The Relationship Between Emotional Appeal in Advertising & Brand Trust

Advertising has become one of the most important commercial activities in today's competitive environment. To meet the diverse demands of target consumers, advertisers commonly use rational and emotional appeals to influence consumer behavior. Consequently, many researchers have examined the relationship between emotional appeals and brand trust in different socioeconomic contexts. It is often argued that financial service organizations, such as banks, rely more effectively on rational appeals to build their brands. However, recent observations indicate that most commercial banks in Sri Lanka have increasingly adopted emotional rather than rational appeals in their advertisements. Therefore, the present study examines how emotional appeals in advertising influence the development of brand trust among customers of private sector commercial banks in Sri Lanka. According to the literature, advertisers mainly use social, personal, humor, and fear appeals as key forms of emotional appeal in their advertisements.