ADVERTISING MESSAGES – BEFORE AND AFTER COVID-19

Each period of time imposes the need for companies to use specific advertising messages. Advertising messages that aim to reach the consumer can be emotional, rational and moral. According to experts, the most influential are the positive emotional messages. Positive emotions, such as happiness, joy, pride, beauty, pleasure, youth, family, love, etc. have a strong impact on consumer decision-making and actions. If rational messages act on the conscious level of consumers and point to the functionality and benefits of products and services, emotional messages reach consumers more deeply, on an unconscious level. Moral advertising requires consumers to act in order to contribute to the common good. The question that is elaborated in this paper is whether it is better and more effective for companies to use rational or emotional messages during a pandemic, as well as how the pandemic changed advertising messages. So far, a small number of expert views, papers, and analyzes have been published on this topic, but they all indicate that in times of crisis and pandemics, people are more sensitive to emotional advertising messages. In time of pandemic, people are more influenced by positive, but also negative emotional messages, such as nurturance, affiliation, sorrow, nostalgia, excitement, fear, security, etc. The paper attempts to summarize several empirical studies by recognized well-known marketing agencies and marketing experts on this topic and to analyze them and draw appropriate conclusions.

/