The Effects of Emotions on Cognitive Effort While Processing Mediated Stadium-Embedded Advertising: A Dynamic Motivational Systems Approach

Abstract

Research question: While emotional responses to sporting events could have a residual effect on the processing of in-stadium signage that appears to the television audience, limited research has focused on the possible moderating role of emotions in such advertising processing. Thus, this manuscript reports on two studies that employed the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP) to answer the question ‘How do emotional states derived from the dramatic nature of spectator sports impact the automatic cognitive resource allocation to process in-stadium signage advertising?’ Research methods: In order to investigate the effect of emotions derived from sport team performance on viewers’ information processing of peripheral advertising signage, Study 1 utilized heart rate as a physiological correlate while Study 2 employed a more nuanced memory measurement (i.e. signal detection measure). Both experiments were conducted using undergraduate samples (N$_\mathrm{Study 1 = 76}$, N$_\mathrm{Study 2 = 146}$) recruited from a large university located in the Midwestern region of the United States. Results and Findings: The results from the two experiments supported the theoretical prediction of LC4MP, namely that cognitive resource allocation, and the subsequent memory for advertising information on peripheral in-stadium signage, depends upon how close the games are and whether the favored team wins. Implications: The current research extends the field’s understanding of signage processing as the two studies utilized a different theoretical perspective via different measurements compared with previous investigations in the field.