What better time to tap on emotions, feelings and a range of intra-human reactions, than the crisis we are passing through as a race! So, the tail-end of the last decade has given rise to this marketing observation / terminology that’s a result of indepth studies on consumer behaviour, buying habits and opportunities to serve the market place to exactly what it needs. Add to this, how Coronavirus or COVID-19 has led to a barrage of changes in the world of business and marketing.
Moreover, the world is also in a phase where emotions and reactions count now harder more than they ever did. As individuals, while we are reacting to information strongly and instantly, what we are steered by is our emotions. So, shouldn’t communication by brands also make a connect to emotional cues?
Popular Motivational Speaker, Zig Ziglar once said, “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” While in that context, the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, published a research which mentioned that humans have four basic emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Anger.
Also Read: Has Coronavirus infected your business too?
– Happiness includes aspects like fun, delight, youth, luxury, romance, adventure, playfulness, family bonding, etc. It’s what we see in most communication.
– Sadness encompasses a sense of compassion, empathy, warmth, concern, awareness, problems, and things that concern individual at a familial or societal level.
– Fear is used to incite behaviour change, discourage certain habits, encourage ones that are for individual betterment, etc.
– Anger is used to make people aware about aspects that concern them, concern life, concern the environment, policies and affect humanity as a whole.
Considering all the above, if you have any communication going out for your brand during the times of Coronavirus or COVID-19, please keep in mind the following:
– Your brand’s communication will be accepted on the basis of the ‘likeability’ quotient it is evaluated. So please be sensible about what your brand comes out with.
– Positive emotions towards your brand will create far more greater liking than trust and other judgments.
White Thoughts & Branding recommends a more sensible and selective approach to communication in the phase we are in. On that note, wishing you a safe and sound stay-at-home phase.
