Literal and abstract metaphorical framing in public welfare lottery advertising: cognitive and affective responses in welfare communication

Purpose This study aims to examine how literal-explicit welfare framing and abstract metaphorical framing influence cognitive, affective and behavioral responses toward the Taiwan Public Welfare Lottery. Moving beyond treating welfare advertisements as different metaphor types, the study distinguishes these two message frames to clarify how public welfare messages communicate social value. It also examines the cognition–affect–behavior process linking welfare-related brand understanding, brand attitude and behavioral intention. Design/methodology/approach A within-subjects experiment was conducted with 142 participants who viewed two official Taiwan Public Welfare Lottery advertisements representing literal-explicit welfare framing and abstract metaphorical framing. Paired-samples t-tests were used to compare framing effects. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were then used to assess the measurement model and examine the relationships among welfare-related brand understanding, brand attitude and behavioral intention. Findings No significant construct-level differences were found between the two framing conditions for welfare-related brand understanding, brand attitude or behavioral intention. Exploratory item-level analyses indicated differences in responses to several individual items. Structural equation modeling supported the proposed cognition–affect–behavior relationships. These item-level findings are exploratory and should not be interpreted as evidence of robust differential framing effects. Originality/value This study distinguishes literal-explicit welfare framing from abstract metaphorical framing rather than treating welfare advertisements as different metaphor types. It integrates Keller’s Brand Knowledge Model with a cognition–affect–behavior framework and offers a theoretically grounded and empirically cautious interpretation of framing effects in public welfare advertising.