Forced or Inspired: Understanding Consumers’ Cognitive Appraisals and Behavioral Responses towards Online Advertising

Drawing upon the coping theory and the stimulusorganism-response (S-O-R) model, this paper proposes a research model to understand consumers’ behavioral responses toward online ads. We posit that a combination of primary appraisals (perceived gain/loss) and secondary appraisals (perceived control) of ads’ design features influences consumers’ emotional states (positive affect vs. negative affect) and motivational states (reactance vs. inspiration) that further lead to their behavioral responses. The behavioral responses are conceptualized along two dimensions: behavioral directions (approach vs. avoidance) and intensity of behavioral efforts (active vs. passive). This study contributes to the extant literature by emphasizing both the negative and positive aspects of consumers’ interactions with online ads and incorporates the effects of emotional and motivational states in mediating and influencing consumer behaviors. It can also potentially have practical implications in improving online advertising design.