The Ultimate Guide to Emotional Marketing

Plenty of research shows that emotion influences consumer behavior. 

• Studies using fMRI showed that personal feelings and experiences drive consumer decisions more than information like features and facts.
• Advertising research showed emotional responses to ads and the likability of a brand influences buyer intent 3x more than anything else.
• Positive emotions towards brands have a far greater influence on consumer loyalty than trust or brand attributes.

Emotions will drive us to choose more expensive, branded products that we feel good about over practically identical, cheaper generic ones.

The emotion your marketing targets will depend on your industry, offer and audience. 

But consider the difference between positive & negative framing:

• Positive Framing focuses on the benefits of getting something by promoting progress or growth.
• Negative Framing focuses on the pain of losing or missing out on something by promoting prevention & solutions to avoid pain.

So which should you use?

Scientists at Yale and Duke concluded that human beings respond better to positive framing than negative framing.

Scientists at Yale and Duke discovered that humans have a preference for the positive that is deeply rooted in our DNA. This cognitive bias has been illustrated in thought experiments and scientific studies for years. 

• Positive Framing: ATTRACTS
• Negative Framing: REPELS 

That means people will be attracted to your solution when you use positive statements.

Crafting statements that scare consumers by using negative words intended to make them anxious for not using your solution, actually pushes them away.