1: Product Emotions
The chapter introduction considers the conditions for long-haul truck drivers in the US, who live in the cab of their vehicle. Focus is on efficiency, every pound reduces fuel efficiency and decreases the maximum cargo they can carry, so in addition to long periods of time on the road, drivers have minimal comforts, and the "tedious, lonely, and uncomfortable" conditions contribute to an employee turnover rate that is over 100% per year in some firms.
The author speaks to the Lone Star, a new line of trucks from International Truck, that has been designed to be appealing to drivers. It has "bold" styling and a larger compartment designed to serve as a more comfortable living space (complete with office space, a kitchenette, a larger bed, and a television with surround-sound. The company claims plenty of pre-orders, and there's a note that at a marketing event, drivers stood in line to have the logo tattooed on their arm without yet having driven the vehicle.
(EN: The author offers other opinions on the success of the brand that are generalized, speculative, and anecdotal at best. Which is to say, he is suggesting that this was the right thing to do, but has no hard evidence that there has been any positive impact - there's some implication he will discuss the case study in further detail later.)
By contrast, many companies want to engage customers on an emotional level without actually doing anything to improve their product. Navistar had been no different. For many years its focus was on making the product more functional or cost-effective for the company that purchases it (not the driver who would have to live in it). Instead of competing for the most loved brand, they competed for the lowest priced commodity, and enjoyed little success.
Product Emotions Everywhere
The most basic question, essential to business, is "why do people buy things?" Accepting a simplistic answer without much consideration of the full range of motivating factors leads to mediocre performance or failure - it merits careful consideration.
The author suggests that the motivation to purchase has two fundamental drivers: the functional benefits and the emotional benefits. Cost is a secondary factor that determines whether they buy, but consideration of cost comes afterward: people decide whether they want something long before they consider whether they can afford to purchase it.
The Value of Emotions
Emotion also has a significant impact on the amount customers are willing to spend. A completely emotionless and rational person would likely buy the cheapest vehicle available, as any car will accomplish the basic purpose of getting them from one place to another. Real people are driven by emotion to buy a car that makes them feel safe, that makes them feel responsible, that makes them feel they are respected by others, and any of a number of purely emotional motives. And to achieve those emotional goals, they will pay a high premium: consider the cost of the cheapest car versus that of a luxury sedan or sports car (because of the status), or the difference between a car with a gasoline engine to one that is a hybrid or electric (to feel responsible).
Some products are purchased for the emotional value alone. The author presents music as a perfect example. There is little functional benefit to listening to music, as it is valued only because it affects the emotions of the listener. The desire to access this emotional benefit generates billions of dollars in sales of concert tickets and recorded music. (EN: it occurs to me that some people purchase music to influence the emotions of others, such as music played in an office or retail setting, or the soundtrack to a video, but likely the greater proportion of revenues is, as the author suggests, people who use music to influence their own emotions.)
Emotion and the Senses
A fairly obvious statement: emotional responses are in reaction to a sensory experience, such that the less perceptible a product is, the less emotion it entails.
He suggests that engine parts have a purely functional role if they are not distinctly perceived: a person may hear and feel the performance of their vehicle in general, not as the result of a specific part. (EN: Maybe not the best example, as there are car fanatics who experience an emotional benefit from having a specific brand of spark plug, motor oil, etc. - even if they do not have a physical sensation of them, there is a sense of pride, power, or status in having a brand X fuel-injection system installed in their car.)
The interaction must be first-person in order to obtain a strong emotional response: people who buy for others to use are less likely to have an emotional reaction. (EN: Again, consider the case of mothers buying food for their infants. This is a generalization).
The author also suggests that the more senses are engaged, the greater the emotional impact - such that a restaurant meal (sight, sound, scent, taste, and texture) is a richer emotional experience than reading recipes on a Web site (sight only). However, in order for this to be effective, the stimuli must be aligned (a dress with an expensive-looking design made of material that feels cheap to the touch).
Emotion and the Web
The author suggests that Web sites, while largely appealing only to the visual sense, provide services that "connect emotionally" with customers - but the examples he provides fall flat because they are related to functional benefits rather than emotional ones (shopping sites enables users to shop from convenient locations, map sites give the ability to get directions, etc.)
Examples Abound
The author then provides a confetti of products that deliver emotional benefits - some of which are obvious, others are stretching it a bit - but it comes back to a reasonable point: that when customers choose a product, their decision is not limited to considering functional needs. "How it makes me feel" is as important as "what it does for me" in virtually every purchasing decision.
This is true even in business purchasing. While the process is desired to be devoid of emotion that would prejudice a purely logical or financial decision, there are still issues related to trust and security, and the notion that the cheapest provider is not always the best when other issues are taken into account ... these "other issues" are almost invariably related to emotion.
Product Emotions versus Emotional Decisions
Many firms recognize that emotions can influence decisions - but instead of designing a product that provides an emotional outcome, they instead attempt to layer emotion (or the expectation of it) onto a product that does not deliver the emotion. This is generally the case when people feel they have been deceived by advertising.
Unfortunately, emotions can be manipulated to cause a person to make a decision by putting them in a given emotional state - a person who is sad or defensive is more likely to spend more money on products because they wish to restore a positive emotional state. The use of various sensory stimuli (imagery, music, even scent) has been statistically correlated to sales performance.
In other instances, people consciously consider emotions. Choosing a flavor is entirely an emotional decision. Considering the emotions of others is critical to planning a family vacation.
Moreover, the emotional portent of the decision may be entirely separate from the emotions that will be evoked by the product itself. A customer may be happy with the car they purchased, but feel sour about the bargain they struck with the dealer - which also accrues to the brand, but has nothing to do with the product quality.
Generally, product emotions are stronger because they are ongoing, substantiated, and renewed each time the customer uses or purchases a product. This does nto mean they erase or counteract any emotion of the purchasing process - both sets of emotions are included in their perception of and attitude toward the brand.
Customers seek emotional benefits from the products they purchase, and companies would do well to consider this. The company that provides the cheapest product may win the next sale where a customer is looking for a new vendor, but the one that sustains a relationship wins a lifetime of sales from customers who don't shop around.
Let Your Customers Do the Talking
Customers talk to one another. They are prompted to do so by their emotional reaction to products and firms, and the substance of their conversation is often more emotional than rational. Some examples:
- A customer who feels satisfaction recommends the product to others
- A customer feels pride shows off their possession (your product)
- A customer who is surprised by an encounter has a story to tell
- A customer who experiences positive feelings will gift the item to others
These are all positive emotions - and people are equally vocal when they have negative emotions. The only time they fall silent is when they have no emotional reaction either way.
Because of fundamental changes in society, namely global communication through technologies, people are speaking more often and to more people about the brands they use and encounter, and are regarded as a more accurate and credible source of information than the company that wants people to buy them.
Product Emotions and Product Strategy
To be sustainable, a product must deliver value: the "feeling" of quality or safety can only be sustained if there is actual quality or safety. Where emotional expectations are set, then not fulfilled, the customer loses customers for the long-term.
The author mentions the example of Chrysler, who dazzled customers with features that suggested attentive design (such as hooks in the trunk to keep shopping bags upright), but who installed faulty transmissions in the very same vehicles. Customers were not disappointed with the transmission, but felt betrayed and misled by the brand as a whole. Admittedly, there are many reasons the US auto industry faltered, but disappointing customers in this way "could not have helped." (EN: In times of economic difficulty, the companies that persevere often speak of the loyalty of their customer base as a saving grace.)
Delivering emotional benefits, consistently and constantly, is unlikely to happen accidentally, but must be a component of strategy, toward which real investment and genuine effort is placed. The customer experience is designed in detail, and attentively executed. It should not be left to chance.
That's not to say that companies cannot receive a windfall of customer affection without putting in the effort, merely that it is highly unlikely to happen, and even less likely to be sustained . Companies that are loved one year and hated the very next are often the benefactors of fortuitous chance.
The Emotion of Brands
A distinction should be drawn between the emotions a customer feels that are associated to a product, and the emotions they feel that are associated to the brand. A person who likes a given product has no particular loyalty to a specific brand - any brand will do - whereas a person who likes a given brand will seek out that specific brand, with the sense that another product of the same kind from a different provider is inferior or unacceptable.
As such, a large part of the value of the brand is the emotions that arise from specific qualities of that brand, as differentiated from the emotions they have about an unbranded or generic product. This represents the way that people "feel" about a given company. Brand loyalists will relate that their brand is "better" and has more "quality" but struggle to express or quantify what they mean. It's just the way they feel.
(EN: one model of the calculation of brand value involves analyzing the price premium a customer would pay to have their preferred brand rather than an alternate brand of the same product. The math is a bit wonky, but the logic is spot-on.)
There are also instances in which there is a parent brand and a child brand - the example being that the Google Chrome browser was adopted more because of the feelings people have about the company (Google) than about the product brand (Chrome). If it were put out as just the "Chrome" browser with no reference to its maker, it would likely not have been so readily adopted and accepted. But the trust and excitement of being associated with Google as a brand carried over: customers automatically have emotions about any product that is launched under the Google brand.
Sellers often focus on brand emotions, presuming that the product emotions can be taken for granted. This can be a serious mistake: you will never sell a customer on your brand if they do not value the product at all.
(EN: Thinking about it, this is often done in public relations, image marketing, and the like. Companies want the general public, not just their customers, to have a positive impression of the brand - they are potential employees, potential investors, and voting citizens who have a voice with regulators - and their sentiment can be significant even if they are never going to become buyers.)
Emotion in Lean Economic Times
When people have prosperity, they have the resources to take on more risk in buying products and trying brands they do not recognize and have little reason to trust; but when times are tight they are more careful about how they spend money, and tend to stick to firms that have an established track record, or at least an established reputation, for being trustworthy.
On the supply side, a brand that has stronger relationships with its customers will lose less business during an economic downturn than one that has a weaker relationship. A brand that has a strong reputation will even gain customers who abandon weaker brands.
The author remarks that it is short-sighted of companies to attempt to cut costs in difficult times: where cutting costs affects quality, or any of the "extras" that customers value, they end up cutting revenue as well. The notion that costs can be reduced while maintaining the same revenue is a fond wish. And while the company can easily control its costs, restoring the original quality after hard times have passed, it cannot control the sentiment of customers, which lingers long afterward.
At the same time, customer emotions shift - they still value the same emotions, but prioritize them differently. A customer may choose to take less gratification in the emotions associated with being pampered than with those associated to making a smart economic decision. The customer may switch back after the economic crisis has passed, returning to their normal habits. Not only is this entirely up to the customer, but it also preserves the integrity of the brands in question (an expensive brand does not change in hard times, and when customers return to it they find it exactly as they left it, not compromised).
In many instances, especially business-to-business purchasing, people rationalize their decisions, and as such emotions play a hidden role they will not vocalize. A young lawyer will claim he buys a membership at a country club because it's a way to prospect for clients, not because he enjoys the esteem of being a member of the social elite; an executive that buys a smart phone will claim it gives him the ability to use e-mail while he's traveling, not because he enjoys playing video games; a doctor may justify the purchase of a pharmaceutical because of its medical application, not because he enjoys the flattering attention of an attractive sales rep.
Companies are quick to cut costs by removing qualities or features that provide emotional benefits, assuming them to be bells and whistles or unnecessary filigree - only to their chagrin when they discover that customers are loyal to the emotional benefits they have removed, and are less loyal to brand when the product is stripped down to its basic functions.
Most brands are entirely acceptable on the basis of the way in which they fulfill the functional need. When brands compete by stripping away the "extras" that deliver emotional benefits, they commoditize their products, such that one brand is no different to another, and customers have no reason (other than low price) to prefer any brand.
Also, producing emotions does not have to cost significant amounts of money: they may be created through careful attention to already existing qualities and features. Making a product easier to obtain or easier to use is generally cheaper than improving its core qualities - or said another way, there's not much cost-savings in cutting the factors that lead to ease of use, and a great deal of risk in changing the experience of the customer.
Ultimately, a product that has a strong emotional connection to its consumers will maintain their business through moderate economic downturns: when the economy goes sour, people do without products or find substitutes for the brands to which they have little emotional investment. The ones in which they have the greatest emotional investment will be the last to go, and the economy has to do more than slump a little bit before they feel the need to make drastic changes for the brands that matter most.
The Transformation
A company's recognition and pursuit of emotion-based opportunities is transformative. The character of a firm whose objectives is making a good product in terms of its functional qualities is significantly different to that of a firm whose objective is to delight its customers.
The author has the vague sense that most US firms were focused on functionality for most of the last century, and the focus was on efficiency and low price. The emotions of customers were ignored or neglected until very recently, as companies are discovering that the most efficiently designed and functionally effective product isn't always what the customer wants - even when they claim that it is.
People value emotions, sometimes more than the functional benefit, and the firms that serve this desire are rising to the top of their industries. Their competitors, lagging a step or two behind, are in the early stages of coming to this realization, or are at least pressured to follow the industry leader even if they don't quite understand why they have been left behind in the market.