This study examined the influence of anger and compassion, two discrete emotions that differ in valence and appraisals, on negotiators’ interaction goals through trust and distrust, two related, but functionally distinct constructs. Findings showed that the influence of anger (a negative emotion with appraisal of other-person control) on perceived importance of competitively oriented goals was mediated by distrust, but not trust, whereas the influence of compassion (a positive emotion with appraisal of situational control) on perceived importance of cooperatively oriented goals was mediated by trust, but not distrust. This study not only sheds light on the process whereby anger and compassion influence negotiation performance but also supports the proposition that trust and distrust represent two distinct psychological processes that are associated with different antecedents and consequences.

Guided by an integration of existing theories on advice and persuasion, the current study presented and assessed the influence of multiple message and source factors on responses to advice in supportive interactions. A total of 262 participants completed survey instruments designed to assess message and source factors and advice outcomes with regard to a recent instance of having received advice for a personal difficulty. Results showed that the sets of source factors (expertise, liking, trust, and similarity) and message factors (politeness, response efficacy, feasibility, absence of limitations, and confirmation) each had independent influences on advice outcomes (evaluation of advice quality, facilitation of coping, and intention to implement the advice), but the effect of source factors was partially mediated by message factors. In addition, the message factors had a stronger impact on advice outcomes as problem seriousness increased. The results also showed a different pattern of prediction for implementation intention than for the other advice outcomes.

This study focused on individual interpretation of crisis communication messages and aimed to examine which forms of crisis narratives can enhance audience engagement in crisis communication such as reduction of negative emotions. An experimental study was conducted, simulating audience experience with blog posts written for crisis communication. Data suggest that the openness to dialogic communication is essential to creating and enhancing audience engagement in crisis communication, which, in turn, leads to positive postcrisis perceptions. Among several dimensions of audience engagement, reduction of negative emotions was a critical mediator that connected the impact of openness to dialogic communication with positive postcrisis perceptions.

Despite the importance of affect in persuasion and strategic communication decision making, there is a lack of a systematic and integrated approach to understanding how discrete emotions publics experience in crises and their behavioral tendencies are associated with their cognitive appraisals. A 2 (predictability: high and low) x 2 (controllability: high and low) between-subjects experiment using a random general public sample was designed to examine the variance in publics’ affective responses, their strategies of coping with crises, and their acceptance of different organizational crisis responses, as a function of publics’ appraisal of crisis predictability and controllability. Differential influences of the cognitive appraisals were found on publics’ negative emotional responses (i.e., anger, sadness, and fright) as well as their coping strategy and organizational crisis response preferences.

This study investigated the effectiveness of positive versus negative and of other-focused versus mixed- (ego- and other-) focused feelings evoked in advertisements promoting help for connected versus unconnected needy people. Results showed that when help is asked for people to whom respondents feel connected, positive (vs. negative) and mixed-focused (vs. other-focused) feelings led to more positive ad evaluations and increased respondents’ helping intentions. When help was needed for unconnected people, the negative ads were most effective. Furthermore, it was investigated whether the effect of other-focused versus mixed-focused feelings on ad evaluations and helping intentions was mediated by people’s motivation to help.

Previous research has shown that prior brand exposure (e.g., through advertising) can positively influence brand consideration, brand attitudes, and brand choice. In the present studies, the authors argue that the effects of prior brand exposure depend on the communication modality (visual vs. aural) in which exposure (i.e., advertising) takes place and the modality in which evaluations and choices are made. It was hypothesized and found that congruence in communication modalities has a positive effect on brand evaluation and brand choice, compared to incongruence in modalities. Perceptual fluency is proposed to be the underlying mechanism explaining these effects. Moreover, the results demonstrated that the effects of modality congruence are moderated by individuals’ processing style in such a way that the impact is stronger under conditions of data-driven as opposed to conceptually driven, processing.These results indicate that consumer responses depend on the interaction between the modality in which consumers are exposed to the brand in advertising and the modality in which consumers encounter the brand in a purchase situation.