As market researchers, we often have projects where we seek to gather data about emotions. For example, studies related to product testing, ad testing, and brand perceptions all often include emotional content. So why do we care so much in market research about understanding emotions? In short, it’s because not all decisions are rational. Most B2B or B2C decisions made contain rational elements and emotional elements. To focus on one element over the other leaves out valuable data that could deliver keen insights.
Finding a way to efficiently and credibly identify and describe emotions, though, can be tricky. Especially when it comes to research that informs strategic business decisions, we want to ensure that we communicate these often-nuanced findings in a transparent, credible, and useful way.
This Conversations episode will help researchers who have experienced the common challenge of how to efficiently and accurately communicate emotion-related research results in a way that will be credible and useful to research clients.
Among some of the resources mentioned in our episode, we wanted to highlight two in particular:
- First, the Journal of Advertising is a fantastic academic source on emotional drivers in advertising, and you can find many of their abstracts on Google Scholar.
- Second, we included a download link for Plutchik’s Theory of Emotion. Starting with established models of emotions such as Plutchik does not only make it easier to identify and standardize emotion-related responses but also gives you credibility.
Let’s get the show started! To watch or listen to this Conversation for Research Rockstars episode, find it on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Audible (Amazon).
