Should Advertisers Avoid Negative News? Advertising Effects of Negative Affect, News Site Credibility, and Applicability Between Article and Ad

This article contributes to research on media-context effects by studying how ads are assessed when positioned alongside news articles that evoke negative emotions in readers. We find that in general, negative emotion does not influence advertising evaluation. Contrary to industry claims, the perceived source credibility of the news site is not found to moderate the effects of negative content. However, on its own, the credibility of the news site improves ad evaluations. Furthermore, high applicability between article and ad can enhance ad recognition and produce a weak negative effect on attitudes towards ads and brands. Our results provide evidence against the industry practice of avoiding negative news due to concerns over spill-over effects. Marketers should focus advertising to credible news sites and, when appropriate, avoid negative articles with high applicability to the advertised product and brand.