Emotional Manipulation? Or Business as Usual?

Human beings are known for many things. All of those things have one common trait. All are driven by emotion. Every second of every day, from the earliest stages of development, until the day you die, you are exuding some type of emotion. 

Brands want to appear humanistic. To have that common trait with humans to make the products and services relatable. Do you ever watch a weight-loss commercial or infomercial and think "That's relatable! I need that." 

You're feeling the emotions that the brand wants you to feel when looking at their content. Everyone is guilty of "emotional (impulse) shopping." You might have had a bad day at work, so to compensate, you feel as though buying something will increase your positive emotions, making you happier. 

I have news for you, and if you don't know this already, you should. Brands know you buy based off of your emotions. What does this mean? Are they manipulating my emotions to get me to buy more stuff?

Now before you think all brands are looking to alter your reality with lies and misinformation like a crazy ex-partner, let's look at a couple different scenarios of how brands are using your emotion to get you to take action. 

You're sitting on social media, scrolling through the same old news feed. A sporting goods brand ad crosses your timeline. It's a powerful looking person with a strong pose on top of a mountain. They look confident while climbing that mountain on another great adventure, and look cool and comfortable doing so. 

This ad evokes your emotions, making you feel as though you can climb that mountain confidently too, if you wear that same outfit. Because you will have that same trait as the ad. The brand wants you to feel this way. 

Here's another one. 

You're sitting at home watching TV. You were watching "The Office" and it's the one where Michael makes a big deal of something he shouldn't, Jim messes with Dwight, and Creed says something weird. Next thing you know, you're on commercial break. An ad comes on for your local humane society. Sarah McLachlan plays in the background and you instantly see a sad dog that needs your help. Your emotion changes instantly, because that is what they want. You go from carefree humor, to instantly feeling sad and as though you will do anything for that puppy, as you look at your puppy thinking "What if that were Duke?" 

In this ad, the nonprofit wants you to experience the sympathetic and sad emotions, to create the feeling that you need to help. This increases the likelihood you will answer their call to action to donate money to save the puppies. And it probably works. 

Are you being emotionally manipulated? Manipulation is a strong word, especially since the brands are looking to change your emotions be positive, or to create a positive outcome (if I donate, the puppy will find a happy home). The truth is, every brand is guilty of working to alter your emotions in that split second they can get your attention. It is the consumers' responsibility to know whether it is in a positive, or negative way. What is the brand's purpose for making you feel this way?