I recently completed a study for a large airline which provided a perfect example of how emotions override our rational deliberations. While we all intuitively know that this is the case, here is a wonderful illustration.
The client was developing a new menu of salads and small plate items for purchase on flights. These new offers were great. They were contemporary, attractive, and healthy - somewhat of significant departure from what we might expect from airplane food.
Like any good business thinker, our client hypothesized that the purchase rate for the new items might depend on what they offer for free. That is, the more that is served for free, the less likely flyers will spend money to purchase something else. Well, that would be a good assumption if humans are totally rational.
In the study, we tested three options with three separate groups of flyers. The first group was offered a small sandwich and beverages for free. The second group was offered a bag of chips and beverages for free. The last group was offered water. In all cases, flyers were then offered the new menu for purchase.
Flyers in the first group, the one that would be served a small sandwich, were very interested in the up-sell. Many found the new menu items very appealing and wanted to find out more. The top two box purchase intent was quite high. Rationally, we would expect the other groups to be equally, if not more, interested in the new menu items. After all, it is exactly the same offering, and the contract against what is free is so much greater. Alas, the result was exactly opposite!
The flyers in the third group as example, the group that was served a glass of water, were so angered by perceived disrespect that they could not even focus on the new menu. How dare the airline think so little of their customers that all I get is a cheap glass of water? The water could not be a stronger symbol that customers are not appreciated, and are viewed simply as a source of revenue from which the airline wants to extract as much as possible. Not surprisingly, the interest and purchase intent for the new menu items was essentially nil. Emotions totally overwhelmed rational consideration.
Marketers need to seriously consider the emotion they are intentionally or unintentionally triggering. These emotions can easily make a very compelling offer a total dud.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Conflicting emotions
We humans have a broad range of emotions, many are in conflict with each other. For example, when something shiny and new appears, we may feel curiosity and some low level fear at the same time. When interacting with someone of the same sex, the term 'frenemy' cannot be a better description of our internal conflicts . On one hand, we have powerful emotions driving us to form relationships and belong. On the other hand, we have equally powerful emotions to driving us to compete with the same sex for status, or ultimately for mates.
These internal emotional conflicts, arguably, are the roots of our decision making. Without internal emotional conflicts there are no decisions to make - we just do it. Conflicting emotions are the fundamental cause of our deliberations, indecisions, rationalizations, and all the fun stuff that makes us 'irrational' consumers.
For marketers, the key to pursuasion is to nudge the emotional balance towards the side that motivates positive action. In many of the new product concepts we have studied, hope and doubt are frequent strong underlying emotions. Consumers really hope that the product will work (solve their need) but at the same time, feel skeptical that it will. These are very strong emotions which, if remain unresolved, will lead to avoidance, indecision, and inaction.
Another conflict we frequently illuminate is want and shame - huge tension between the desire for physiological pleasures (dopamine and seratonin hit) and the desire to avoid lowering social stature. Ask anyone how eating a decadent dessert makes them feel, and there is a great chance you will trigger want and shame.
Since emotions are triggered by an individual's assocation with prior experiences, the big opportunity for marketers is to understand what associations consumers are making with a new product concept. Are they associating a concept with other products that evokes shame? If so, what elements of the concept is triggering this association? By understanding the underlying associations, marketers can effectively change the emotional response to a concept and minimize the internal conflicts.
These internal emotional conflicts, arguably, are the roots of our decision making. Without internal emotional conflicts there are no decisions to make - we just do it. Conflicting emotions are the fundamental cause of our deliberations, indecisions, rationalizations, and all the fun stuff that makes us 'irrational' consumers.
For marketers, the key to pursuasion is to nudge the emotional balance towards the side that motivates positive action. In many of the new product concepts we have studied, hope and doubt are frequent strong underlying emotions. Consumers really hope that the product will work (solve their need) but at the same time, feel skeptical that it will. These are very strong emotions which, if remain unresolved, will lead to avoidance, indecision, and inaction.
Another conflict we frequently illuminate is want and shame - huge tension between the desire for physiological pleasures (dopamine and seratonin hit) and the desire to avoid lowering social stature. Ask anyone how eating a decadent dessert makes them feel, and there is a great chance you will trigger want and shame.
Since emotions are triggered by an individual's assocation with prior experiences, the big opportunity for marketers is to understand what associations consumers are making with a new product concept. Are they associating a concept with other products that evokes shame? If so, what elements of the concept is triggering this association? By understanding the underlying associations, marketers can effectively change the emotional response to a concept and minimize the internal conflicts.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Social Media Listening
I was at a research conference a few weeks ago and attended a presentation about social media listening which reinforced the need to understand the emotional drivers behind social media. The presenter showed that sentiments towards a brand can be markedly different when they analyzed all blogs, tweets, and reviews online, versus when they analyzed just conversations on Facebook. My immediate reaction was, of course. What you choose to say about a brand is largely dependent on who you think is listening. A blogger's emotional motivation can be very different if the intended listeners are strangers or friends.
There are arguably two dominant emotional rewards for blogging and tweeting. One is enhancing one's social standing - "look how smart I am". The other is strengthening social relationships - "I want you to accept me". One is competition, the other is collaboration. What a person will say about a brand will be very different if the motivation is competition, or if the motivation is collaboration. Bragging to strangers carries no consequences, whereas, giving friends bad advice will have significant consequences.
If you are a marketer who is monitoring the sentiments for your brand through social media listening tools, would you want to separate the bragging posts from the relationship building conversations? Would one give you a truer sense of how your brand is perceived?
There are arguably two dominant emotional rewards for blogging and tweeting. One is enhancing one's social standing - "look how smart I am". The other is strengthening social relationships - "I want you to accept me". One is competition, the other is collaboration. What a person will say about a brand will be very different if the motivation is competition, or if the motivation is collaboration. Bragging to strangers carries no consequences, whereas, giving friends bad advice will have significant consequences.
If you are a marketer who is monitoring the sentiments for your brand through social media listening tools, would you want to separate the bragging posts from the relationship building conversations? Would one give you a truer sense of how your brand is perceived?
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Intended versus actual emotional response
How consumers feel about a marketing claim may be very different from what was intended. Recently, we completed a study for a major OTC brand which reinforced the need to check advertisments to understand what they are really evoking among consumers.
Our client knew from prior research that there is a significant level of doubt among consumers regarding the efficacy of the product. Consistent with very rational problem solving, the client believed that the most effective strategy to change perceptions is to make a strong clinical claim - "In clinical studies, 87% of patients showed results". The hard data is real and will be convincing. Unfortunately, after spending million on T.V., the business showed little growth.
We conducted a quick study to illuminate consumers' emotions evoked by the clinical claim. The inconvenient truth is that the claim actually increased consumers' skepticism. Instead of reducing the perception of doubt, the claim actually triggered deep consumer experiences with dubious scientific claims and generated strong subconscious unpleasant emotions. The intended solution was actually strengthening the problem.
Many of us are taught at an early age to solve problems rationally. However, with consumers, emotions rule, and rational claims may not generate the intended responses. Be careful.
Our client knew from prior research that there is a significant level of doubt among consumers regarding the efficacy of the product. Consistent with very rational problem solving, the client believed that the most effective strategy to change perceptions is to make a strong clinical claim - "In clinical studies, 87% of patients showed results". The hard data is real and will be convincing. Unfortunately, after spending million on T.V., the business showed little growth.
We conducted a quick study to illuminate consumers' emotions evoked by the clinical claim. The inconvenient truth is that the claim actually increased consumers' skepticism. Instead of reducing the perception of doubt, the claim actually triggered deep consumer experiences with dubious scientific claims and generated strong subconscious unpleasant emotions. The intended solution was actually strengthening the problem.
Many of us are taught at an early age to solve problems rationally. However, with consumers, emotions rule, and rational claims may not generate the intended responses. Be careful.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Emotions versus rational considerations
In your brain, there is more neural traffic rising from your limbic system to your cerebral cortex than the other way around. One more piece of hard evidence that your emotion is an integral, if not dominant, part of your decision making. Let me explain.
In very simple terms, your limbic system controls your emotions, while your cerebral cortex controls your rational cognitive processes. When you are faced with a stimulus or new situation, both systems work together to determine your reaction (behavior).
Your emotions first establish the domain of possible behaviors - for example, a stimulus might evoke your attention and interest, and your emotional impulse is to move towards it and examine it closer. Your rational cognitive process serves as a secondary pathway, which modulates your emotional impulse - for example, the stimulus is a cute outfit on a stranger. Your rational consideration tells you that it is not cool to simply approach a stranger and gawk at her clothes. So, you discretely turn your head as though you are looking at something behind her while checking her out.
The fact that there is more neural traffic from your emotion system to your rational processes says a lot about what is really driving your behavior. It suggests that in the interactions between your 'feeling' and your 'thinking', your feeling part has a lot more say. Hmmm...
In very simple terms, your limbic system controls your emotions, while your cerebral cortex controls your rational cognitive processes. When you are faced with a stimulus or new situation, both systems work together to determine your reaction (behavior).
Your emotions first establish the domain of possible behaviors - for example, a stimulus might evoke your attention and interest, and your emotional impulse is to move towards it and examine it closer. Your rational cognitive process serves as a secondary pathway, which modulates your emotional impulse - for example, the stimulus is a cute outfit on a stranger. Your rational consideration tells you that it is not cool to simply approach a stranger and gawk at her clothes. So, you discretely turn your head as though you are looking at something behind her while checking her out.
The fact that there is more neural traffic from your emotion system to your rational processes says a lot about what is really driving your behavior. It suggests that in the interactions between your 'feeling' and your 'thinking', your feeling part has a lot more say. Hmmm...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Consumers' emotions
Consumer behaviors and decisions are overwhelmingly driven by emotions. By the time rational deliberation enters, a decision has already been largely made. For marketers and researchers, consumers' behaviors cannot be truly explained or stimulated without understanding the underlying emotions.
Emotion is a powerful neurological system that has evolved over millions of years to enhance our ability to adapt and survive. Its main function is to prepare us to react quickly to new situations. Emotions motivate and reward us to behave in ways that are evolutionarily advantageous. Of course, today in our modern societies, these same emotions are in action, but driving behaviors far broader than before. For example, the emotional drive to elevate one's status in a community is still extremely strong. However, this emotion is now acted upon in many more ways - from driving a luxury car, to being a yoga practitioner, to, um, blogging about an esoteric topic.
For marketers, resonating with consumers' emotions is arguably one of the highest potential opportunities to invigorate growth. Through the understanding of consumers' emotional needs, marketers can effectively lower barriers, evoke stronger interest, and develop lasting bonds. A brand that consistently evokes strong pleasant emotions will enjoy higher market share and profitability.
One of the major problems with using emotions in marketing is that they are very complicated. There is no agreement in the academic, neuroscience, or psychology fields how many emotions really exist, or which ones are primary and which ones are composites of multiple primary emotions. One can easily argue that there are hundreds of unique emotions which quickly make it unmanageable.
In addition, emotions, because they are individual's inward experiences, are inherently difficult to describe. It's a bit like trying to describe a specific shade of blue you saw in your mind's eye. Without a common experience or reference, it is exceedingly difficult to develop a common vision or understanding across a business team.
The first step for marketers to employ emotions is to have a framework that can be used to interpret, organize, and analyze consumers' emotional states. One good framework is to base it on intended behaviors. The notion is this - if emotions evolved to drive behaviors that increase our chances of passing our genes forward, what are these important behaviors? The answer turns out to be rather simple. Here are a few:
- Avoid danger, ie. being someone's dinner
- Find food, or better still, find new sources of food
- Attract mates
- Compete for mates
- Keep your off springs healthy and safe
- Belong to a group who can help you and keep you safe
- Save your attention and energy for things that make a difference
Basically, at the highest level, emotions drive us to avoid, investigate, engage, cooperate, get ready, ignore...
This is how our framework works. Feelings such as kindness, compassion, and caring may be subtly different emotions, but, they have a common intended behavior, which is to provide assistance to another individual. By categorizing emotions into a common group, we can reduce the number of emotion groups to 20 - 30. Now we have a framework that simplifies the complexity enough to enable meaningful communication and analysis.
Emotion is a powerful neurological system that has evolved over millions of years to enhance our ability to adapt and survive. Its main function is to prepare us to react quickly to new situations. Emotions motivate and reward us to behave in ways that are evolutionarily advantageous. Of course, today in our modern societies, these same emotions are in action, but driving behaviors far broader than before. For example, the emotional drive to elevate one's status in a community is still extremely strong. However, this emotion is now acted upon in many more ways - from driving a luxury car, to being a yoga practitioner, to, um, blogging about an esoteric topic.
For marketers, resonating with consumers' emotions is arguably one of the highest potential opportunities to invigorate growth. Through the understanding of consumers' emotional needs, marketers can effectively lower barriers, evoke stronger interest, and develop lasting bonds. A brand that consistently evokes strong pleasant emotions will enjoy higher market share and profitability.
One of the major problems with using emotions in marketing is that they are very complicated. There is no agreement in the academic, neuroscience, or psychology fields how many emotions really exist, or which ones are primary and which ones are composites of multiple primary emotions. One can easily argue that there are hundreds of unique emotions which quickly make it unmanageable.
In addition, emotions, because they are individual's inward experiences, are inherently difficult to describe. It's a bit like trying to describe a specific shade of blue you saw in your mind's eye. Without a common experience or reference, it is exceedingly difficult to develop a common vision or understanding across a business team.
The first step for marketers to employ emotions is to have a framework that can be used to interpret, organize, and analyze consumers' emotional states. One good framework is to base it on intended behaviors. The notion is this - if emotions evolved to drive behaviors that increase our chances of passing our genes forward, what are these important behaviors? The answer turns out to be rather simple. Here are a few:
- Avoid danger, ie. being someone's dinner
- Find food, or better still, find new sources of food
- Attract mates
- Compete for mates
- Keep your off springs healthy and safe
- Belong to a group who can help you and keep you safe
- Save your attention and energy for things that make a difference
Basically, at the highest level, emotions drive us to avoid, investigate, engage, cooperate, get ready, ignore...
This is how our framework works. Feelings such as kindness, compassion, and caring may be subtly different emotions, but, they have a common intended behavior, which is to provide assistance to another individual. By categorizing emotions into a common group, we can reduce the number of emotion groups to 20 - 30. Now we have a framework that simplifies the complexity enough to enable meaningful communication and analysis.
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