Enhancing Persuasion through Emotional Elicitation in Digital Marketing: A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study

This research uncovers the personalization of emotionally and culturally-induced health marketing content, targeting three countries with contrasting cultures according to the culture map model. It aims to demonstrate how tailored content, crafted with narrative techniques aligned with cross-cultural comprehension, enhances persuasive efficacy to influence user behavior. The experimental phase involved the presentation of 19 animated video advertisements with avatars' emotional facial expressions and culturally elicited narratives to 190 participants from the U.S., Japan, and Germany, in a counterbalanced way. As a result, the majority of participants were influenced by emotions evoking happiness, positive surprise, and sadness, with susceptibility primarily associated with traits such as openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The comprehensive investigation that integrates six fundamental emotional components, Erin Meyer culture map, the Big Five personality traits theory, and Fogg's persuasive technology framework highlights the originality of this research.