Just do it! Why committed consumers react negatively to assertive ads
Zemack-Rugar first author. The moderator is the shopper's relationship with the brand. Committed relationships carry stronger compliance norms, so an assertive advert creates more pressure to comply for committed consumers, who anticipate feeling guilty if they ignore it. That pressure raises reactance, which in turn reduces compliance, lowering ad liking, brand liking and the money allocated to the brand. The authors frame this as a peril for a marketer's most valuable customers.
Zemack-Rugar first author. The moderator is the shopper's relationship with the brand. Committed relationships carry stronger compliance norms, so an assertive advert creates more pressure to comply for committed consumers, who anticipate feeling guilty if they ignore it. That pressure raises reactance, which in turn reduces compliance, lowering ad liking, brand liking and the money allocated to the brand. The authors frame this as a peril for a marketer's most valuable customers.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
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Zemack-Rugar, Y., Moore, S. G., & Fitzsimons, G. J. (2017). Just do it! Why committed consumers react negatively to assertive ads. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(3), 287-301. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2017.01.002.