More than a Feeling: Emotional Contagion Effects in Persuasive Communication

The authors develop an affect-as-information model to explain how targeted emotions used in persuasion can influence unrelated products and brands that are presented nearby. In Study 1, the presence of an emotion-eliciting image affected consumer spending on unrelated products in a simulated retail environment. In Study 2, emotional processing ability and whether consumers monitored their feelings moderated emotional transfers between unrelated...