Emotions are considered one of the main factors that affect purchasing decisions. In general, people’s perceptions are that rational analysis is the basis of the choices they make when buying. In reality, emotions substantially influence and determine how people decide when purchasing products.
Emotions in this case, constitute personal feelings and consumer experiences. When evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions rather than information such as brand attributes, features, facts etc.
But, how significantly can emotions influence consumer behavior?
According to Phillip Adco*ck, a consumer behavior expert, the following are the statistics on emotion vs rational thought on purchasing decisions:
- Emotional reactions are 3,000 times quicker than rational thought.
- Emotional parts of the brain process sensory input 5 times faster than rational thought.
- The persuasiveness ratio of emotion to reason is 24:1
Tweet this: When describing a brand, ‘less is more’, always applies.
When people decide to purchase based on the ads they see, they normally go for things that appeal to their eyes rather than reading much of the content written in the ad. It’s mainly the visual effects that drive emotion than what is written in the ad. A recent research conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation concluded that the emotion of “likeability” is the most predictive measure of whether an advertisem*nt will increase a brand’s sales.
Attraction Based On Visual Appeal
Research reveals that consumers perceive personality characteristics in brands. They are attracted more to types of brand personalities based on visual appeal. The attractions are emotion based and not rational. Brand personality is communicated by marketers through packaging, visual imagery and the types of words used to describe the brand.
Less Is More When It comes To Ad Content
When describing a brand, ‘less is more’, always applies. The fewer the words used, the more likely the attractions. Too much content on a product ad is a big turnoff to most consumers. Few words with different font styles and font sizes on different colors can quickly bring positive attractions to purchasing decisions.
The Narrative Invokes Emotional Attachment
Most loyal customers show emotional attachment to a brand based on its narrative. The brand narrative focuses mainly on brand identity and brand status. It communicates the name of the brand and what it means to the consumer and why the consumer should buy. This narrative is the basis for brand loyalty. Most Apple or Nike customers exhibit this type of emotional attachment which is mainly tied to brand names.
Emotion Triggers Impulse Buying
For consumers, the most important role of emotion is that it pushes people towards action. In response to an emotion, humans are compelled to do something. This is the basis of impulse buying. People mostly buy things based on how it looks, feels and tastes. The thought of affordability, which is mostly rational, normally comes later after likeability based on emotion has already kicked in.
Emotion Challenges Conventional Marketing Theories
In conventional theories, marketers always think people’s responses to a product are mainly based on the product offering. Marketers start with the features and benefits of a product and conduct consumer research to find matching needs to draw conclusions. However, an understanding of consumer purchase behavior must be based on the knowledge of human emotion and how it influences decision-making.
Marketers developed different theories about why consumers buy. Their theories always fall short because their point of reference is viewing the consumer through the lens of the product. However, internet and digital marketing have become more revolutionary in predicting consumer behavior. Now, you can view the consumer through the lens of digital technology.
Emotional Data Analysis Helps Shape Product Offering
With digital technology, a marketer can analyze data and draw meaningful conclusions about the activity of online users as a valid insight into the consumer decision-making process. This consumer behavior data analysis can help ascertain likeability and how to better satisfy consumers with products which appeal more to them based on emotion.
Businesses Have Controlled Emotion Compared To Individual Consumers
The role of emotion in purchasing, also applies for B2B as it is for individual consumers. It’s just that for businesses, it is more of a controlled emotion. When businesses do their purchasing, they do not want to spend more than what they budget for. A cool PO system call Procurementexpress.com exists to help businesses not to fear or worry about overspending. Procurementexpress.com runs the budget for you so that you can focus on other strategic things.
Procurementexpress.com is an automated purchase order system which helps you to avoid wasted spend. It gives you peace of mind while saving you time and money. It’s easy to use and it is compatible with mobile devices as well. You can approve or reject and can also track every purchase order request so you can spend within budget. It has customizable PDFs to suit all your reporting needs.
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