Effects of Mood State on likeability and purchase intent

It is an accepted principle in the consumer behaviour and advertising fields, that consumers are motivated to achieve positive affective states and avoid negative ones. The study goes through the most relevant findings in order to explore how mood affects consumer behaviour in regard to communication content and context. An experimental design was employed to examine the effects mood states on evaluation, ad likeability and purchase intent of a feel-good product. The congruency model is adopted as framework for the study, in order to interpret those effects taking into account product type as well. It is expected that there is consistency between consumers’ mood state and his tendency to process information according to that mood. Results show that congruency model can explain such relationship, even though incongruent values emerge from the results. Subjects in negative mood state tend to process positive information better. Implications for further experiments and advertising strategies are suggested.

Keywords:

consumer mood , advertising , congruency effect