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In the marketing world where brands fiercely compete to build their brand loyalty and consumer base, emotions play a vital role in capturing the hearts and minds of customers. Emotions are the fundamental aspect of all human beings. Happiness, sadness, anger, and surprise are not mere feelings. These feelings influence the decision-making of the consumers. If implemented correctly, these emotions can help leverage marketing campaigns and develop deeper connections with consumers, build customer loyalty, drive engagement and ultimately lead to business success. Brands employ both positive and negative emotions to market their products and services. Emotional marketing has been used by brands time and again to increase brand engagement. People rely on emotions when they make a purchase. Mere information is not enough to market a product. In this blog, we will delve into the role of human emotions in marketing and how they influence consumer behaviour.

Human beings are inherently emotional creatures. We are more likely to make a decision based on our emotions rather than logical thinking. Marketers understand this and tap into this aspect of human behaviour to build campaigns that are more appealing to their target audience. By appealing to specific emotions of happiness, sadness, fear, love, nostalgia, and so on, brands capture attention, evoke a response, and build a long-lasting impression. For instance, Nike’s “Just do it” campaign where professional athletes were featured talking about their accomplishments and the emotions they feel while exercising garnered huge attention and left a lasting impression on people.

Emotions are closely related to our identities and values. We elicit positive emotions when something aligns with our beliefs and values and elicit negative emotions when something does not align with our values. When a marketer can figure out which nerve of its target audience it can tap on, it can create a strong emotional bond with its consumers. Marketers can employ various methods such as storytelling, imagery, and experiences to evoke emotions that align with their consumer’s aspirations, desires, and needs they can build a brand identity that will set them apart from their competitors to build brand loyalty. Mamaearth created its brand identity by running campaigns such as “Plant Goodness” which involves planting a tree for every order. They also ran another campaign “Plastic Positivity” which focused on plastic recycling. Such campaigns helped them build their brand identity and consumer engagement.

Emotional branding differentiates a brand from its competitors in the market. When we make a purchase, we think of what sets the brand apart. It influences consumer decision-making. This connection is built based on how a brand markets its products and services. Emotional intelligence in marketing can be a powerful differentiator. While products and services may have similar features and benefits, emotions associated with a brand can set them apart. By creating a distinct experience, brands can establish themselves as unique and memorable. Whether it's humour, aspiration, or empathy, emotional branding creates an emotional resonance that makes consumers choose one brand over the other. Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign gathered enormous attention. The differential factor consisted of building bonds and friendships by sharing a Coke. The campaign was a huge success as it resonated with the people and differentiated Coca-Cola from its competitors.

Social media plays a vital role in the field of marketing. In today’s age social media platforms have become the catalysts for sharing experiences and emotions. A single emotional campaign can go viral generating immense exposure and impact for the brand building consumer engagement. Emotional content tends to be more shareable and relatable leading to increased reach and brand visibility. With the use of social media platforms, emotions can spread like wildfire, allowing marketers to leverage user-generated content. CRED was successful in one such campaign featuring Rahul Dravid who was shown in a completely different light from his usual calm and composed manner. The campaign went viral on social media in no time leaving people talking about it for days on end.

One of the most effective ways to engage consumers emotionally is through storytelling. By presenting narratives that evoke specific emotions, brands can capture emotions and build connections with the audience. Emotional appeals in advertising often elicit joy, inspiration, and sadness, something that the audience can relate to. For instance, Google’s search engine campaign “Reunion”, showcased two elderly men from India and Pakistan respectively who were separated during the partition and reunited all thanks to Google's search engine.