Emotional appeals in UK business-to-business financial services advertisements

\udPurpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyse the use of emotional appeals in\udB2B bank advertisements; and to understand business owners’ perceptions of such appeals.\udDesign/methodology/approach: In Study 1, 834 print advertisements collected from British\udnewspapers were content analysed. In Study 2, semi-structured interviews with 17 business\udowners operating a business current account with a British bank were carried out.\udFindings: Emotional appeals are embedded in B2B financial services advertisements,\udbusiness owners acknowledge the presence of emotional appeals however the perceived\udcongruency between emotional appeal and financial services could not be established as\udparticipants reported a largely utilitarian, need- and benefit-driven decision-making process.\udResearch limitations/implications: Accurately measuring emotions aroused through\udadvertisements is considered a limitation. In addition, the sample of participants considered\udfor this research project was small and medium-sized business owners.\udPractical implications: Emotional appeals should be used in conjunction with detailed\udrational information about financial products, as emotional appeals only arouse interest.\udRelationship is considered crucial in capitalising on the emotionally-appealing\udadvertisements. Customers must feel appreciated and loyalty should be rewarded.\udOriginality/value: The paper responds to numerous calls for more research into the role of\udemotional influences on the relationships in B2B context and on the behaviour of business\udcustomers