As our business needs progress and become more complex, technology consistently proves its ability to be of service when helping us solve our diverse and ever-changing problems. Every day, businesses have more scrolls, clicks, and downloads as our reliance on technology grows by the second. However, the more we communicate via emails, Zoom calls, and chat rooms, we tend to forget that behind these screens, we’re still humans with diverse, creative, and empathetic emotions.
It’s true, numbers do sell. While strengthening a marketing strategy with tried-and-true data will help enhance a campaign’s performance, the emotional value cannot be left behind. The emotional value is equally important in a marketing campaign- it is vital to balance the emotional rationale with logic and analytics. Infiltrating your campaign with human-focused approaches can prove to make your strategy more memorable and impactful.
Breakdown of Human Emotion
Emotions are complex reaction patterns that involve behavioural, physiological, and psychological components.1 While we may think that our decision-making skills are made up of deliberate thinking and planning, they are often the results of our emotional states.2 For example, the affect heuristic is a mental shortcut we use to make decisions based on how we feel towards the subject (i.e. a brand) rather than using logic.3
Additionally, the feelings-as-information theory explains how our moods, emotions, and bodily sensations provide a source of information that can influence our judgements.4 For instance, research proves that consumers’ evaluations of products can be influenced by their current mood, with happier moods leading to more positive evaluations of products.5,6 Feelings play a central role in guiding early consumer evaluations of new, innovative products, supporting the statement that first impressions are important.3
Our Environments’ Impact on Our Emotions and Memory
Emotions are highly dependent on what we experience in our physical and digital environments. Studies show that making changes to the atmosphere of a consumer experience can trigger the consumers’ emotional states and influence purchase decisions.2 For example, if a consumer is at an event, the visual design (colours, layout), the ambience (lighting, openness) and the social interactions can increase the consumer’s time and experience quality at the event.7
As well as influencing our decisions and preferences, the power of emotion also extends to memory. Some of our most vivid memories of experiences are those that have strong emotional components. These lasting memories can fall anywhere on the valence of emotion, ranging from happiness and excitement to sadness and mournfulness. Neurobiological research has pinpointed that the release of adrenal stress hormones in the brain in response to emotive experiences can be one of the reasons underlying this enhanced memory consolidation.8
Another interesting study demonstrates that strengthening effects of emotional arousal on memory also extends to learned information, which can be entirely unrelated and falls outside of the emotional experience itself.10 For example, one study showed that university students who were exposed to emotional video clips following a university lecture scored better on an exam of the lecture content two weeks later.10 Applying this rationale, stimulating an emotional experience with your audience could help them remember your brand or information in the long run.
Connecting the Business with the Audience
Along with being intentional about creating an ideal environment for your consumers, there are many other tactics to add an emotional layer to your campaign. Storytelling, for example, is one of the most efficacious tactics to nurture a strong relationship with the audience members and connect with them on a human level. It demonstrates that your brand is relatable and that you do have shared human experiences.11
Creating a community is another tactic to tap into a few different emotional triggers. The bandwagon effect it supports keeps people intrigued by what their community group members are also doing. Building a community also supports feelings of camaraderie, acceptance, and excitement. This can create a strong loyalty towards your brand. For instance, charities are perfect examples of this strategy when it comes to marathons and other races. During the annual London Marathon and London Half Marathon, the Alzheimer’s Society raises funds and awareness for its cause by having runners pledge to the charity, giving them shirts to wear come race day, and encouraging the runners to use their hashtag on social media. On race day, the Alzheimer’s Society will even have its own booth for all its runners to come celebrate and listen to live music. This charity demonstrates how building a community can create an audience that is proud to come together.12
Why Should Marketers Care?
Marketing that stimulates emotion can influence consumers’ behaviours by influencing judgements and evaluations, enhancing memory, and forming positive associations with brands and products. This not only drives purchase considerations but also encourages learning and promotes a loyal audience.
Businesses should focus on how to properly build relationships with their consumers. All emotions lead to actions of some sort- happiness allows us to share, sadness allows us to be empathetic and connect, surprise allows us to think outside of the box and liveliness allows us to be creative.
If we want to drive impact- B2B or B2C, external or internal- creating experiences that stimulate an emotional response brings with it all kinds of business benefits. While creating marketing strategies based on data is necessary, combining analytics with a layer of emotional value will have rewarding results.
By Bri Borrego
Works Cited
