Exercise 42: Rational and Emotional Motives
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Objectives
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Background
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 product communicated to the target audience. For example, over a century of
advertising has proclaimed that Ivory soap is gentle, mild, and pure.
The Nature of Rational and Emotional Appeals
Back
in 1925, in his classic Principles of
Merchandising, Melvin Copeland observed that both rational and emotional
motives stimulate consumers. This suggests two very different types of
marketing appeals.
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.4
Rational (Cognitive) Appeals
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.
This
approach is sometimes labeled the hard
sell since it hammers home the reasons to buy. The factual appeal focuses
on logical, objectively verifiable, 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 selected maximizes the consumer’s utility
(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. The rational consumer is in control of her buying behavior, being
absolutely sovereign.
Generally,
rationality prevails for high-involvement “considered purchases” with real
physical brand differentiation, such as appliances, tools, furniture, consumer
electronics, and medicine. Rational buyers carefully pass through the entire five-stage
decision process.
Print
media are most heavily used as they allow for detailed, informative copy and
can be reread and studied, if necessary.
Emotional (Affective) Appeals
On
the other hand, 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. Examples of emotional appeals include humor, sex, fun,
excitement, pride, affection, social enhancement, sensory pleasure, and vanity.5
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 and subjective product criteria include status,
expression of artistic taste, satisfaction of the appetite, securing personal
comfort, pleasure of recreation, and warm memories.
Traditionally,
Proctor & Gamble ran highly rational ads for Tide detergent featuring
mundane stain-fighting messages using side-by-side stain-fighting comparisons.
However, after research showed how highly emotional women could be about
clothing, P&G tried emotional advertising. Tide’s odor-removal benefit was
touted as “the difference between smelling like a mom and smelling like a
woman” among images of a mother and baby, followed by a scene of the mother
cuddling with her husband, set to the song “Be My Baby.” In another ad, a
plus-size divorcee described the joy she got when her boyfriend whistled as she
wore her “foolproof” (sexiest) outfit.
Emotional
appeals work to establish a bond or relationship between the customer and
product. Such 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 (notably music), and perhaps motion, suggesting
that they lend themselves especially to TV and radio commercials as well as
outdoor media, none of which are copy intensive.
Case
in point: Angel Soft toilet paper built an emotional bond with consumers,
believe it or not, 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. One such commercial featured a drowsy, middle-of-the-night bathroom
visit by a wife whose husband had failed to lift the toilet lid.
“Rallllllllph!!!,” she screeched, as she fully awakened, damp and angry. “This
uncomfortable moment brought to you by Angel Soft. Comfort where you want it,”
said the voice-over announcer. In these spots, consumers were connected to
experiences they could relate to.
Emotional
appeals are to hedonic, experiential, transformational, or value-expressive
needs. The chosen product can:
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• Provide pleasure (hedonic needs)
• Create feelings or experiences or
provide stimulation (experiential needs)
• Transform 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)
• Provide social or aesthetic utility, or
say something about the user’s self-image to others (value-expressive).
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For
products such as perfume, wine, and lingerie, purchases are often made
intuitively, perhaps on impulse, as the emotionally-driven consumer is somewhat
out of conscious control and subconscious
motives are operative.6
Emotional
purchases seldom entail real physical brand distinctions but, rather,
psychological differences “induced” by advertising. Such ads focus on brand image and value-expressive motives:
the product expresses “the real you”—your actual
or ideal self-image. The resulting
“feel-good” advertising tugs at the consumer’s heart strings (which connect to
her purse strings!).
An
example is the “warm fuzzies” TV commercials—adorable kids frolicking in the
backyard with puppies, loveable young mothers celebrating birthdays with the
entire clan on the front porch, immigrant relatives stepping off the boat to a
loving embrace—all good times enhanced by consumption of the product.
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. This approach is sometimes called the soft sell because it promotes the product in a relaxing, enjoyable
manner, persuading by suggestion rather than hard persuasion. So, emotional
appeals can be a “heart sell”: a holistic, mushy, “touchy feely” appeal to the
heart that generates good feelings about the brand.
Attitude- vs. Attribute-based
Emotional Choices
Emotional
advertising usually appeals to consumers who make 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 emotional attributes.
Rational and Emotional Appeals
Can be Used Separately or Together
So
which is better: an appeal to the heart or to the head? By now you know the
answer—“It depends!” Our three “it depends” factors are:
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(1) The
product—As already noted, some products (e.g., a clawhammer, lawn
fertilizer) lend themselves more to rational appeals, while others (jewelry,
cologne, fashionable clothing) naturally cry out for an emotional appeal.
(2) The
consumer—We saw in Exercise 40 that some consumers are more rationally
driven (Thinkers) whereas others are more emotionally bent (Feelers).
(3) The
purchase and usage situations—A sweater for a spouse might be bought on the
basis of emotions (it looks pretty) and a sweater for oneself could be
purchased on the basis of rational criteria (it’s made of durable material and
on sale).
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Additionally,
it is important to note that, 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.
A
rational choice might very well include emotional criteria. For example, a
product bought to boost one’s self-image could be selected on the basis of its
promise to enhance the user’s sex appeal. If this boosts the consumer’s
confidence and makes him feel better about himself, 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.7
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.
Thus,
it is not an issue of formulating a rational versus an emotional appeal. An ad
or sales pitch can include both a rational appeal and an emotional appeal,
aimed squarely at both cognition and emotion. In fact, there is an old
advertising adage: “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.
In
a classic 1950’s emotional TV commercial,
Phone
companies’ TV spots showed emotion-laden shots of loved ones in long-distance
communication but also include rational appeals of low price and quality
transmission. Wisk conveyed the irritation created by the unsightly “ring
around the collar” in order to demonstrate its grease and stain removal:
functional product uses.
The
arrow in Figure 42-1 suggests that in many cases a highly rational and highly
emotional appeal might work best. So, a fear
appeal (discussed below) could appeal to the emotion of fright while giving
people solid reasons to be scared.
<<Figure 42-1 about
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Effective
product design also appeals to both heart and head. Product design is the activity that transforms a set of product
requirements (feature and benefits) into a configuration of materials,
elements, and components. Design is the process of enhancing the utility (functionality), appearance (style),
manufacturability, and overall value of a product. It is the fusing of function
and
form,
with functionality appealing to our rational nature, and form (styling,
aesthetics) attracting our emotional side.
Consider the flip phone or clamshell, now the predominant cellphone style. The clamshell, enhanced by cool colors, looks sleek and has eye appeal, all hitting on the buyer’s emotions. The phone is also designed for portability and ease of use, plus it offers screen protection and prevents users from accidentally pressing keys—all practical considerations.
Types of Emotional Appeals
A Potpourri of Emotional Appeals
While
rational appeals are fairly straightforward presentations of information,
emotional appeals are more complex. There are several types of popular
emotional appeals:
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• Human
interest appeals—These drive consumers to tears. Examples are ads featuring
reunions of long lost loved ones or children adopting a puppy from the local
dog pound.
• Guilt
appeals—This approach shows a violation of one’s internal standards (values, and norms), which leads to lower
self-esteem and/or remorse and self-blame. Example: “If you don’t buy this
educational toy for your youngsters, you are depriving them of a valuable
experience.”
• Shame
appeals—Whereas guilt appeals are inwardly
focused, the shame appeal is externally
oriented to other peoples’ evaluation of your behavior. Example: “Don’t be
embarrassed by serving your dinner guests beverages in spotty glasses.”
• Agony
appeals—Such ads feature people suffering pain, such as heartburn after
overindulging.
• Moral
appeals—These suggest that, as Dr. Laura advises on her radio talk show,
you should “do the right thing” based on social
norms: vote, do volunteer work, support a particular social cause, or
contribute a charitable donation.
• 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 product
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.”
• Fantasy
appeals—These are Freudian appeals to our dream worlds, unrealized
pleasures, and forbidden fruits.
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Three Popular Emotional Appeals
There
are three other emotional appeals that are all very common because they play on
very strong emotions: fear appeals, humor appeals, and sex appeals. Consequently, each of these approaches has received
extensive research. We will briefly summarize this research by describing each
of these emotional appeals and its advantages, disadvantages, and suggested
uses.
Fear Appeals. Fear is anxiety created by anticipated negative consequences. Fear appeals (threat appeals, 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.8 For years, street evangelists have warned pedestrians to
repent of their sins or else burn eternally in hell (i.e., accept the gospel as
“fire insurance”).
Fear
appealed to in advertising is generally one of two types:
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(1) Physical
fear (including agony appeals), such as loss of life or limb,
and
(2) Social
fear (including shame appeals),
like losing the respect of friends or neighbors, often due to such despicable
conditions as dandruff, foot odor, yellow teeth, baldness, cellulite, or even
“the heartbreak of psoriasis.”
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Fear
appeals are frequently applied to situations where the consumer is inert—not motivated to take action
because there are no perceived near-term benefits. Inertia prevails for unsought goods—products that don’t provide immediate benefits but rather
supply problem avoidance, such as
making out a will or getting a health checkup.
Generally,
fear appeals get high recall and are potentially persuasive. So, should you
scare ‘em silly? No. Most research suggests that a moderate level of threat is most effective. If the threat is too
weak, not enough tension is created and consumers are not motivated to take
action—it’s “no biggie.” On the other hand, if the threat is too strong,
audience members turn on their perceptual defenses and tune out the message in
disbelief (“Aw, c’mon, now!”). This results in a more negative attitude toward
the brand.
Stronger
fear appeals can be used where the issue is more serious, the source (either
the advertiser or the ad’s presenter) is credible, a realistic solution to the
threat is offered, and immediate action can be taken regarding this solution.
However, there is the ethical issue of creating so much fear that it causes the
buyer to act irrationally against his own self-interest.
Humor Appeals. The essence
of humor is 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.”
For example, the Bud Lite beer commercials
featuring Cedric the Entertainer were very popular due to the great way they
tickle consumers’ funny bones. Anheuser Busch’s campaign that included a real
zebra as a football referee and a beach boy attacked by a conch shell were
popular. So was Reebok’s Terry Tate, the hard-hitting “office line-backer” who
tackled employees lacking workplace etiquette.
Humor
has many advantages. It:
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•
“Cuts through the clutter” to get attention and awareness.
•
Is memorable.
• Associates the product with positive
emotions that can transfer to the product and the advertiser (e.g., Miller
Beer’s, “Can your beer do this?” and Little Caesar’s “Pizza-Pizza”).
• Is considered one of the best ways to
get past a person’s conscious defenses. Humor distracts people, causing them to
put down their guard. This enables the message to go straight to the
subconscious mind.
• Inhibits the consumer from counterarguing—thinking of reasons to
disagree with the message—thereby increasing persuasion. Consequently, a seller
need not use a rational appeal to persuade.
• People are more receptive to ideas when
laughing (Remember this the next time you want to convince your professor to
accept a late paper!).
However,
humor has potential problems. It:
• Runs the risk of hindering
comprehension of the selling message (unless that message is very simple).
• Can interfere with persuasion and
recall (people remember the joke but not the brand). This happens if the humor
detracts from the product and message, or if the audience doesn’t take the
advertiser seriously. No one will buy a brand of detergent just because the
advertiser told a joke on TV last night. Therefore, humor works best when it
relates to the product rather than being a source of borrowed interest.
• Must be compatible with the target
audience. Humor is subjective: What is funny to one person can be offensive or
incomprehensible to another. For example, edgy humor works well with Generation
Y but not with older folks. Consequently, with humor you’ll almost always
offend some people and leave others clueless.
• Should be harmonious with the product.
Humor is appropriate for fun and pleasurable products like soda and
entertainment venues but not for serious items such as funeral or hospital
services.
• Should be subtle since subdued humor is
less likely to rapidly wear out than belly-laugh, wet-your-pants,
laugh-out-loud humor. (Recall the joke teller’s warning: “Stop me if you’ve
heard this one before.”)
• Should not make fun of either the
product or the consumer.
• Is most effective on radio and TV, but
often falls flat in print media.
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Sex Appeals. The sex appeal is a selling appeal based on sexual imagery.
Conventional wisdom says, “Sex sells.” But, does it?
More
and more we see ads featuring “cheesecake” (semi-nude or nude females, often in
suggestive or erotic poses) and, more recently, “beefcake” (male models doing
likewise).
Humor
and sex are the two main attention-getting devices in advertising. The steamy
stuff does get awareness of, interest in, and, often, favorable attitudes
toward the ad. This is because sex is such a powerful human motive. Some
believe that through a classical conditioning process the brand becomes
linked with sexual arousal, although the evidence is mixed.
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. This occurs
because the visual elements in such ads detract from the verbal content, which
is likely to be ignored.
And,
as with humor, sex is most effective when it pertains to the product, such as
goods associated with romance or pleasure (“Sex sells sex!”). Sex probably
sells perfume, lingerie, and jewelry but not mortgage financing or mortuary
services. It is debatable whether sex helps motivate purchases in other product
categories that increasingly use it, such as shampoo, beer, cars, and resorts.
Also,
as with humor, sex can offend people who view it as sexist demeaning, or
offensive—know thy target audience!9
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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Affiliation—the
need to associate with others for friendship, acceptance, and belonging,
Achievement—the
need to accomplish personal goals, improve performance, and succeed, and
Power—the
need for control over resources, the environment, and others.
4A. Cindy’s
Noticeable Necklace
Cindy
Rella 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 a great job she had done.
4B. Sarah’s Cell
Sara Bellum 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.
4C. Rob and the
Hot Rod
Rob Banks 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!
4D. Summa Cum Laude or Bust
Anita
Penn 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.
4E. Max is the Man
The manager of a huge restaurant business, Max I. Mum, 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! Mr. Mum (who doesn’t keep mum!) is not very
popular with the staff, but he is quite popular with the ladies.
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 them 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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