emo brain

When we take the reward from an attribute up to a feeling, we gain a number of advantages.

When we focus on feeling, we gain impact because we translate a rational reward into an emotional reward.

When we focus on feeling, we also have more control. The target might translate an attribute into a feeling other than the one we want to offer as a reward. Choosing a product with the attribute of “low fat” can translate into feeling healthy, feeling sexy, or feeling like a good parent. When we craft our persuasion, we can pick the feeling that is the most powerful reward to associate with that choice. When we do the translation from attribute into feeling, we gain precision.

When we focus on feeling, we not only translate a rational reward into an emotional reward, we also translate a delayed and uncertain reward into one that is more immediate and certain. This is critical because, as we saw, actions that are good for us often have delayed and uncertain rewards.

According to most economic models, the appeal of a benefit declines exponentially with time. Research on the issue suggests that the actual appeal of a benefit declines hyperbolically with time. That means that the appeal of a reward declines with time even more rapidly than originally thought. Lately, George Loewenstein, the Herbert A. Simon professor of economics and psychology at Yale, has studied what he calls visceral rewards (food for a hungry person, sex for an amorous person, sleep for a sleepy person, and so on) and has discovered that the attraction of these visceral rewards declines more rapidly still. When it comes to visceral rewards, our present bias is even more pronounced and the immediate is even more appealing relative to the delayed. Along with delay often comes some loss of certainty. Any salesman knows that a sale delayed is a less certain sale.

A persuasion attempt becomes more powerful when we focus on feeling and transform a reward that is delayed, uncertain, and rational into one which is immediate, certain, and emotional.

Consuming curcumin contributes to strong bones. But bone strength is a reward that is delayed, uncertain, and rational. Strong bones are a long way off. A pinch of spice doesn’t guarantee strong bones. And strong bones, if they do arrive, are a fact not a feeling. Even if strong bones are a long way off and not guaranteed, I can feel healthy right now. We can transform the delayed, uncertain, and rational reward of strong bones into the immediate, certain, and emotional reward of feeling healthy.

Stopping smoking can help me avoid cancer. But cancer is probably a long way off and avoiding cancer is by no means certain. Right now, a cigarette would surely be a lot more enjoyable than no cigarette. Even if the reward of avoiding cancer is delayed and uncertain, I can feel right now like a good father who is doing what he can to be there for his kids. The delayed, uncertain, and rational reward of avoiding cancer can be transformed into the immediate, certain, and emotional reward of feeling like a good father.

When we translate an attribute into a feeling, we turn a delayed, uncertain, often rational reward into a reward that is much more motivating to the lizard, our automatic, nonconscious mental system.

When we focus on feeling, we gain power.

How will it feel to quit smoking? How will it feel to stay on that diet? How will it feel to stay in school and work toward a good job and independence? How will it feel to drive a new hybrid car or to drive a new muscle car?

Tell whomever you are trying to persuade how it will feel when they take your recommended option

• Because feelings are what they really want.

• Because the physical reward may be delayed, but the feeling is immediate.

• Because the physical reward may be uncertain, but the feeling is assured.

• Because a fact or a feature is rational, but a feeling is emotional and speaks to the automatic mind.

There is another reason to translate an attribute into a feeling. When we focus on feeling, we can tap into an additional class of rewards that doesn’t depend on the physical experience of the action we recommend.

Many feelings do flow from the physical experience of an action. The indulgent feeling of a spoonful of creamy, full-fat ice cream and the feeling of excitement that comes from driving a car that has great acceleration are examples of feelings that depend on the physical experience.

But some feelings don’t come from physical experience. Feeling more masculine when smoking a certain brand of cigarette doesn’t come from the physical experience. Feeling more fit when wearing shoes with a particular logo doesn’t result from the physical experience. Feeling more masculine or feeling more fit comes from image enhancement and image enhancement does not depend on physical experience. It only depends on our perception of people who perform that action—actor image. Actor image is the stereotype of people who perform a particular action and actor image can be a powerful tool in persuasion. The lizard infers the attractiveness of the action we recommend from the people it associates with that action.

We have an image of people who have stopped smoking, drive a Toyota, wear Nike, or reject drugs. The actor image may be sharply defined, like the perception of people who own a Rolls Royce, or vague, like the perception of people who live in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It may be accurate or it may be inaccurate. But, when we perform an action, we, to some degree, identify with that actor image. When we buy fresh produce, we clothe ourselves in the stereotype of people who do likewise. If the actor image is sufficiently attractive to us, we are drawn to perform that action because we are pleased to be seen as one of those people. If the actor image is unattractive, we are embarrassed to perform that action.

What can you do to show your teen that those who don’t do drugs are cool and fun? Teens who perceive those who reject drugs as cool, independent, fun, and intelligent are likely to reject drugs themselves. Teens who perceive those who reject drugs as boring, under the thumb of adults, party poopers, and nerds are embarrassed to reject drugs, and we have a problem.

Image enhancement comes in two closely related forms: public image enhancement and self-image enhancement. In public image enhancement, we enjoy feeling that others see us as we would like to be seen. In self-image enhancement, we enjoy feeling we are the sort of person we would like to be.

Public Image Enhancement

We societal animals are designed to seek social approval in the form of affection or esteem. We want to feel that others like us or that others think we are fun, smart, sexy, competent, good-looking, fashionable, and on and on.

When we buy fresh produce, we assume that people see us as one of those people who buy fresh produce. We believe the actions we take influence how others see us. The “spotlight effect”4 is a label scientists have given to our exaggerated notion of how much our actions influence others’ perception of us. We tend to think that everybody is noticing us when, in fact, most are ignoring us.

Our action can make us feel that others see us as we would like to be seen or our action can make us uncomfortable, fearing that others see us as we would not like to be seen.

As persuaders, we can associate buying a bag of oranges in the grocery store with the feeling that others will see us as a good parent. With effort, we can help people feel proud to put a bag of oranges on the checkout counter and embarrassed to put a bag Cheetos on the checkout counter.

Image enhancement is a reward that has broad implications because actor image is rich in associations.

The lizard, our automatic, nonconscious mind, works through association—any concept calls to mind other concepts which in turn call to mind still other concepts. Some concepts have broader implications. They result in wider association and cause greater inference.

As social animals, we naturally think in terms of people, stereotypes, and exemplars. They are critical to our ability to make sense of the world. We have a special skill at anticipating how other people will act based on what we know about them. We even personify inanimate objects like cars and computers in order to help us anticipate or explain their behavior.

When we focus on a feeling rather than an attribute, we:

• Gain the power of promising an end rather than a means.

• Gain precision because, without guidance, an attribute can lead to many different feelings.

• Turn a delayed, uncertain, and rational benefit into an immediate, certain, and emotional reward. Tap into an additional class of rewards that doesn’t depend on the physical experience of the action we recommend—actor image rewards.

When we promise the feeling of participating in an attractive actor image, we:

• Offer our target the opportunity to appear to others as the person they would like to be—public image enhancement.

• Offer our target the opportunity to appear to themselves as the person they would like to be—self-image enhancement.

• Imply a variety of positive qualities of the action naturally associated with that actor image. Actor image is a concept that is rich with meaning.