Power of Emotional Appeal in Advertisements
By: Mitchell McEwen
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Advertising in Today's World
Have you ever been watching television or reading a magazine and seen an advertisement that had an impact on your mood due to a strong emotional
appeal? The answer is probably yes. Maybe the ad made you laugh, maybe it inspired you, or maybe it just made you think. Whatever the situation is, your
mood was altered by carefully planned advertising. These advertisements that make you feel that way are generally successful, and more persuasive and
powerful than viewers may even realize.
In the world today, advertising affects everyone in one way or another. People that live in countries with up-to-date technology see thousands of advertisements each day, and many of them are very persuasive due to strong emotional appeal. People have become so used to being bombarded with
advertisements we don’t even realize how many ads we see a day. Yankelovich, a market research firm, estimates that a person living in a city sees about 5,000 ads a day (Story 2). Companies and organizations have advertising down to a science; they know exactly how to manipulate the human mind. Advertisers use a strong emotional appeal to persuade their viewers. This can make the viewer feel an instant connection to product or charity being advertised, create a long term connection that makes viewer remember product or charity being advertised, and make the viewer feel as if she or he could be part of something bigger than herself or himself.
The question is why do advertisers use emotional rather than rational appeal to persuade their audience? As intellectual beings we use
rational thinking and logic to make almost every important decision we face, so why use emotion to persuade? The answer is because it is far more effective. In fact, thirty-one percent of campaigns or advertisements that used emotion saw an increase in profit, as opposed to sixteen percent that saw a profit from rational appeal (Dooley1). The purpose of this website is to deconstruct different advertisements and figure out why they are so effective.
This involves many different factors that include type of emotion used, target audience, and purpose of the advertisement. In addition, it is crucial to look at sexism and see if an ad uses sexist views. Sexism is used in many advertisements today, and it is so prevalent viewers may not even realize it
sometimes.
Advertisers have many strategies to create emotion, and they are all used in different situations. There are many different ways to create an
emotion. Among the most popular are “accepted”sexism, humor, patriotism, and sympathy. Sexism is wrong from every angle, even if it is just being used as a joke, but for some reason sexism sells and this is among the most popular methods of emotional appeal in advertisements. This sexism is aimed towards men and women; it portrays men as stupid, lazy, useless; and it portrays women as the typical 1950’s housewife. Humor is another emotion among the most popular in advertisements. Making someone laugh is usually a good start to persuading her or him, and research has found humorous ads often boost a company’s revenue (Eisend 191). Patriotism is often used to make a viewer feel like if he or she buys something he or she will be more of an “American.” This is often used in American manufactured car advertisements, and just like humor it is very effective. Sympathy and empathy, which are the last emotions I want to study and deconstruct in ads, are very effective in charity advertisements, and can make someone feel a part of something special.
It’s important to first take a look at how much money is spent on advertising each year, and realize the time and money companies spend. Insurance companies, car manufacturers, and charities all spend millions and even billions every year in advertising. If advertising was not successful, companies would not spend as much as they do. Their only goal is to increase profit, and spending this much in advertising is necessary to do so. Since the three companies this website is focusing on are car insurers, car manufacturers and charities it’s crucial to know how much they spend each year.
The total money spent each year from all insurance companies is in the billions and continues to rise every year. In 2011 advertising
expenditures among insurers reached $5.9 billion which is a 16% increase from 2010 when the spending in advertising was $5.1 billion (Holm and Scism 1). This may seem like a lot to spend on advertising, but to make money you need to spend money. As long as a company is still seeing a rise in profit on a yearly basis, spending billions in advertising will continue to be the norm for companies. While car insurance companies spend high amounts to money, there are other companies that make their spending seem minimal.
Car manufacturers rely heavily on advertising and are among the biggest spenders in marketing today. The total amount spent on advertising among
American car manufacturers doubles that of car insurance companies. In 2011, advertising for cars reached almost $11.4 billion (Holm and Scism 2). In fact, two of America’s top ten spenders in advertising were car manufacturers. General Motors was second on the list with a $3.1 billion in spending, and Ford was seventh with a $2.1 billion in spending (Holm and Scism 2). Those two companies alone spent more than all insurance companies combined, but it was not wasted money. The companies together saw total revenue of almost $149,136,000,000 (Holm and Scism 2). These are the two biggest spenders among the automobile industry, but there are other companies like Chrysler and Volkswagen that break the top 100 list. There are actually ten car manufacturers including Ford and General Motors that break the top 100 list (Holm and Scism 2).
appeal? The answer is probably yes. Maybe the ad made you laugh, maybe it inspired you, or maybe it just made you think. Whatever the situation is, your
mood was altered by carefully planned advertising. These advertisements that make you feel that way are generally successful, and more persuasive and
powerful than viewers may even realize.
In the world today, advertising affects everyone in one way or another. People that live in countries with up-to-date technology see thousands of advertisements each day, and many of them are very persuasive due to strong emotional appeal. People have become so used to being bombarded with
advertisements we don’t even realize how many ads we see a day. Yankelovich, a market research firm, estimates that a person living in a city sees about 5,000 ads a day (Story 2). Companies and organizations have advertising down to a science; they know exactly how to manipulate the human mind. Advertisers use a strong emotional appeal to persuade their viewers. This can make the viewer feel an instant connection to product or charity being advertised, create a long term connection that makes viewer remember product or charity being advertised, and make the viewer feel as if she or he could be part of something bigger than herself or himself.
The question is why do advertisers use emotional rather than rational appeal to persuade their audience? As intellectual beings we use
rational thinking and logic to make almost every important decision we face, so why use emotion to persuade? The answer is because it is far more effective. In fact, thirty-one percent of campaigns or advertisements that used emotion saw an increase in profit, as opposed to sixteen percent that saw a profit from rational appeal (Dooley1). The purpose of this website is to deconstruct different advertisements and figure out why they are so effective.
This involves many different factors that include type of emotion used, target audience, and purpose of the advertisement. In addition, it is crucial to look at sexism and see if an ad uses sexist views. Sexism is used in many advertisements today, and it is so prevalent viewers may not even realize it
sometimes.
Advertisers have many strategies to create emotion, and they are all used in different situations. There are many different ways to create an
emotion. Among the most popular are “accepted”sexism, humor, patriotism, and sympathy. Sexism is wrong from every angle, even if it is just being used as a joke, but for some reason sexism sells and this is among the most popular methods of emotional appeal in advertisements. This sexism is aimed towards men and women; it portrays men as stupid, lazy, useless; and it portrays women as the typical 1950’s housewife. Humor is another emotion among the most popular in advertisements. Making someone laugh is usually a good start to persuading her or him, and research has found humorous ads often boost a company’s revenue (Eisend 191). Patriotism is often used to make a viewer feel like if he or she buys something he or she will be more of an “American.” This is often used in American manufactured car advertisements, and just like humor it is very effective. Sympathy and empathy, which are the last emotions I want to study and deconstruct in ads, are very effective in charity advertisements, and can make someone feel a part of something special.
It’s important to first take a look at how much money is spent on advertising each year, and realize the time and money companies spend. Insurance companies, car manufacturers, and charities all spend millions and even billions every year in advertising. If advertising was not successful, companies would not spend as much as they do. Their only goal is to increase profit, and spending this much in advertising is necessary to do so. Since the three companies this website is focusing on are car insurers, car manufacturers and charities it’s crucial to know how much they spend each year.
The total money spent each year from all insurance companies is in the billions and continues to rise every year. In 2011 advertising
expenditures among insurers reached $5.9 billion which is a 16% increase from 2010 when the spending in advertising was $5.1 billion (Holm and Scism 1). This may seem like a lot to spend on advertising, but to make money you need to spend money. As long as a company is still seeing a rise in profit on a yearly basis, spending billions in advertising will continue to be the norm for companies. While car insurance companies spend high amounts to money, there are other companies that make their spending seem minimal.
Car manufacturers rely heavily on advertising and are among the biggest spenders in marketing today. The total amount spent on advertising among
American car manufacturers doubles that of car insurance companies. In 2011, advertising for cars reached almost $11.4 billion (Holm and Scism 2). In fact, two of America’s top ten spenders in advertising were car manufacturers. General Motors was second on the list with a $3.1 billion in spending, and Ford was seventh with a $2.1 billion in spending (Holm and Scism 2). Those two companies alone spent more than all insurance companies combined, but it was not wasted money. The companies together saw total revenue of almost $149,136,000,000 (Holm and Scism 2). These are the two biggest spenders among the automobile industry, but there are other companies like Chrysler and Volkswagen that break the top 100 list. There are actually ten car manufacturers including Ford and General Motors that break the top 100 list (Holm and Scism 2).