“Switching On” National Identity : Korean Consumers' Responses to Ads Using Patriotic Appeals

While the use of patriotic messages in advertising has been widespread inKorea, the effect of such messages on consumer responses has beenlargely unexplored. Therefore, this study attempted to explore how Korean consumersrespond to ads using patriotic appeals. Specifically, this study examined: (1) whetherconsumers’ responses to ads using patriotic appeals were more favorable than those toads without patriotic appeals; (2) how consumers’ levels of national identification affectedtheir responses to ads using patriotic appeals; and (3) how salience of national identityinfluenced consumers’ responses to ads using patriotic appeals. Findings from this studyshowed that consumers’ evaluations of ads using patriotic appeals were not significantlydifferent from those of ads without patriotic appeals when there was no specific cueassociated with their national identity. However, consumers’ responses to ads usingpatriotic appeals were positively affected by their levels of national identification. That is,as their national identification levels increased, their evaluations of ads using patrioticappeals significantly increased. Further, results of this study showed that consumers’evaluations of ads with patriotic appeals were significantly increased when their nationalidentity was activated and made momentarily salient through national identity prime.