Advertising under Fire: Verbal vs. Nonverbal Discrepancies as a Strategic Marketing Tool during Wartime

An essential challenge when advertising during wartime is how to market products positively despite the negative warlike emotional and social atmosphere. Grounded in marketing theoretical perspective, this study develops a theoretical and analytical framework that analyzes patterns of verbal vs. nonverbal discrepancies as a marketing strategy during wartime. We analyzed all advertisements of governmental agencies and commercial companies from the commercial television channels in Israel (n=744) during the war period (November/2023-March/2024). One-way ANOVA tests in addition to Scheffé post-hoc analyses were computed to expose significant differences in patterns of verbal vs. nonverbal discrepancies of strategic marketing tool during wartime. The findings revealed significant proportions of discrepant verbal/nonverbal patterns in advertisements aired during wartime. Moreover, we found significant relationships between the usage of discrepancy and the progress of the war. As time passed, while the intensity of the war reduced, the amount of discrepancy in advertisements decreased dramatically. Our conclusions contribute an advanced marketing theoretical framework that delineates patterns of verbal vs. nonverbal discrepancies and their important roles as a strategic marketing tool during wartime. Furthermore, the presented framework contributes composite theoretical accounts for the mediating factors that explain discrepant verbal/nonverbal communication as a marketing strategy during wartime, which have theoretical and practical implications.