MERCA2.0 • Beyond Advertising: Engaging with Emotions

As Will Hanmer-Lloyd said, “One thing you can say about advertising which causes outrage is that it usually gets noticed

Traditionally, people have viewed emotions as positive or negative. Outwardly, some are perceived as beneficial for our “good” emotional state, while others are not. Some are to be kept to a minimum or at least managed. Frequently, no one wants to deal with anger, disgust, or sadness, and usually, these emotions are not spread all over social media but rather the moments that reinforce or spark happiness.

At times, advertising tends to do the opposite, leveraging strong emotions that make ads memorable and inspire action. Usually accompanied by a clear call to action, ads can use anger to generate awareness or incentivize a proactive approach towards an issue. Brands can benefit from the attention it generates, memorability, and conversions.

We can remember or recognize brands for the emotions they evoke, for example, Coca-Cola’s “Choose Happiness” campaign. A complete and very successful campaign centered on the joy a product will spark and bring to those around. We buy because we want what we’ve seen, not necessarily the product, but the moment.

Other times, the contrary is true. We buy because we want to avoid or confront. Anger and fear manage to do a great job at this. Anger or outrage has demonstrated its capacity to create engagement and widespread sharing. As Will Hanmer-Lloyd said, “One thing you can say about advertising which causes outrage is that it usually gets noticed.” Some articles have questioned if brands manufacture outrage to make a campaign go viral, especially before a holiday season.

Nevertheless, this can backfire; brands can lose credibility, cause a negative sentiment towards them, which would quickly spread through social media, and even discourage purchases from specific customer segments with a decisive view of the theme.

Studies show that consumers use emotions to evaluate brands and that an ad’s emotional response can influence buy intent. Time and again, emotions have proven to have a considerable influence.