Measuring Emotion—Lovemarks, The Future Beyond Brands

ABSTRACT

Our main purpose is to address these questions: how do emotions interact with and influence so-called “rational” processes; which are more important in brand communication and advertising? We first establish the importance of emotion in the consumer-brand relationship and then review how to measure emotion based on the thinking included in “Lovemarks” theory, i.e., that brands these days need not just to be respected but must also build a strong, loving relationship with consumers.

Three key advances are then made: (1) We demonstrate the benefits of an approach for measuring emotion that combines qualitative insights with quantitative statistical confidence. (2) We show that the actual contribution of emotional factors to brand decision making is significantly greater than functional factors and ranges from 63–85 percent, depending on the product category. (3) We also propose a new working model of the ways in which emotional and rational processes work and interact together in creating brand relationships. The case studies used draw from research on magazine titles, breakfast cereals, and cars, but we believe have a wider application for innovation and creativity in marketing and communication generally.