We bet you’re tired of looking for the latest statistics on emotional marketing. We’ve all been there: scrolling through dozens of articles, trying to find the one that will give us the information we need. It’s overwhelming, and it can be hard to know where to find relevant stats.
Well, we’ve got good news for you! We’ve compiled a list of emotional marketing statistics to make things easier for you. Whether you’re looking for data on how emotions affect purchase decisions or what emotions are most likely to trigger purchases, we have it here in one place.
And even better? These statistics are easy-to-read and easy-to-understand—no need to sift through pages of dense academic language when all you want is a quick reference guide!
So what are you waiting for? Get started with our list today!
Emotional Marketing Statistics (Key Highlights)
- The success rate of emotional marketing campaigns is 31%.
- 58% of the consumers in the 18 to 21 age group are emotionally engaged.
- 86% of consumers with high emotional engagement expect brands to reciprocate their loyalty outside their loyalty programs.
- Consumers emotionally connected to their favorite brands spend twice as much at their preferred retailers.
- The customer value of consumers who are not emotionally connected to a brand is 18% lower than highly satisfied consumers.
- 81% of consumers with a high emotional engagement say they enjoy giving back to the brand they are loyal to.
General Emotional Marketing Statistics
1. The average US commercial is emotionally engaging to 32% of the viewers that watch it.
A recent survey found that Super Bowl advertising campaigns are considerably more emotionally engaging than the average US commercial.
Namely, Toyota’s: “Upstream” commercial engaged emotionally with 63% of the audience, while Jeep’s: “The Middle,” Brass Pro Shops’: “Get Back To Nature,” and the NFL’s: “As One” commercials were emotionally engaging to 60% of the viewers that had seen them.
(Statista)
2. The success rate of emotional marketing campaigns is 31%.
Recent research reveals that marketing campaigns that predominantly rely on emotional appeal tend to be twice as successful as campaigns that rely on informative persuasion.
Namely, ads with emotional content have a success rate of 31%, while the success rate of rational ads is only 16%.
The study also found that ads that combine rational and emotional content also have a lower success rate of 26% when compared to purely emotional marketing campaigns.
(Neuroscience Marketing)
However, this doesn’t mean that creating ads that elicit anger in audiences is the best choice, especially when content that inspires awe is almost as likely to become viral, with a 34% chance. Furthermore, anxiety-evoking content also has a good chance of becoming viral, at 24%.
Conversely, content that inspires sadness is undoubtedly the worst choice for an emotional marketing campaign, as its likelihood of becoming viral is at -17%.
(Moz)
4. Ads that evoke above-average emotional responses have the potential to increase sales numbers by 23%.
A recent neuroscience-based copy test measured how deeply advertisements dig into the audience’s emotions by studying their neurological and biological reactions.
The study then correlated the findings with the respective success rates of the marketing campaigns examined and found that the ads with the best emotional response generated a 23% lift in sales. In comparison, average ads caused a -2%, and below average ads generated -16% sales growth.
(Nielsen)
5. Headlines with negative superlatives perform 30% better than headlines with no superlatives.
In addition, headlines with negative words, such as never and worst, have a 59% click-through rate than headlines with positive superlatives like always and best.
(CXL)
6. 70% of the viewers who experience an intense emotional response to an ad say they are very likely to buy the product from the ad.
In comparison, only 30% of the viewers who experience a moderate emotional response to an ad say they are very likely to buy the product.
Furthermore, statistics show that videos that evoke strong emotions in the people who watch them are twice as likely to be shared than those that elicit a weak emotional response.
(Unruly)
7. 80% of executives believe that their brand understands consumers’ emotional needs and desires.
However, only 15% of consumers say that brands are doing a good job of creating an emotional connection with them.
(Cap Gemini)
8. The financial services sector has the largest portion of emotionally engaged customers, with 51%.
The retail industry is second on the list, with a share of 46% of emotionally engaged customers.
Moreover, urban areas are where emotionally involved consumers are most likely to be found, with 53% of people living in such areas having an emotional connection with a brand. In comparison, 45% of the consumers in suburban and 42% in rural areas are emotionally engaged.
(Cap Gemini)
9. 58% of the consumers in the 18 to 21 age group are emotionally engaged.
Slightly older consumers in the 22 to 36 age bracket are almost as likely to be emotionally engaged with a brand, with 57%, while their percentage notably drops down for older consumers.
Namely, 46% of consumers aged between 37 and 52, 41% of those aged between 53 and 71, and 40% of consumers older than 72 have an emotional bond with a brand.
(Cap Gemini)
10. 71% of digital marketing professionals cite building brand recognition as the main reason to make an emotional connection with consumers.
Moreover, 70% of them say they want to be emotionally connected with their customers to build brand trust and loyalty.
Driving purchase decisions is the reason cited by 61% of digital marketers, while adding value for their customers through digital advertising and encouraging a dialogue between the consumers and the brand were the reasons cited by 51% of them.
(Statista)
Statistics on the Expectations of Emotionally Invested Consumers.
11. 86% of consumers with high emotional engagement expect brands to reciprocate their loyalty outside their loyalty programs.
In comparison, the share of consumers whose emotional engagement is low and who have such expectations is considerably lower at 54%.
Furthermore, 80% of emotionally engaged consumers expect brands to know their individual preferences on a personal level, while only 21% of consumers with low emotional engagement expect such things from brands.
Finally, 69% of emotionally invested consumers want their favorite brand to play a greater role in their lives. Only 8% of consumers with low emotional engagement feel the same.
(Cap Gemini)
12. 90% of emotionally connected consumers expect real-time responses and swift resolutions to their issues from their favorite brands.
On the other hand, the percentage of consumers who are not so emotionally attached to brands and have such expectations is significantly lower at 65%.
Moreover, 83% of consumers with emotional engagement want to be able to fulfill their requirements and interact with their favorite brands in multiple ways, while only 36% of the consumers who are not emotionally invested agree with this statement.
Lastly, 79% of emotionally connected consumers expect a different customer service experience compared to customers who are not as loyal as them. 46% of consumers with low emotional engagement feel the same way.
(Cap Gemini)
13. 76% of emotionally connected customers expect multiple ways to fulfill their requirements and interact with the online retailers they are loyal to.
In addition, 74% of emotionally invested customers expect this from the grocery shopping brands, 73% from the electronics brands, 72% from the apparel brands, and 69% from the home furnishing brands they are loyal to.
Furthermore, 83% of them expect real-time responses and swift resolutions to their issues from the grocery shopping brands they are loyal to, while 82% have the same expectations from online retailers.
The percentage of consumers with high emotional engagement who expect this from electronics brands is 80%, from apparel brands is 79%, and from home furnishing brands is 78%.
(Cap Gemini)
14. 73% of consumers with high emotional engagement expect the grocery shopping brands they trust to understand their personal preferences.
The stats show that 70% of emotionally invested customers expect this from online retailers, 69% from apparel brands, 67% from electronics brands, and 66% from home furnishing brands they are loyal to.
In addition, 66% of emotionally connected consumers expect their favorite grocery shopping brands to play a greater role in their lives, while 63% expect this from their favorite online retailer.
Lastly, 62% have this expectation from the apparel brands they are loyal to, 61% from the electronics brands, and 60% from the home furnishing brands they trust.
(Cap Gemini)
15. 75% of emotionally invested consumers expect a different shopping experience online compared to customers who are not as loyal.
In addition, 73% of consumers with a high emotional engagement expect a different shopping experience in-store.
In contrast, only 41% and 39% of loyal consumers who don’t feel so emotionally attached to their favorite brands expect a better shopping experience online and in-store than consumers who are not as loyal.
(Cap Gemini)
16. 56% of consumers associate high emotional engagement with grocery shopping brands.
The emotional engagement by retail subsectors statistics further reveal that 48% of consumers are emotionally connected to online retailers, while 47% have an emotional connection with apparel brands.
Furthermore, 43% of consumers have an emotional relationship with home furnishing brands, and an equal percentage are emotionally invested in electronics brands.
(Cap Gemini)
Statistics on the Benefits of Having Emotionally Invested Customers.
17. Consumers emotionally connected to their favorite brands spend twice as much at their preferred retailers.
According to a recent study, consumers who have an emotional attachment to a brand have a 306% higher lifetime value than regular customers.
In addition, their average tenure with retailer brands is 5.1 years, while the average tenure for normal consumers is 3.4 years long.
Lastly, emotionally connected customers recommend their favorite brands at a much higher rate of 30.2% than regular customers who only recommend brands at a 7.6% rate.
(My Total Retail)
18. Emotionally connected customers spend an average of $699 at their favorite apparel retailers.
In contrast, customers who are satisfied with a certain apparel brand, but don’t have an emotional relationship with it, only spend an annual average of $275, or 2.5 times less.
Comparisons that reveal how much more emotionally connected customers spend on their favorite brands can be drawn across multiple retail sectors.
For example, emotionally connected consumers spend $555 yearly in their favorite department stores, while regular consumers spend twice as less, or $285, on average.
Moreover, the emotional connection lift is 1.6x for discount big box stores ($1,192 vs $760), 2x for footwear ($211 vs $104), home goods ($733 vs $362), and luxury goods retailers ($1,432 vs $699), and 1.3x for office supplies retailers ($400 vs $298).
(My Total Retail)
19. The customer value of consumers who are not emotionally connected to a brand is 18% lower than highly satisfied consumers.
On the other hand, consumers who recognize the brand differentiation but are still not emotionally connected to it bring a 13% higher customer value than satisfied consumers.
Finally, the customer value of consumers who have an emotional attachment to a brand is 52% higher than that of highly satisfied consumers.
(HBR)
20. Emotionally connected consumers generate 68% more credit card swipes than highly satisfied customers.
Besides more credit card swipes, data suggests that consumers that have an emotional relationship with a brand bring additional value in multiple ways.
They make 103% more household cleaner purchases and 82% more tablet app purchases than regular, satisfied customers. Additionally, they make 52% more online retailer purchases, book 41% more hotel room stays, and 37% more discount store visits.
Finally, they buy 35% more consumer-banking products, generate 27% more fast-food store visits, and spend 23% on casino games.
(HBR)
21. 70% of emotionally invested consumers spend up to two times more on brands they are loyal to.
In contrast, only 49% of the loyal customers who don’t have an emotional attachment to brands spend as much.
In addition, 86% of emotionally connected customers always think of their favorite brand, and 82% always buy from it when they need a product from their category. The shares of loyal customers with no emotional attachment fitting these criteria are significantly lower, at 56% and 38%.
(Cap Gemini)
22. 81% of consumers with a high emotional engagement say they enjoy giving back to the brand they are loyal to.
An equal percentage of emotionally connected customers say they promote their favorite brands to their friends and family, while 62% advocate for them on social media.
In comparison, only 37% of loyal customers with no emotional attachment to a brand enjoy giving back to it, 50% promote it to their close ones and just 7% advocate for it on social media.
(Cap Gemini)
23. 95% of purchasing decisions are made without any conscious thought, so it’s essential for marketers to appeal to people’s emotions.
It’s often more effective to market a product to consumers by targeting their subconscious mind because 95% of purchasing decisions are made subconsciously.
But what does that mean? What do emotions have to do with making a purchase?
Well, think about your last few purchases.
How many times did you actually sit down and think about the pros and cons of each option? How many times did you research the different options and compare them before deciding which one was best for you?
If you’re like most people, probably not many. Instead, we buy things based on our feelings—the feelings that get us excited or make us feel good. And those feelings can be triggered by all sorts of things: a pretty package, a catchy tagline that piques our curiosity, or an intriguing product description that gets us curious about how it will work in real life.
It makes sense: we don’t usually buy things because we need them or even because we like them—we buy things because we feel something about them! That’s why marketers should focus on creating ads that trigger emotion rather than rational thinking.
(Inc)
Conclusion
In conclusion, we hope that these emotional marketing stats give you some great ideas for how to connect with your customers’ emotions. We also hope that they help you see the world from a different perspective—that there are so many things that can inspire us, and the best part is, there’s no wrong way to do it!
By now, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what emotional marketing is and how it can help your business. It’s a lot of data, but don’t let that overwhelm you! Keep this list handy, and refer back to it whenever you need some inspiration or just want to know more about how people think.
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and colleagues on social media. This way, they can learn about the latest trends in emotional marketing too (and they’ll thank you for bringing them such valuable content 😉)
Happy marketing!
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