Emotional Buying

Today I want to talk about 4 key emotions that will drive us to buy

Many studies have shown that people rely more on emotions than they do on information to make decision as to what product to buy.
I mentioned previously in my article on ‘Fonts and Their Feelings’, that Emotion is driven by the sub conscious and it is emotion that drives impulse.

This is certainly the case, and we may think that we are making decisions based on information, but it is information that triggers emotion and emotion triggers buying.

The emotional responses to the information that we are given will influence how we buy

It is no secret that in the advertising world triggering emotions has been a mainstay of intent and has driven all advertising for many decades

The four main emotional categories are

1. Happy
2. Sad
3. Afraid
4. Angry

All four of these are used as a tool for selling product and influencing how we will buy.

These four emotions can be triggered by, Colour, Shape, Typeface and placement.

So why do they work as a selling tool

Happy – If a marketing strategy makes you feel happy or makes you smile then you are likely to develop an emotional response of trust and well being, these then release the endorphins which make you feel good, happy, and more convinced that what you are looking at is trustworthy. Using a smiling face for instance (Personal Branding) is contagious and will make the viewer feel Happy and will cause them to smile themselves, which in turn gives them a personal connection.

**Sad **– Marketing will often use methods that tug on the Heart strings, which will generate a sense of feeling sorry for, or even making people feel like they are missing out, which will generate a desire to help or to obtain. These types of tools are often used in Appeals for donations. This method can also be used showing people in a wealthy environment with alongside text that will make you feel like your missing out if you do not take this offer.

Afraid – This is where marketers will use known triggers that will drive you to action. Knowing how people react to situations. Pre determining that there is a point where people know that if they take action now they will save themselves from impending doom, eg: having trouble paying the bills, find that you cannot make ends meet, these are all things that we Fear, Take action now and you too could be earning a daily residual income that will release you from all this stress and anxiety.
Fear tugs on an intrinsic Fight or flight condition and in marketing the opportunity to fight is always given and it only takes the push of a button.

Anger - The majority of people believe Anger is a negative emotion, however in numerous cases if we get Angry about something it can motivate us to take action, the Anger can drive us to want to make change. If we see what we may perceive as an injustice then we will certainly formulate an opinion as to how it should be, and if we are offered a way to achieve that, then we will take it. Such cases as showing something that we know not to be so but then offering us the resolution if we Click Here. Create the problem and the resolution in one big swoop is a well known strategy used not only in advertising.

Next time you are looking at an Ad, try and pin point which emotion it is triggering, is it working and wanting you to take action, is it having the opposite effect.

Good advertising will utilise these emotions to inspire desire and desire will drive you
Write down in the comments below any ads that you see that uses these emotional string pullers to pull you in.