This article is by Nicole Coleman, Ph. D. , assistant professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business.
From children selling expensive jewelry, to a baby selling soap to a family selling a car, more and more marketers are employing emotional advertising techniques. But playing upon emotion is not all about humor and positivity. Many brands today are engaging in “sadvertising,” with which they tug at the consumer’s heartstrings with the goal of eliciting authentic emotional responses—actual tears, in some cases. This shift reflects a realization that many (perhaps most) daily purchases are not made by engaging in deliberative, rational thinking, but rather are driven by quick emotional responses. If consumers are selecting products based on emotions, the logic then follows that marketers will try to build associations that are emotional in nature.
Emotional ads can be a useful tool for marketers trying to shape brand associations. By directly incorporating emotions into a brand’s story, the marketer builds in specific emotional characteristics that can increase positive attitudes among consumers about the product. If a brand consistently features uplifting and heartwarming stories like Google and Apple have done, it makes the consumer feel good and can influence the consumer’s overall view of the brand. The use of negative emotions like sadness or fear can also create beneficial associations for a brand. If the brand helps the consumer avoid negative experiences, such as ADT helping you avoid robbery, the resolution of the negative emotion can create a very strong positive association between the brand and customer.
Further, emotions provide authenticity—life is full of emotional richness, not just fact and figures—which helps to enliven the branded “content” that marketers create. Throughout most of human history, knowledge and information was transmitted through stories; the human brain has been shaped in many ways by storytelling. Information told in the form of a story is better remembered and is able to stand out, especially when compared to dry, listed information. A key component of storytelling is the emotional content. Emotional ads can help a brand craft its story, and create relatable content that resonates with consumers because it engages and entertains them, rather than coming off as an advertisement.
While bringing emotions into advertising can increase the memorability and power of an ad, it is important that the emotions are relevant to the brand itself. Because so much of our life is influenced by emotion, people are very good at detecting “fakers”—both interpersonally and in advertising. If a company wants to incorporate emotions into their next campaign, it is important to start with the brand story itself and then ask which emotions are appropriate. For example, Coca-Cola is not going to run a fear campaign anytime soon, just as the American Red Cross isn’t likely to use humor to get their message across. Because of their memorability, an emotion that’s not germane to the brand could end up doing more damage than good.
Key takeaways for CMOs:
- Increase the incidence of emotional ads—not just humor, but even sadness and nostalgia.
- Consider that consumer decisions are trending towards quick, emotional choices, rather than deliberative decisions.
- Shape consumers’ brand associations through emotional advertising by endearing them towards a brand.
- Create authentic “brand stories” to help change consumer perceptions of ads by identifying them as actual content rather than commercials.
- Stand out from competition by making memorable stories.
- Keep the emotion true to the brand—do not do it just for emotion’s sake.
