Affective responses to images in print advertising. Affect integration in a simultaneous presentation context

Print advertising frequently employs multiple images within a single advertisement, each of which is capable of generating an affective response. Little is known, however, about how these multiple ad components combine to impact overall emotional response to advertising. Evidence from three experiments suggests that when advertisement images are all positive or all negative, the most extreme image determines overall response. When an advertisement contains both positive and negative images, a compensatory mechanism seems to drive overall response. This implies that there may be little advantage to using multiple images of similar valence and intensity, but that a greater number of positive pictures will lead to a more positive response in mixed-valence advertisements.