While it’s hardly a secret that people buy based on their feelings, the power of emotional appeals as a means of persuasion cannot be overstated. Emotions can channel deep-burning passions, forge strong connections, and influence others on a subconscious level. That’s not to say logic doesn’t have a place, studies show that while emotions sell, we still use logic to justify our decisions. However, it is the emotions that provide the initial spark that successful persuasion is so dependent on.
This is the first article in a series dedicated to unpacking the nuances of appealing to emotion in digital messaging. Emotional marketing is often referenced, but people rarely consider what appealing to somebody’s emotions practically means. The default assumption is that it just involves appealing to aspirational wants or stoking deep-seated fears. These are valid approaches but there are more options available. Throughout this series, we will explore each type of emotional appeal to provide practical insights and strategies for their effective use in your messaging.
As a concept, appealing to emotion dates back to ancient times, prominently introduced in the art of rhetoric by Aristotle. He identified pathos as one of the three fundamental modes of persuasion, alongside ethos and logos. An illustrative example from history is the speech of Mark Antony in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” where Antony stirs the emotions of the Roman crowd, transforming their sentiments towards Caesar’s assassination.
Today, emotional appeals are a cornerstone of advertising, with countless examples demonstrating their effectiveness. For instance, campaigns that evoke strong emotional responses—be it joy, fear, or nostalgia—tend to achieve higher engagement and conversion rates. As reported by ‘Neuroscience Marketing’, research reveals that ads with emotional content perform nearly twice as well as those with rational content.
As stated, emotional appeals come in various forms, each with its unique impact. These include appealing to personal values, fostering a sense of belonging, eliciting emotional highs and lows, highlighting potential gains or losses, and more.
Today we will explore the power of appealing to personal values. How identifying and aligning with what matters most to your audience can significantly enhance the persuasiveness of your messaging.
What Are Personal Values?
Personal values influence every aspect of a person’s life, including their fundamental beliefs, the principles that guide their behaviour, decision-making, and of course, their purchasing decisions.
A consumer who values sustainability is likely to purchase eco-friendly products, even if they come at a higher cost. Someone who prioritises health and wellness may choose organic foods over conventional options (sometimes spending extra on these products when they’re not even completely convinced of the science supporting them).
Alternatively, individuals who value wealth might buy premium brands that signify success and social status, even if these items are practically identical to more economic alternatives.
Why Appealing to Personal Values is Powerful
When messages align with an individual’s core beliefs, they create a sense of identity and belonging, which significantly enhances persuasiveness. Studies have shown that value-based appeals are more likely to foster positive attitudes and influence behaviour.
For example, Patagonia, a well-known outdoor apparel brand, appeals to values of environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Their “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign urged consumers to think about the environmental impact of their purchases, aligning with the values of their eco-conscious audience. On the other hand, luxury brands like Rolex appeal to values of wealth and success, emphasising exclusivity and prestige in their marketing campaigns.
By aligning themselves with the values of their target audience, these brands elevate how their ideal customers perceive them (ethos – credibility of character), thus building trust and loyalty making any future messages naturally more persuasive.
How to Identify Your Audience’s Personal Values
Identifying the right personal values of your target audience is crucial and should be based on real data rather than assumptions. This process begins with thorough research. Try these methods.
- Surveys and Questionnaires. Use tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to create surveys that ask direct questions about values. Questions might include “What factors do you consider most important when making a purchase?” or “Which of the following values resonate most with you (e.g., health, wealth, sustainability)?”. You might just reach out to a few individuals on your mailing list and have a conversation with them.
- Social Media Listening. Observe the values that your audience expresses and shares online. This tactic is incredibly easy to implement, merely find online communities where your target customers congregate and make notes of common topics, themes, concerns, and desires.
- Customer Feedback. If you run an established business, gather feedback through reviews, testimonials, and direct communication channels. Look for patterns in what customers praise or criticise about your products or services, as these often reflect underlying values.
- Data Analytics Tools. If your digital assets capture enough traffic, use Google Analytics to track user behaviour on your website. Analyse which pages are most visited and what content drives engagement. This can provide clues about what your audience values. For example, if blog posts about sustainability receive high traffic, it’s likely a key value for your audience.
Combining these techniques, you can develop a comprehensive understanding of what is important to your audience. While businesses with limited data may need to rely on social media listening and surveys, these methods can easily provide enough information to craft messages that target the right values.
Crafting Messages that Appeal to Personal Values
Your goals are consistency and subtlety. Any hint of incongruency in your projected values will result in your audience perceiving you as fake, thus destroying any hope you have of successfully persuading them.
Storytelling is the most effective technique for any form of emotional messaging, including appealing to personal values. It is more effective to share stories that prove you share the values important to your audience than it is to directly state that you too hold those values.
For instance, a fitness brand could share the journeys of individuals who have transformed their lives through dedication to health and wellness. They could emphasise the journey, challenges, and triumphs, creating a relatable and inspiring message that aligns with the audience’s values. While the story would be most effective if the brand helped the individual achieve their goals, the person featured in the story may not even have a direct relation to the brand. Just by sharing the message, the company associates themselves with those values.
Another approach could be the origin story of the brand. This type of storytelling can highlight the brand’s dedication to promoting a healthy lifestyle, emphasising the founder’s journey, the challenges they faced in creating the brand, and their unwavering commitment to health and wellness. By explaining their vision and commitment, they guide their audience to view the brand as a champion of these values.
Your language should also reflect the beliefs and priorities of your audience. A brand that creates all-natural cleaning products might use terms like “eco-friendly,” “responsible,” and “ethical” to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.
Additionally, it’s crucial to highlight the benefits of your product or service that align with these values. For instance, an online portal for freelancers might emphasise the flexibility, work-life balance, and autonomy it offers, which are significant values for freelancers.
Examples of Value-Based Appeals in Modern Messaging
While these hypothetical examples are powerful, it is easy to observe value-based appeals at work in modern digital marketing.
Ben & Jerry’s “Peace, Love, and Ice Cream” campaign appeals to values of authenticity and tradition. The campaign emphasises the brand’s commitment to using high-quality, ethically sourced ingredients and its dedication to social justice issues. By sharing the company’s history and values, along with stories of their support for various causes, Ben & Jerry’s connects with consumers who value authenticity, ethical practices, and social responsibility.
Meanwhile, Volvo’s “For Every You” campaign is another great example of appealing to the values of family and safety. The campaign highlights the advanced safety features of Volvo cars, designed to protect families and ensure their well-being on the road. By sharing real stories of families who have experienced the safety benefits of Volvo vehicles, the company underscores its commitment to family and safety.
Finally, Slack, the business communication platform, appeals to the values of community, collaboration, and flexible work in its “Where Work Happens” campaign. This campaign showcases how Slack facilitates teamwork and enhances productivity by bringing people together, regardless of their location. They use stories and testimonials from real teams who have improved their workflow, communication, and work-life balance with Slack.
Practical Tips for Applying Value-Based Appeals in Your Messaging
Incorporating personal values into your digital content can be done effectively by following a few practical steps.
1. Identify your audience’s key values.
Utilise the research methods discussed earlier to understand what values are most important to your audience.
2. Determine how to align your brand with these values.
Persuasion works best when based on truth and virtue. There is no point in aligning your messaging to reflect the values identified if you don’t embody them. Decide which values your brand supports and select these to target your messaging on.
3. Use techniques such as emotional language and storytelling, and highlight benefits aligned with these values.
Use language that targets specific emotions relating to your audience’s values. Tell stories in the forms of testimonials, case studies, personal anecdotes, historical references, or anything that can create a connection with the values identified. Use digital messaging to shine a spotlight on the benefits that are particularly important for people holding values identified.
4. Take care to construct messages that align with a value without being too obvious.
Subtly weave values into your messaging rather than making them overt. Show, don’t just tell. Instead of stating “We care about your health,” to align with a wider value, actively demonstrate it by highlighting how your product improves well-being through real-life examples and data.
5. Use rhetorical tricks to enhance the message and call attention to the values shared.
Finally, rhetorical techniques can help highlight and reinforce the shared values in your messaging. For instance, you might use an analogy by comparing eco-friendly products to “planting a tree for future generations”. This connects the concept of sustainability to a concrete visual.
Alternatively, Anaphora, the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of successive sentences, can be used to make the message more rhythmic and memorable, such as “We believe in quality. We believe in sustainability. We believe in you,”.
Rhetorical questions can reinforce a message by prompting the reader to think and agree, as in “Who wouldn’t want to save money while saving the planet?”.
Lastly, antithesis highlights contrasting ideas to emphasise your point, such as “It’s not just a product; it’s a solution. It’s not just a purchase; it’s an investment.”