Mediaprobe’s database of emotional reactions to televised content offers insights into viewer engagement. MediaProbe CEO Pedro Almeida – a former professor who has spent his career studying decision-making – explains why that matters to advertisers.
Why is understanding emotional effectiveness so important to decision-making?
We know that a great deal of how we make decisions is based on emotional input, rather than cold, rational decisions. In media and advertising, there is incredible value in understanding what leads people to respond emotionally to programs on TV or radio, and how that determines the way they respond to advertisements.
Politics is center stage, so emotion must play a critical role in media coverage and political strategies. What does that mean for advertisers?
It’s no surprise that the news genre has one of our company’s highest emotional impact scores (EIS). Many advertisers shy away from news and political content, and we encourage them to take advantage of the opportunity to be in one of the most highly engaging environments on TV and radio.
What other type of media content typically trigger the greatest emotional reaction?
Live events, whether that is sports, or moments designed around a passionate fan base – like NBC’s Bravocon- offer unique opportunities to boost fan engagement. Event organizers and brands recognize that success goes beyond ticket sales. Success hinges on enhancing the fan experience. Many live event organizers rely on attendees’ feedback and declared satisfaction after the event. However, analyzing audiences’ emotional reactions and emotional engagement on-site in real-time can provide valuable insights to enhance the in-person experience and optimize commercial activations. That’s something we can help them accomplish.
What role does emotion play in advertising effectiveness?
Using proprietary equipment that we invented we can monitor physiological information such as heart rate or sweating while our panelists watch TV or listen to audio broadcasts at home. We’ve been collecting this data for several years and now boast the largest of its kind in the world, with over 250,000 hours of physiological reactions to media. What we’ve found with advertising effectiveness is ad effectiveness is directly related with the ability of the content to provoke an emotional response out of the audience member. The context of the ad also matters a great deal. We have shown that engaging content boosts the emotional impact to the ads placed on that content. In turn, emotional ads are better remembered and have a higher likelihood of creating an accessible impression on consumers at purchasing decision time.
