EXERCISE 42: RATIONAL AND EMOTIONAL MOTIVES
Objectives
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Background
The
Nature of Rational and Emotional Appeals
Rational (Cognitive) Appeals
One
of the most general ways to categorize motives is as rational and emotional
motives. These motives underlie a marketing communication’s motivational appeal—the nature of the
driving force used to convey the advertiser’s or salesperson’s message. This message (theme, selling premise, selling
appeal) is the major point about
the brand communicated to the target audience. For example, advertising has always
proclaimed that Ivory soap is gentle, mild, and pure.
As far back as 1925 in his
classic Principles of Merchandising,
Melvin Copeland observed that both rational and emotional motives stimulate
consumers. Rationality entails
reason, thought, logic, and physical control. Economic rationality suggests that consumers carefully consider and
evaluate all alternatives on the important buying criteria and choose those
they expect will give them the greatest satisfaction for the money they spend.
Rational
(cognitive) appeals,
then, are communication messages directed toward the message receiver’s logic
and self-interest, emphasizing hard facts, presenting reasoned arguments to
buy, and focusing on informational needs. The appeal is cognitive—to the head or
intellect. The sales pitch is heavily factual and information intensive,
describing product features and benefits, functions and uses, claims about
product performance, and other objective
information about tangible product
attributes such as value, performance, size, weight, ingredients,
efficiency in operation, and dependability in use.
The rational appeal is directed
toward utilitarian (instrumental) needs—the
product maximizes the consumer’s satisfaction, performs a useful (utilitarian) function for him, and is instrumental in meeting the buyer’s needs
or in achieving his goals. The product’s purpose is to either (1) satisfy basic
needs and wants or (2) remove or avoid a problem.
Generally, rationality prevails
for high-involvement “considered purchases” with real physical brand
differentiation, such as appliances, tools, furniture, consumer electronics,
and medicine. Print media are most heavily used as they allow for detailed,
informative copy and can be reread and studied, if necessary.
Emotional (Affective) Appeals
Emotional (affective) appeals are communication messages directed
toward the consumer’s affect—feelings
of like or dislike. Emotions are
feelings that are not physically controllable, such as fun, excitement, pride,
affection, social enhancement, sensory pleasure, and vanity.
The
emotional appeal aims at the heart
and concentrates on subjective, intangible, unverifiable product
criteria (difficult to objectively measure and, hence, subjectively evaluated).
Such emotionally-based personal criteria include status, expression of artistic
taste, satisfaction of the appetite, securing personal comfort, pleasure of
recreation, and warm memories.
Emotional
appeals work to establish a bond or relationship between the customer and
product. Angel Soft toilet paper bonded with consumers through a series of TV
commercials called “Bathroom Moments”: a little boy peeing on the floor, a
family funeral flushing their goldfish, and a woman gingerly approaching the
moment of truth on her bathroom scale. In these spots, consumers were connected
to experiences they could relate to.
This
information is best communicated symbolically via pictures and aurally through
means such as music and tone of voice. Hence, emotions are best expressed
through sight, sound, and motion, suggesting that they lend themselves
especially to TV and radio commercials, Internet video, and outdoor media, none
of which are copy intensive.
Emotional
appeals are to hedonic, experiential, transformational, or value-expressive
needs. The chosen product typically provides pleasure (hedonic needs), creates feelings or experiences or provides
stimulation (experiential needs), transforms
the experience of buying and using the brand by associating it with a
particular emotional experience such as romance or an exciting sports event (transformational needs), or provides
social or aesthetic utility or else tells others about the user’s self-image (value-expressive). Emotional purchases
seldom entail real physical brand distinctions but, rather, psychological
differences “induced” by advertising. For years Betty Crocker has implored
buyers to “Bake someone happy,” as almost sinfully sensual “beauty shots” of a
home-baked tray of golden-brown muffins are displayed, promoting the product in
a relaxing, enjoyable manner, persuading by suggestion rather than hard
persuasion.
Attitude- vs. Attribute-based Emotional
Choices
Emotional
advertising usually appeals to consumers making an attitude-based (affective, hedonic) choice. However, emotional
advertising can also include emotional
benefits resulting from product use. Advertising featuring emotional
benefits appeals to buyers making attribute-based
choices—decisions founded in this case on emotional attributes.
Rational and Emotional Appeals Can be
Used Separately or Together
Contrary
to popular misconception, subjective or
emotional criteria are not irrational! This is because irrationality (nonrationality)
implies a failure to maximize utility or to shop wisely. However, it seems
reasonable to assume that consumers almost always select alternatives that, in
their estimation, maximize their satisfaction. In fact, a rational choice might very well include emotional criteria. For example, a brand could be selected on the
basis of its promise to enhance the user’s sex appeal. If this boosts the
consumer’s confidence, this is a perfectly rational purchase. What might appear
to be irrational to an outside observer could nonetheless be rational in the
buyer’s own mind.
Thus,
rational and emotional motives can both underlie a given purchase. As shown in
Figure 42.1, the opposite of rational is not emotional but irrational. The opposite of emotional is not rational but rather nonemotional, i.e., lacking feelings. The
arrow in Figure 42.1 suggests that in many cases an appeal that is both highly
rational and emotional might work best. So, a fear appeal could speak to the emotion of fright while giving
people solid reasons to be scared.
<<FIGURE 42.1 ABOUT
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Hence,
an ad or sales pitch can include both a rational appeal and an emotional appeal.
An old advertising adage says, “People buy emotionally and then justify their
purchase with rational ‘reasons why.’” Effective ads capture both the hearts
and minds of their target audience, hitting both intellectual and emotional
buttons. Phone companies’ TV spots show emotion-laden shots of loved ones in
long-distance communication but also include rational appeals of low price and
quality transmission.
Particular
Emotional Appeals
A Potpourri of Emotional Appeals
While
rational appeals are fairly straightforward presentations of information,
emotional appeals are more complex. Earlier in the book we discussed guilt appeals, shame appeals, moral appeals,
and fantasy appeals. The following are other types of popular
emotional appeals.
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• Human interest
appeals—These play upon our interest in people. Examples are ads featuring
reunions of long lost loved ones or children adopting a puppy from the local
dog pound.
• Agony appeals—Such
ads feature people suffering pain that the product can alleviate, such as
heartburn after overindulging (Alka Seltzer to the rescue!).
• Sensual appeals—Sensory
enjoyment is the focus here. “Do not lick this page,” kidded a classic ad for
LifeSavers featuring oversize pictures of the candy.
• Nostalgia appeals—Through
old-time imagery and music, the ad associates the brand with the “good old
days,” bringing back warm, pleasant memories of yesteryear.
• Bandwagon appeals—The
message here is, “Follow the crowd,” “Do what is popular,” or “Don’t be the
last on your block to buy this fabulous item.”
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Three Popular Emotional Appeals
The
following three common emotional appeals play on very strong emotions.
(1) Fear Appeals. Fear (threat, problem-avoidance) appeals create worry by emphasizing the negative outcomes that
could arise if the consumer does not buy the product or take the recommended
course of action. Two types of fear can be appealed to in advertising and
personal selling: (1) physical fear,
such as loss of life or limb, and (2) social
fear, like losing the respect of friends or neighbors, often due to such
conditions as yellow teeth or cellulite.
(2)
Humor Appeals. The humor appeal is a promotional appeal
relying on incongruity—deviation from expectations—and resolution of that
incongruity. The result is surprise, such as when a toddler giggles as you play
“Peek-a–boo.”
Humor
has many advantages. It grabs attention and awareness, is memorable, associates
the product with positive emotions (e.g., Miller Beer’s, “Can your beer do
this?”, can get past a person’s conscious defenses, inhibits the consumer from counterarguing—thinking of reasons to
disagree with the message—thereby increasing persuasion and distracts people,
causing them to put down their guard. Also, people are more receptive to ideas
when laughing.
However,
humor has potential problems. It runs the risk of hindering comprehension of
the selling message (unless that message is very simple), must be compatible
with the target audience’s sense of humor (what one person finds funny another
finds offensive) and leaves yet another clueless), and can interfere with
persuasion and recall (People remember the joke but not the brand). Therefore,
humor works best when it relates to the product rather than being a source of
borrowed interest.
There
are several suggestions for most effectively deploying humor. It should be
harmonious with the product; it is best used with fun and pleasurable products
like soda and entertainment venues but not with serious items such as funeral
or hospital services. Humor should be subtle since subdued humor is less likely
to rapidly wear out than belly-laugh, wet-your-pants, laugh-out-loud humor. It
is most effective on radio and TV, but often falls flat in print media. And,
humor should not make fun of either the product or the consumer.
(3)
Sex Appeals. The sex appeal is a selling appeal based on sexual imagery. Since sex
is such a powerful human motive, the steamy stuff does get awareness of,
interest in, and favorable attitudes toward the ad.
Conventional
wisdom says, “Sex sells.” However, as with humor, sex can overpower the message
(especially when the message is complex) and fail to register the brand in the
buyer’s mind because the visual elements in such ads detract from the verbal
content.
And,
as with humor, sex is most effective when it pertains to the product, such as
goods associated with romance or pleasure. Sex probably sells perfume,
lingerie, and jewelry but not mortgage financing or mortuary services. Also, as
with humor, sex can offend people who view it as sexist demeaning, or
offensive.
Finally,
there are social responsibility issues one entails appealing to promiscuity;
sexy ads might fan the flames of young lust. Another issue is that too often
women (and increasingly men) are degraded and treated as sex objects.
Review Questions
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In-Class Applications
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5. For each of the following scenarios, identify which of McClelland’s need(s) is applied.
Scenario 4A. Cindy’s
Noticeable Necklace
Cindy was browsing through “Perfectionist Plus” department store
when she came across a beautiful pearl necklace. Since she just got a promotion
at work, she decided to buy it! The next day she made sure all of her coworkers
noticed her necklace, signifying what wonderful work she did.
Scenario
4B. Sarah is Sold a Cell
Sara really likes to keep in touch with her friends and family,
but she recently moved out of state where long distance calls get expensive. She was searching online when a
pop-up ad for a cell phone came up. The ad claimed they had the lowest rate for
long distance. Sara was hooked and ordered it right away.
Scenario 4C. Hot Rod
Rob
Rob is a sports car fanatic! He always needs the latest and
greatest model and the fastest on the road. While zipping down the highway one
day, Rob spotted a billboard for Mercedes’ new roadster, the “Bullet.” He drove
right to the dealership and traded in. Now he will show everyone who is king of the speedway!
Scenario
4D. Summa Cum Laude or Bust
Anita is a stickler about her grades! Every times she gets a paper
or an exam back, she calculates her updated G.P.A. She must, must, must
graduate with Summa Cum Laude and get into her number one choice of graduate
school. If she doesn’t do so, she will feel she has failed as a student.
Scenario
4E. Max is the Man
The manager of a huge restaurant business, Max, is always
breathing down the backs of his staff. If a worker is not doing something
right, he will fire that person on the spot. If an employee doesn’t listen, he
or she will know who is boss! Our man Max is not well-liked by the staff, but
he is quite popular with the ladies.
Scenario
4F. She Feels Their Pain
Ophelia Payne is quite the couch potato! But, when those “Save the
Children” ads come on, she can’t help but pick up the phone and adopt one. She
feels so bad for the little tykes and wants to help, but her underlying reason
for adopting is that letter she gets once a month from each of her orphans (all
twenty-seven of them!).
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Written Applications
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