Emotional Versus Informational: How Does Ad Appeal Influence Consumer Empathy and Responses to Cause‐Related Marketing Campaigns

This study examines how emotional versus informational appeals in cause‐related marketing (CRM) ads affect consumer responses through empathy (cognitive and affective empathy), and tests the moderating roles of ad focus and brand type. Drawing on the heuristic‐systematic model (HSM), two laboratory experiments were conducted following the principle of random assignment and between‐subjects design. Study 1 ( N  = 267) employed a 2 (ad appeal: emotional vs. informational) × 2 (ad focus: cause‐focused vs. product‐oriented) design, and Study 2 ( N  = 314) used a 2 (ad appeal: emotional vs. informational) × 2 (brand type: warmth vs. competence) design. Results show that emotional ads boost responses via affective empathy when the ad is cause‐focused or the brand is warm. Informational ads work better through cognitive empathy when the ad is product‐oriented or the brand is competent. This study is the first to apply the HSM framework to CRM ad appeals, providing insights into the underlying process of these moderating effects.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Journal of Consumer Behaviour

• Publication date

  2026-01-11

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/cb.70104
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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