Indirect, so it is persuasive. But not for me: the role of metaphoric thinking tendency

Sang Yong Bok, Junsang Yeo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We examine the persuasiveness of advertising messages based on individuals’ tendency towards metaphoric thinking measured by metaphor usage measure (MUM) and construal level. Two on-line studies show that individuals’ metaphoric thinking tendency moderates the perceived persuasiveness of advertising messages (metaphor vs. non-metaphor) and that construal level mediates this effect. Study 1 shows that MUM moderates the effect of message type demonstrating that individuals with high MUM evaluate a metaphoric message more persuasive. Study 2 demonstrates that this interaction is mediated by construal level. Analysis using PROCESS macro revealed that construal level decreases after being exposed to a metaphoric message which is opposite to what was expected. Additional analysis was performed to probe a possible cause for this unexpected finding. Although it is premature to conclude, it appears that shift-in-emotion in high-level construal may need further investigation. In addition, findings suggest that metaphor may be effective only to those who are in a high tendency towards metaphoric thinking.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)544-562
Number of pages19
JournalInternational Journal of Advertising
Volume38
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 19 May 2019

Keywords

  • construal level
  • emotion
  • Metaphor
  • metaphor usage measure
  • persuasion

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