A growing body of research highlights the benefits of awe-a self-transcendent emotion that shifts attention away from the self-for outcomes such as prosociality, mental and physical well-being, and life satisfaction. Drawing from this work, consumers often seek awe-evoking experiences, and advertisers increasingly embed awe-inducing elements in their messages, including in the promotion of self-gifts-products purchased for oneself as a reward, celebration, or source of comfort. Despite its popularity in marketing, the influence of awe on consumers' desire for self-gifts remains largely unexplored. Across five studies spanning multiple ad formats, product categories, and awe induction methods, we find that awe decreases the desirability of advertised self-gifts by reducing consumers' motivation to celebrate themselves-a central driver of self-gifting. This effect is moderated by individual differences in future temporal focus and materialism: awe diminishes self-gift desirability when both are high, but not when either is low. These findings challenge the widespread use of awe in advertising and identify boundary conditions that determine its effectiveness. Our research contributes to literature on emotion, advertising, and consumer psychology by showing that awe, despite its generally positive associations, can backfire, and provides actionable insights for marketers seeking to align emotional appeals with consumer motivations in self-gift campaigns.
People use self-effacement and self-enhancement as impression management strategies to present themselves positively to others. Self-effacement involves presenting oneself modestly by de-emphasizing or diminishing virtues and accomplishments. Conversely, self-enhancement involves presenting oneself in a boastful manner by overemphasizing virtues and accomplishments. We extend this knowledge to advertising by evaluating the effects of these opposing impression management strategies in brand-related communications on branding outcomes and purchase behaviors. Across four studies, brands using self-effacing rather than self-enhancing messages elicit stronger consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviors, even in the presence of monetary tradeoffs. Perceived message-brand fit moderates these effects, such that messages aligned with the brand's identity reduce skepticism and enhance trust. Specifically, for non-luxury brands, modest, self-effacing messages are preferred, whereas for luxury brands, boastful, self-enhancing messages align with their identity and are therefore more acceptable. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of self-effacing versus self-enhancing message types depends on brand context, with non-luxury brands benefiting more from self-effacement, whereas differences between message types are attenuated for luxury brands, allowing greater flexibility in message strategy. Finally, this research highlights skepticism and brand trust as the mechanisms underlying the effects of self-effacing and self-enhancing brand messages on branding outcomes and purchase behavior.
