How Personality Traits Affect Customer Empathy Expression of Social Media Ads and Purchasing Intention: A Psychological Perspective

Abstract

Consumers’ personality traits significantly influence their perceptions regarding social media advertising. While prior research on consumers’ purchasing intentions in social networking sites advertising has mainly focused on advertising valence antecedents, it is crucial to recognize that consumers’ susceptibility to advertising persuasion, particularly in terms of empathic expression, varies based on a key criterion: whether consumers are driven to attain a specific desired state or are more inclined to avoid an undesirable state. Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT) posits that individuals operate under distinct motivational mechanisms that govern their determination to achieve desired goals, influencing how they process and evaluate advertising messages. In light of RFT, we conducted an online survey with 524 valid responses, utilizing partial least squares (PLS) for research model analysis. The findings revealed that promotion-focused individuals have positively influenced perceptions of social media ad effectiveness (informativeness, ad creativity, perceived relevance, and emotional appeal). In contrast, prevention-focused individuals negatively perceived social media ad effectiveness. Furthermore, this study highlighted that perceived relevance and emotional appeal have a more significant impact on attitudes toward expressing empathy than informativeness and ad creativity.

Keywords

• regulatory focus theory
• social media advertising effectiveness
• empathy expression
• intention to empathy expression
• purchase intention