunities);nostalgia–affiliation(12opportunities)(Figure3). Table 4. Percentage of concurrent emotional appeals featured in ads

Emotional appeal

Nurtu-rance

Affil-iation

So-rrow

Nos-talgia

Excite-ment

Pride Adven-ture

Relief Secu-rity

Fear Beauty Youth Sex Guilt

% of frequency of concurrent featuring

19.3 16.2 13.9 12.8 8.4 7.8 5.1 4.7 3.7 3.7 2.4 1.0 0.7 0.3

Figure 2. Hierarchy chart exhibiting the concurrent frequencies of emotional appeals featured in sampled advertisements.

6655

47 4437

3223 19 14 9 6 3 2 1 0

010203040506070

Nurturance

Affilia

tion

Sorro

w

Nostalgia

Excite

mentPrid

e

Adventu

reFe

arRelie

f

Secu

rity

Sex

BeautyYouth

Guilt

Popular

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Figure 3. Number of emotional appeal concurrencies in COVID-19 themed brand advertisements.

Regardingtheevolutionintherecurrenceofuseofemotionalappealsinthestudied

period, thedatashowsabrupt increases inApril,andMaycomparedtotheothermonths(Table5).Thisdatashowedasimilartendencybetweenthenumberofadspermonthandthefrequencyofuseofemotionalappealsduringthesameperiod.Thefrequencyofuseoftheseappealsandthenumberofadvertsuploadedtothecatalogpermonthwerepositivelycorrelated,r(374)=.78,p<.05.

About therecurrenceofpositiveandnegativeappealsduring theresearched timespan,thedatarevelsahigherpresenceofpositiveappeals,withapeakinMay,whilenegativeappealsevidenceitshighestuseduringMay.Figure4showsthedetailedevolutionofbothtypesofemotionalappealoverthefourmonthsperiod.

Table 5. Frequency of use of emotional appeals per month and descriptive statistics

Months and descriptive statistics

March April May June Mean SD

No. of ads in sample 42 168 147 19 94.3 64.2

Frequency of feature of emotional appeals in ads

20 144 166 38 92 63.8

Figure 4. Evolution of the frequency of use of use of emotional appeals over the studied period.

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

M A R C H A P R I L M A Y J U N E

Nurturance Affiliation Sorrow Nostalgia Excitement Pride

Security Fear Adventure Relief Sex Guilt

Beauty Youth Popular

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DiscussionThisstudyprovidesacomprehensiveanalysisofpositiveandnegativeemotionalappealsfeatured in early COVID-19 themed advertisements. The results show an increase in theusageofemotionalappealsastimepassedsincethebeginningoftheoutbreak.Thisrisewascharacterizedbytheconcurrentuseofdifferentemotionalappeals,whichmayindicateaneagerness to enhance the strength of the messages, or mirror the mixed emotions thatindividualsexperiencedintheuncertaintyofthefirstmonthsofthepandemic.

Nurturancewastheemotionalappealwiththehighest frequencyofuseevidencedamongthesampledads.Thispositiveappealisdefinedasonewhichevokescaretaking,suchasparents caring for their child’shealthandwell-being (Bleakleyetal.,2015;Meadows-Oliver&Hendrie,2013).Orfriendsandmembersofthecommunitycaringforeachotherneeds. Studies have found that content related to nurturance is effective in healthcommunication (Bleakley et al., 2015). Affiliation was the second positive most oftenemployedemotionalappeal.Tobeconcernedwithmaintaininggoodrelationshipswithkinamongotherpeers,tohavefriendshipandsocialbonds,beingareciprocalandcooperativeperson,areattitudesandactionsrelatedtoaffiliation(Hetsroni2000;Mogaji,2016;Pollay,1983).Sloanetal.(2020)studiedtheextenttowhichNorthAmericancitizensfearedthevirus, and the results showed the subjects awareness about caring of others, especiallyfamilymembers,closefriends,andelderlyrelatives.Sincethebeginningofthecoronavirusoutbreak,massmediacampaignshavereinforcedtheideaofstayingathome,tokeepsafeand save otherswhom one appreciates. Affiliation and nurturance are not far from thisadvice.Positiveemotionsappealshavefeaturedmorethannegativeonesinthesampledads.Marketersknowthatpositiveemotionsposelessriskthannegativeoneswhenusedinbrandcommunications(Chang & Chang, 2014; Czarnecka & Mogaji, 2019; Hornik, Ofir &Rachamim,2017;Marchegiani&Phau,2013;Wuetal.,2018).Thisobservationisconsistentwith the results reported by Czarnecka &Mogaji (2019), when studying advertising forfinancial services. They found those ads predominantly used positive emotional appeals,suchasrelief,securityandexcitement,whiletheyseldomusednegativeappeals.

Sorrowwasthethirdpreferredemotionalappealresultingfromthesample.Itwas

likewisethemostusednegativeemotion.Accordingtothelawofapparentreality,duringstressful moments the recommendation it to be cautious while recurring to negativeemotions,astheycanbefeltmoreintenselybyconsumers(Frijda,1988).Accordingtothetheory, individualsmay have experienced sorrowful adswithmore intensity than thosefeaturing emotions of affiliation or nurturance. As Mantovani & Tazima (2016) argue,negativeemotionshaveastrongerimpactthanpositiveemotions,aneffectthatcanbetrueinastressfulsituationsuchasthepandemic.Advertisersusenegativeemotionalmessagesas sorrow to achieve a greaterpersuasive influence (Coleman,Royne&Pounders, 2020;Coulter&Pinto,1995).Thisstrategy isnotwithoutrisks,asBergerandMilkman(2012)found that sombercontents leads to lessactivationanddecreasespeople’smotivation tosharecontent.Nostalgiareplacedsorrowasthenegativeappealofpreferenceinthemonthsafterthepandemicstarted.Nostalgiaisgroundedinevocationsfromthepersonalpast,asthe individual recalls the way he used to be, memories made up of earlier events andemotions (Havlena&Holak,1991;Holbrook&Schindler,1991;Stern,1992).Consumerslong for thepastwhen theyencountera lossof confidence in the future,orwhenrealitychangesunexpectedlyinthepresent(Clarke&Schmidt,1995).Probablyadprofessionals

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andtheirclientsdrawuponnostalgiaduringearlypandemictoengagewiththeconsumersbyreferringtoabetterpast,andprojecttoabrighterfuture.Forexample,airlinecompanieswere talking about how amazing air travel was, and the joys of visiting attractivedestinationsbefore the lockdowns.Thesephenomenaare consistentwithMarchegiani&Phau (2013),who argue that nostalgia is an effective emotional appeal to be adopted inadvertisingwhenpeopleconfrontinsecurities,astheybecomemoreconsciousofthepastandwish toremember it.Zhangetal. (2014)state thatmarket insecuritiesgiverise toacircumstance in which nostalgia is a suitable emotion to relate with consumers. Sameauthorssuggestthatsadcontentsinadvertisingcausesempathyandemotionalimmersionamongbuyers.

Excitementwasthefifthmostfrequentlyfeaturedemotionalappeal.Thisemotionis

linked to pleasure, satire,wit, relief, positivemood, it provokes amusement, joy and fun(Chang&Chang,2014;Czarnecka&Mogaji,2019;Hornik,Ofir&Rachamim,2017;Li,2019).AccordingtoHornik,Ofir&Rachamim(2017)andLi(2019)excitementisastrongemotionalappealtorelatewiththeconsumers.Czarnecka&Mogaji(2019)noticedthatexcitementwasfrequentinloanadverts,asitprojectedjoyfulexperiencesreferredtoacquiringanewcar,aholiday trip or home throughbank financing. Chang&Chang (2014) also identified thatexcitement works in ads for travel agencies, when linked to the expectation of visitingpleasant destinations during the holidays. Excitement in the sampled ads related to theenjoyment of spending time with friends, family or community members. An emotionalappeal that followed excitement was pride. It was particularly present in thoseadvertisementsthattoldstoriesofstrengthandresilience,usuallyaccompaniedbyepicalscores,andconnectedtoaspiritofpatriotismandloveforthehomeland.Thisnarrativestylehasbeenprevalentinadsduringthepandemic(TheEconomist,2020).Advertisingcannotforget its social responsibility. Emotions are currently exacerbated by the coronavirusoutbreak (Cowan, 2020; Huang & Zhao, 2020). According to recent research, sociallyvulnerable members–Blacks, Hispanics, females, and youth–appeared to be at risk forsuicidalityduringCOVID-19(Fitzpatrick,Harris&Drawve,2020).Advertisinghasasocialresponsibility,whichcanbedirectedonpromotingconsumerbehaviorsthatleaveapositiveimpactontheircommunities(Cowan,2020;Huang&Zhao,2020).Inasituationsuchasthepandemic, brand communication practitioners shouldmake a thorough use of emotions,usingthisresourcetocontributetosociety,awareofavoidinggivingrisetoharmfulattitudesor practices. Specially in the near future,whenWeb4.0 and5.0will favor the appeal toemotionsamongindividuals(Almeida,2017;Kotler,Kartajaya&Setiawan,2017).

A limitation of this study is that the sample was drawn from an archive of

advertisementswhosecontentandcatalogingisnotregulated,nordoesitrespondtocriteriaestablishedapriori.AdsoftheWorldisanopenaccesswebcatalogwhereanyonerelatedtothecreativeandadvertisingindustryaroundtheglobemaydisplaytheirwork.Itisawell-knowninventoryamongpractitioners,onewhereagenciesfromallovertheworldexhibittheirbestcreativework,althoughthenormswithwhichtheyselecteachadtobeincludedintheinventoryisnotstandardized.

Thisstudyopensthepossibilityforfutureresearchtodeepenintheeffectivenessof

thesampledadsandshowiftheexpectedresultswereachievedwithinitstargetmarket.Li(2019)statesthatdifferentemotionalappealscancontributetovariousaffectiveresponsesbetweenpeopleandleadtoparticularcommunicationoutcomes.Turner(2007),arguesthat

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thesuccessofamessagedependsonwhethertheemotionmatchestheaudiencesothatthecontentisprocessedandnotrejected.ThisstatementcoincideswithHong&Zinkhan(1995)whoexplainsthattheemotionconveyedbythebrandmustsynchronizetheself-emotionperceivedbyeachindividualtobeeffective.Theeffectsoriginatingfromdiverseaudiencesegmentations could be further analyzed. For example, Meyers-Levy & Sternthal (1991)foundthatmenandwomendifferinhowinformationistreated,womenexhibitinggreatersensitivitythanmenwhilemakingjudgments.Itwouldbepossibletoanalyzetheemotionaloutcomeofeachadvertisementamongdifferentgenders,includingitseffectbyage,culturaland market contexts. Another topic would relate to the concurrent use of positive andnegativeemotionalappeals,astheresearchonthismatterisnotconclusive(Xieetal.,2004;Gross, 2008). Further research could also examine the creative process that marketingcommunicationspractitionersfollowedduringwhencreatingtheseadvertisements,insuchuncertain time as the early pandemic months. Taking into consideration any budgetconstrains from their clients, the challenge of having to produce the messages while inquarantine, and the stress caused byworrying about their own health and that of theirspecialothers.Thereisextensiveliteratureonthemotivationandfactorsthatmakeuptheadvertisingcreativeprocess(Turnbull&Wheeler,2017;Ahmad,Stufhaut&Labianca,2017;VandenBergh&Stuhlfaut,2006)however,itwillbeinterestingtoknowhowthistakesplaceinpeculiarcircumstancesastheCOVID-19pandemic.ReferencesAaker,D.;Stayman,D.&Hagerty,M.R(1986).WarmthinAdvertising:Measurement,

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