UNDERSTANDING AND USING EMOTIONS IN ADVERTISING

Consumers' emotions have a significant influence on purchase and consumption decisions for a wide variety of products. A good example of this phenomenon can be found in the candy and snack market, where consumer responses are a product of a sizable number of emotion‐laden situations that may be exploited in advertising strategy. Candy is often used as a reward for appropriate behavior in childhood, as well as a gift or positive “message” among adults for events such as Valentine's Day, anniversaries, and birthdays. On the other hand, many consumers believe that candy and snacks have negative consequences if they are used excessively. By capitalizing on these and similar past experiences through the firm's advertising efforts, the marketer of confections can either attempt to alleviate negative, or accentuate positive emotional feelings directed toward the brand or product class. Emotions appear to play a similar role in other consumer products such as tobacco, liquor, automobiles as well as many food products. Emotional, experiential, and aesthetic behaviors that normally lie beyond the scope of traditional marketing are currently receiving extraordinary attention. Although some have argued that these aspects of consumption activity are deserving of study in their own right, practitioners have realized that understanding the dynamics of activities such as emotional experience can assist in developing marketing strategy. Although our present knowledge of buyer and consumer emotional experience is relatively limited, this article will provide some structure to what we do know, in an effort to apply it to the advertising area.