The Importance of Emotional Patterns Analysis
At The Rational Heart, we have a tool that measures emotional response to any object or event of interest to researchers. And that emotional response can reflect assessments of individual emotions, or it can identify patterns of emotions that are triggered by a given stimulus. These emotional patterns are important in building strategies that take advantage of emotional levers in marketing.
The Composite Picture of Emotional Responses
We have found that people tend to feel 6-8 (or more) emotions at a time when they consider a given stimulus. By capturing the full set of emotions being felt simultaneously, we get a composite picture of an individual’s or group’s emotional response. Here are a few quick examples of emotional patterns in action that may help to illuminate things.
Informing Group Analysis
Patterns analysis can be particularly informative about groups of people. Over time, we have observed that often, many people are feeling the very same set of 8 or 9 different emotions in response to exposure to a stimulus. We would look at emotional responses from 500 survey respondents and find that 240 of them (GroupA) felt the exact same set of emotions! And GroupB (n=126) would be feeling a different exact set of emotions. This provides excellent insight for product development and for message creation/enhancement. We have been able to use pattern analysis to inform messaging to different target groups in existing Segmentation Studies, for example.
Identifying Key Customer Groups
We have also discovered that when we examine the patterns of emotions people feel when they consider a brand, or a product, or the different stages in the purchase process is that four key types of customers emerge. These include Proponents (those who have exclusively positive emotional reactions), Distressed (those with exclusively negative reactions), Mixed Movables (those with mixed responses), and Apathetics (people who are not engaged sufficiently with the category to register a meaningful emotional response).
Tailoring Your Marketing Strategies
Each of these key groups of customers needs to be managed differently in marketing strategies. For example, it is often possible to target a subgroup within one of the customer types. Perhaps one such group is generally positive but also experiences fear-related concerns like Anxiety, Doubt or Guilt. A well-crafted messaging campaign, designed to alleviate these concerns, may be enough to move many of them into the Proponents group.
In other situations, the marketing team may conclude that the negative emotional responses from a subgroup may be warranted. The strategy that emerges is, “Fix it!” Especially for the Distressed, this may be the only viable approach. Before those negative emotions can be curtailed, the source of the problem must be identified and addressed.
Also, the relative size of these emotional pattern groups will often dictate the most effective emotional strategy. A large Proponents group will continue to grow with encouragement in the form of rewards programs or simple expressions of appreciation. And customers who fall into the Apathetic group may find a “reason to engage” upon learning about the benefits that Proponents enjoy.
Enhance Your Marketing with Emotional Patterns Analysis
Emotional Patterns Analysis from The Rational Heart is just one more reason to use our tool – and our accompanying strategic insight – to help you add the power of emotions to your marketing efforts. We look forward to hearing from you.
At The Rational Heart, we understand that emotions are at the core of successful business strategies. Consumers make decisions influenced by both logic and emotion. By quantifying emotional responses through our proprietary behavioral economics approach, we provide your business with a strategic advantage. Trust in The Rational Heart to turn emotional insights into impactful business strategies. Contact us today to discover how we can help your business thrive!
