Targeting Mood: Using Comedy or Serious Movie Trailers

An experiment examined the effect of induced mood (positive or negative) on participants' perception of a serious or comedic movie trailer. Based on previous mood induction studies, participants were induced into positive or negative moods by viewing online content and then exposed to either serious or comedic movie trailers. They rated items such as intent to see the movie and attitude toward the movie preview. The findings suggested that an interaction between mood, trailer type, and gender exists. Men reported higher appeal and purchase intentions for trailers whose genre (serious or comedic) differed from their mood (positive or negative), while women showed a pattern of congruency. Women in negative moods responded better to serious trailers and showed dislike towards comedic trailers. However, when they were in a good mood, they responded positively to the comedic trailer.