I've written a lot about how consumer behavior affects purchases. Humans are mostly emotional creatures who try to think they are rationalizing their decisions.
However, our primitive brain, which is subconsciously responsible for 90% of our decisions, still operates on the ancient concept of fight-or-flight. And since emotions greatly influence customer purchasing decisions, marketers often try to use different types of emotional appeals. In fact, a study by HubSpot claims that ads with emotional appeals work twice as well as ads with just rational appeals.
Here are some of the most popular emotional appeals you'll see in commercials and marketing campaigns;
1. Humorous appeal – Using jokes and humorous stories to lighten the mood and increase intimacy.
2. Sexual appeal – Commonly used by brands advertising adult products and in many cases beauty products.
3. Romantic Appeal – Often seen in various advertisements. It could be one of those couples giving each other some gifts or inviting them out. It can be found in lifestyle advertisements. Also, romantic attraction doesn't necessarily have to be between couples – it can simply be anything that is highly emotional.
4. Appeal of Scarcity – This is what today's generation nicknames #FOMO, or fear of missing out. Scarcity appeals can commonly be found in advertisements that promote limited-time sales and financial incentive offers.
5. Appeal to fear – This is what we are going to discuss in today's article, so read on.
The appeal of fear taps into some of our worst insecurities. That's why despite only a quarter of Americans suffering from bad breath, more than 70% use Listerine. That's 120 million more people than it should be.
This is simply because over the years, Listerine has successfully managed to create a sinister perception that bad breath makes you socially ostracized. In fact, it all started the day Listerine created a print ad that featured a beautiful girl losing her boyfriend to another girl because of bad breath. This kind of isolation is one of us humans' worst fears, and so Listerine managed to massively increase its sales in a trend that continues to this day.
Speaking of Nigeria, fear appeal is used by toothpaste brands. Almost all advertisements in this category use fear appeals. Who wants to be rejected because of perceived odor?
Let's look at how fear appeals are commonly employed in the following industries:
Computer and Information Technology
The biggest fear of daily computer/laptop users at the consumer level and people like CTO/CIO at the business level is data and identity theft. Anti-virus and cyber-security providers try to exploit this fear to sell their products.
Insurance
The scope of insurance covers different types of losses. There may be financial loss due to lack of insurance or personal belongings. And there may also be loss of life, which requires a person to take out insurance to keep his family safe after they are gone. And insurance companies know how to pull these strings by creating a situation in which the entire family is involved and affected.
cosmetics industry
Humans are so obsessed with their looks that an entire industry has come up to make profits from it. We know this as the cosmetics industry, and it includes everything from beauty products to tone your skin to cosmetic surgeons promising to fix your smile or give you a hair transplant.
Public Service Announcements and Social Ads
Advertisements on issues like no smoking and don't drink and drive often rely on fear to get their point across. Instead of just showing some numbers, they create stories in which a person (and sometimes even their surrounding family or friends) suffer because of their irresponsible actions.
So, do fear-based advertising work?
It's very easy to make mistakes with fear-based ads, alienating all of your audience. And when this happens, brands fail to achieve what they had planned for. Fear-based advertising is very delicate and depends on striking the right balance between the core message and the emotion being projected. If emotional levels become high, people may choose to change TV channels or skip ads on YouTube.
If you really want your fear-based ads to work, you have to show a value proposition. For example, instead of simply saying “Cyber attacks could cost you N10 million per year”, your communication could convey value by adding “Protect your business with our tools”. Fear-based ads work, but if you're only using fear, your brand will come across as one of those shady salesmen who go to great lengths to sell a used motorcycle that has a ton of problems. You definitely don't want to come across as that person!
last line
Make meaningful use of fear where it really applies, but also give customers solutions.
