The effect of hedonic and utilitarian verbal descriptions and pictures on willingness to try an innovation: Do emotions matter?

This research investigates the role of a pictorial stimulus on initial exposure to either a hedonic or utilitarian description of an innovation and whether positive (optimism) or negative (anxiety) emotion is responsible for the effect of a picture and the type of verbal description on willingness to try (WTT) the innovation. In two studies, using the hydrogen fuel cell car as the focal product, we find a significant interaction between the type of description and the presence of a visual image of the innovation with regard to WTT. However, positive and negative emotions do not mediate the effect of this interaction. Implications for communication management are discussed.