The Power of Emotional Appeal in Advertising

Advertising is means of communication that creates a positive and strong relationship between consumersand advertisers. It is a marketing activity for goods and services. In academic research, the analysis of advertising content has become a very interesting area. It can provide us with information about advertisers ' underlying assumptions that will attract consumers with advertising features. Before, content analysis mainly included what is advertised, but researchers now have begun to examine what is being said to the consumer and how it is being said. An appeal is the fundamental reason why an audience should act. Advertising uses appeals as a way to persuade people to purchase various products. Advertising appeals are designed to create a positive image of people using certain products. Advertising agencies and businesses use various kinds of advertising appeals to influence people's purchasing decisions. These appeals tend to move the audience and readers and connect them in a way they feel their demands are being addressed by the advertisement.

Role of Emotional Appeal

   1. Creating a fully engaged customer

During advertising, emotional appeal leads to a fully engaged client base. Emotionally appealing to customers makes them begin to take your business more seriously and even want to relate on a more personal level, thus creating a deeply loyal customer base. Customers will stop looking at your products as ' ' the other product '' and start looking at them as ' ' my product '. ' Unlike a customer who sees your brand as an alternative, a fully engaged customer will help your business grow to higher heights in the industry.

   2. Creating a sense of belonging among the customers

Just as your products must be unique in order to attract a large number of customers, so your customers must also feel unique in their own way. This can be tricky, but it can be accomplished by producing products and marketing techniques that are different from the industry standard, but again it is important not to be so different because then your products might seem alienated. Using familiar themes and hints that imply that others use your product in their own unique ways can help in creating a sense of customer belonging.

   3. Creating a sense of security among customers

You create a bond between your company and the customers when you appeal to your customers ' emotions during the marketing of your product. As such customers will not hesitate to purchase your products because they know that even in the future you will always play your part and that you will be available to assist with any problems they may have. Customers must be assured that things will continue to balance. The best way to do this is to appeal to their emotions to make them feel safe.

   4. Creating a sense of well-being

Everyone has an idea of the person he / she wants to be, no matter what the idea is, to them it is very important. The target audience could range from parents to newly employed youth depending on the brand a company is dealing in. It is inevitable that your market person will change significantly over time, and so will the way they use your products. It is therefore imperative and of utmost importance to plan for the future even as you strive to get a hold of the present. There is no better way to maintain your customer base throughout all the changes that by being emotionally appealing to them before, during and after the change.

   5. Creating fear appeal

This may be the best and most effective way of advertising. It focuses on consumer emotional reactions to perceived threat. A fear appeal is effective because it captures an audience's attention quite persuasively and efficiently. The downside of fear appeal is that too much fear will scare off your advertisements from potential customers while using less than optimal fear will cause no one to notice your advertisements or products. Just enough appeal for fear will help you attract many more customers.

   6. Creating humor appeal

Although many people have negative reactions to ads, they do have a positive attitude towards humor. Watching a humorous ad is more likely to stick in the customer's mind than just a flat advertisement. In contrast to a flat advertisement, a funny advertisement is twice as likely to be remembered as humor easily captures attention. For marketers, however, it is important to be culturally sensitive as what could be funny in one culture could be considered offensive in another.

   7. The best type of advertising or marketing that a company can do to reach many consumers is emotional appeal in marketing.

It is true that you run the risk of sounding or looking insincere and offensive if emotional appeal is not shown correctly. Therefore, it is very important to choose the words and images to be used carefully, bearing in mind that emotions can be extremely evocative and while trying to get some emotional reaction from the audience, they may react unpredictably leaving you feeling confused. The reward far outweighs the risk, however, and it is important to know that emotions are much higher than rational thinking or reason voice. So, start showing them how your product will make them feel rather than tell them to create a super loyal customer base. It is a sure way to create customers that are loyal and fully engaged.

Here are the various kinds of appeals seen in advertisements today 

• Social Appeal

Social factors cause people to make purchases and include aspects such as recognition, respect, involvement, membership, refusal, acceptance, status and approval. People are always motivated by what is done around them by others. For example, there is a clear reference to the popular TV show in an IKEA ad, Game of Thrones and its head costume designer revealed how the cape of Jon Snow is made of affordable IKEA rugs. The advertisement calls on consumers to feel part of something and even the Game of Thrones tries to stay within the budget by shopping at IKEA, like everybody else.

• Fear Appeal

Fear is another factor that can affect individuals incredibly. Fear is often used to have a good effect in beauty and health products, including insurance, advertising and marketing campaigns. Advertising experts indicate that ads can draw on hidden fears by using moderate levels of fear in advertising. Some ads are based on personal fears, while others are based on a sense of loss. Fear of losing something awesome, for example, can motivate people to take action and buy that product.

• Humour Appeal

Humor is an element used in about 30 percent of the ads. Humor can be an excellent tool for attracting the attention of the viewer and helping to obtain instant recall that can work well for the product sale. Humor can be used effectively if the customer can derive some benefit without which the joke could overpower the message. Humor can ease what might otherwise be a boring and anticipated ad.

• Personal Appeal

Some personal emotions that can drive people to buy products include safety, fear, love, humor, joy, happiness, feeling, excitement, pride, self - esteem, pleasure, comfort, ambition, nostalgia, etc.

• Sexual Appeal

One of the best-known appeals for advertising is that sex and nudity have always sold well. Sexuality or sensuality raises the audience's curiosity and may give rise to strong advertising feelings. It can also make the product look interesting. People use sexy models and shots of 'sexy' products to emotionally excite the viewer.

• Music Appeal

By setting tone and mood as quickly as imaging, music can make or break an ad. It has some intrinsic value and can help boost the advertisement's persuasiveness. It can also help capture attention and increase the reminder of customers. The right music can add to an ad's emotion and encourage a quicker decision to purchase.

• Adventure Appeal

The aim of this appeal is to give the impression that buying a product will radically change the life of the individual and fill it with fun, adventure and action. They encourage people to join the brand club as part of a new and exciting experience. Travel companies, active brands and car companies often focus on a sense of adventure to highlight what they can really bring to the table with their products or services.

• Youth Appeal

These types of appeals are used by advertisements reflecting youth giving aspects or ingredients of products. People are often unwilling to age and certainly not want to feel old. This type of appeal is evident in advertisements that offer medicines targeted at older adults, hearing aids, and other older people's products or services where the actors chosen are often much younger than the target audience. Cosmetic products also make use of these appeals.

• Romantic Appeal

A sense of romance can bring people back to an emotionally nostalgic moment. Romance is not necessarily related to relationships, but rather an inspiring and idealized sense of powerful feeling.

• Brand Appeal

This appeal is aimed at people who are brand-conscious and want to make a brand statement by choosing products. Starbucks was a prime example of mass brand appeal, along with luxury brands such as Dior or Jimmy Choo that appeal to high-end consumers. People are paying extra money to be part of a brand they feel is carrying some sort of status, inspiration, value, or quality. Usually these same items can be purchased for drastically lower prices if they are generic or unbranded, but brand appeal allows companies to add additional cost to their products because of packaging, labelling and other branded aspects that really have nothing to do with product quality or type. Normally these goods can be bought at significantly lower prices if they are non-branded, but brand appeal allows companies to add extra costs to their products due to packaging, labelling and other branded aspects that have nothing to do with the quality or type of the product.

• Endorsement Appeal

Certain products are often endorsed by celebrities and well-known personalities, and their pitching can help drive sales. Many professional athletes, actors, actresses, and celebrities who push products are not necessarily an important part of the product, but they still feel the effect. 

Conclusion

Emotional appeal in advertising shows the benefits of the product or service through acts or dramas and expects an emotional chord from the consumer. Buying certain products and services is related to an individual's psychological and social needs. Many consumers are emotionally motivated or driven to make some purchases. Advertisers aim to cash in on the emotional appeal and this works especially well where there is not much difference between multiple brands of products and their offers. You can use strong imagery, powerful text or music to attract the emotions of your audience. An emotional advertising appeal depends more on feelings and perceptions than on logic or cause for action.