How we are tempted into debt: emotional appeals in loan advertising in UK newspapers

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of emotional appeals in loan advertisements and compare it to the use of emotional appeals in savings advertisements. A content analysis of 304 advertisements from nine UK newspapers revealed that the most frequently used emotional appeals in loan advertisements are the following positive emotional appeals: relief, security, and excitement. The use of negative emotional appeals such as guilt, fear, and sorrow was sporadic. Loan advertisements featured more appeals than savings advertisements. Further research will focus on analysing tag lines and images featured in the sample advertisements, and exploring consumers’ responses to, and their understanding of emotional appeals in those advertisements.