This study proposes a contingency framework on the role of emotions and incentives in affecting banner ads effectiveness. More specifically, how emotional appeals affect banner ad click-through rates in the presence or absence of incentives is explored. Data collected from nearly ten thousand real world banner ads is used to empirically test the moderating effect of ad-induced emotional appeals on the relationship between incentive offerings and banner ad effectiveness. The analysis concludes that providing incentives in banner ads is effective in soliciting click-through. When combined with emotional appeals, we found that positive emotions in banner ads enhance the effectiveness of incentives. However, ads with negative or no emotions seem to work better only when no incentives are offered.