Let Your Customers Do the Talking

When products create valued emotions that endure over the life of the product, customers benefit. Companies that provide those well-loved products also benefit. The product that exudes an ongoing stream of positive emotions promotes a “feel-good” aspect, reinforcing customer satisfaction with the purchase, setting up for repeat purchases, and increasing the likelihood of receiving the best (and cheapest) form of advertising: word-of-mouth.

Emotion is what causes people to talk about products. Maybe the consumer feels surprised by how well a new technology works and tells a colleague. Maybe a consumer feels proud of their car and shows it off to clients. Maybe a consumer relishes the feeling of the pampering of a spa and asks friends to join her. Emotion leads to word-of-mouth, whose power is authenticity and an exponential expansion to more potential buyers.

On the flip side, when consumers are not emotional about a product, they don’t talk about it. That means no word-of-mouth, no sales expansion beyond those who initially tried it out. Even worse, negative emotions can lead to word-of-mouth in a detrimental way, as resentful customers naturally complain to their friends. Emotion gets people talking, and positive product emotion is critical for new product success.

Product emotions are more powerful now than ever before, because there has been a fundamental shift in how the marketplace operates. We now live in a globally networked society, where consumers learn more about products from each other on the Internet than they do from direct-to-consumer advertising. As traditional advertising channels have less and less power and as individual consumers have increasing influence, product emotions have become even more critical to product success.