Abstract:

By using grounded theory, this paper explores the process and mechanism of response to guilt appeals advertisement from the perspective of advertising audience. Each respondent was exposed to several selected advertisements, which come from an advertisement gallery composed of 10 commercial ads and 5 noncommercial ads. Then semi-structure interview was carried out, and data were treated by the process of open coding, axle coding, and selecting coding. This study suggests that the process includes three parts, processing of ad information, induction of virtual guilt, and selection of behavior. There are four important nodes, which are influenced by several factors. Those factors will determine the way how nodes go, and therefore the results of guilt appeals ad. This research explains the divergence on the result of guilt appeals ad and provides managerial implications to the practitioners.

Key words: Guilt Appeals Advertisement, Virtual Guilt, Grounded Theory