Feel Something Say Something: How Emotion and Word of Mouth are Linked – Ed Keller

Keller Fay and other commentators have noted the link between emotion and brand word of mouth WOM on a number of occasions In particular a major academic study On Brands and Word of Mouth notes that emotion is a key trigger of brand buzz amp8220The motive to share positive or negative feelings about brands in order to express these emotions or balance emotional arousalamp8221 A similar point is made by Wharton professor Jonah Berger in his bestselling book Contagious Why Things Catch On noting that emotion is one of the major ingredients that causes things to be talked about or shared amp8220When we care we shareamp8221Some emotiondriven buzz is a reaction to a brand experience or event a great product or service experience an ad etc Brands will be doing all they can to maximize positive incidents and minimize brand amp8220failsamp8221 But people also have underlying and less transient emotional feelings about brands and these too can promote and influence brand conversationsRecently Keller Fay has joined forces with behavioural sciences experts BrainJuicer to assess the relationship between WOM and emotion and uncover new insights that brands can use to tap this powerful combination to their business advantage Combining Keller Fayamp8217s brand WOM volume and sentiment measures with BrainJuiceramp8217s measures of emotional brand appeal the study looked at these relationships across 52 of the UKamp8217s leading brands spread across a wide variety of sectorsThe analysis shows a clear relationship between emotion and WOM Brands which stir peopleamp8217s emotions in some way are more likely to be talked about The worst emotional response in many respects is no response at all a amp8220neutralamp8221 emotional response means a brand is significantly less talked about We controlled for brand awareness in this analysisIn fact brands which provoke a more intense emotional response are significantly more likely to be discussed on a daytoday basis the most amp8220emotionalamp8221 brands get three times more WOM than the least emotionalMost WOM is positive according to the research and indeed amp8220happinessamp8221 is the single emotion most likely to be associated with levels of brand WOMOf course it is positive WOM and advocacy which brands seek Weamp8217ve also established that the emotional power of the brand is strongly associated with the sentiment of the WOM it receives Brands which provoke positive emotion are much more likely to receive positive sentiment and recommendation during conversation These in turn are often highly predictive of business effects for example within UK supermarkets the strongest consumer sentiment was reserved for premium operator Waitrose and discounters Aldi and Lidl and all three have experienced strong business performance over the past yearBrandbuilding is not a quickfix undertaking and many of the strong performers in the top third on the chart above are reaping the rewards of a strong customer offer and delivery combined with vibrant communications WOM amplifies the effects of these positive brand actions and of course will play a role in further reinforcing the emotional appeal of brandsIn summary brands should seek to establish and reinforce strong emotional connections to maximize social relevance viral gimmicks might work on occasion but as a rule they are not likely the route to brand talkability And amp8220Itamp8217s all about the positiveamp8221 hence deliver great brand stories and experiences to drive positive WOM and advocacy and capitalize on strong emotionEd Keller CEO of the Keller Fay Group has been called quotone of the most recognized names in word of mouthquot His new book The FacetoFace Book Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace was recently published by Free PressSimon ampamp Schuster You can follow Ed Keller on Twitter Facebook and Google or contact him directly at ekellerkellerfaycomRead all Edamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at WOM MattersCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates at MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Feel Something Say Something: How Emotion and Word of Mouth are Linked – Ed Keller

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Feel Something Say Something: How Emotion and Word of Mouth are Linked – Ed Keller

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