Exploring the nexus between persuasive principles and regulatory focus: an online experiment

Consumers’ regulatory focus plays an important role in their evaluation of products and advertisements. In this article, we examine the impact of using persuasive principles to tailor messages to consumers’ regulatory focus on message attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention. Step 1 of the study (a survey) revealed that promotion focus positively correlates with susceptibility to authority, commitment, and liking. While in contrast, prevention focus shows a positive correlation with susceptibility to reciprocity and social proof. Step 2 of the study (an experiment) reveals that promotion-focused consumers show more positive ad and brand attitudes and higher purchase intention when exposed to an ad containing authority, commitment, or liking. Prevention-focused consumers show more positive ad and brand attitudes and purchase intention when exposed to reciprocity or social proof in the content of the targeted advertisement.