The guiding principles of eMotivational Persuasion are that human behavior is powerfully influenced by emotions based on neurochemical processes and that those emotions can be measured. Further, the emotional impact of messages, ads, or interaction with a product can be measured.
By combining brain science and data science we are able to measure human emotional connections to solve problems.
People’s behavior is not merely governed by reason: they do not eat broccoli and kale at every meal; they do not make financial decisions based on reason; they do not exercise 30 minutes every day; and they do not vote merely on their economic interest.
Now some people may find the idea of emotional appeal uncomfortable – which is itself an emotional decision. There is a continuum of motives from responsible to exploitative when it comes to emotion-based campaigns, just as there are when it comes to reason-based campaigns.
Ignoring the reality of the role that emotional processes play in decision making does a disservice to any effort to understand, measure, and influence people’s attitudes and beliefs.
Think about what the tobacco industry did for generations to sell their product to different audiences and to market to kids: they ironically sold health, happiness, confidence, and independence.
In the late 1980s the oil and gas industry turned to these same people to create uncertainty and confusion around climate science.
They understood that emotion can be used to trump reality.
The rise of social media has served as a way for groups to spread emotional contagions faster and to targeted audiences.
If your goal is to counter that kind of messaging, then understanding it and measuring it are critical. Thinking more broadly, emotional appeals are not always obvious or recognized: they can be and often are unconscious.
Recognizing and appreciating that emotion plays a critical role in decision making has practical effects. An academic survey looking at numerous experiments found that rational arguments had a behavioral impact of .1 to .2 percent versus emotional based appeals which had a .3 to .4 percent impact. The evidence shows that over time the long-term effects of emotional appeals also have stronger impacts.
It is also critical to recognize that all emotions are not created equal – some are more persuasive and powerful based on the situation – and we can identify and measure those specific emotions.
There are also reasons that emotional impact varies by the medium of communication.
Print is most rationally processed but as you move to radio to tv to social media and online content the amount of emotional involvement increases exponentially.
Most approaches currently measure positive versus negative feelings, but that fails to capture the many emotions at play – Reptilian, Individualist, Prosocial, and Communal. We help you identify and measure discrete emotions are involved in specific decision-making contexts. They are accessible. They can be measured. This knowledge will help you make smarter decisions.
Ironically, this is literally the biggest no brainer out there to improve a product or a persuasion campaign or any sort of human interaction or experience.